WWE News: Kevin Owens calls Sami Zayn a 'brother'

What's the story?

You don't have to know too much about wrestling to know that Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn have been a fixture in the industry for a long time, with their rivalry spanning across several promotions. But how exactly does Kevin Owens feel about his long-term rival?

In case you didn't know...

Owens and Zayn will be better known to a lot of people as Kevin Steen and El Generico, who started wrestling ten years ago in the community halls of Canada and found themselves inexplicably linked together all the way to the WWE.

The two have been on an incredible journey together which was why the closing moments of the December 2014 NXT TakeOver: Revolution were so special, seeing the two of them walking down the ramp after Sami Zayn had finally won the NXT title.

However, Owens later brutally attacked Sami Zayn, cementing himself as one of the best heels in the company, whilst Zayn continued to play the role of the beleaguered underdog.

The heart of the matter

The relationship between the two Canadians has been a complicated one, as evidenced above.

One minute they're congratulating each other on their success, the next one of them is powerbombing the other one onto the ring apron. Luckily Owens was on hand to talk to Brian Campbell on the 'In This Corner' podcast to clarify their relationship.

“I would say that we are more like brothers than we are friends. You know you don’t choose your relatives, you don’t choose who your brother is, you don’t choose who your sister is, you don’t choose your family. You were born into a family. In this case, we weren’t born into each others families but we, from the start of our careers when we started wrestling on the independent scene in the U.S and even back home in Canada. Once we started getting our name out there and more recognized, people just booked us together all the time and that wasn’t our choice.”

Owens went on to sum up their relationship, perfectly describing all of the twists and turns that have taken place in their fifteen-year friendship.

“We have known each other for over 15 years… We have been friends, we have been enemies, we have been at each other’s throats. We have been by each others side, we have done it all. Every kind of match imaginable, we have been in pretty much, except for maybe the odd Hell in a Cell for example. We have put each other through a lot and we have been there for each other through a lot. I think that just translates into chemistry a lot of times.”

What next?

It doesn't look like Owens and Zayn will be parted anytime soon as they've both found their way onto SmackDown LIVE and somehow still end up getting involved in each other's business.

Most recently, Zayn has been a big part of the unfolding storyline between Kevin Owens and the McMahons, first by trying to convince Kevin not to do anything too reckless, like headbutt Vince McMahon, and then to try and convince Shane McMahon that perhaps he's biting off more than he can chew with the out of control Kevin Owens.

And knowing these two, I'm sure they'll probably end up working together in a storyline again, who knows maybe Sami Zayn will actually turn heel soon and the pair will form a tag team, I'd like to see it!

Author's Take

There won't be many relationships in wrestling as long, as storied and as close as the one between Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens and we're incredibly lucky we get to see the next chapter of their story unfold on the WWE.