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What’s the story?
On a recent edition of E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness, Kevin Owens opened up on the circumstances that led to his and Sami Zayn’s departure from ROH.
Additionally, Owens recalled his journey of staying true to himself in NXT, besides revealing which WWE Superstar has the best ‘Dusty Rhodes’ impersonation.
In case you didn’t know…
Kevin Owens performed on the independent professional wrestling circuit from 2000 to 14, following which he transitioned to the WWE Performance Center joining NXT in 2014.
The 33-year-old is a former WWE Universal Champion and has also held the NXT, United States and Intercontinental titles.
The heart of the matter
Kevin Owens recalled that back in 2010, ROH went through a change of regime, with the new management not being fans of his and Sami Zayn’s work for the promotion, owing to which they tried to phase them out.
Regardless, Owens credited his wife and parents for their undying support that enabled him to continue his career in the sport instead of pursuing a regular 9-5 job.
KO continued that he was initially confused as to what kind of character the WWE wanted him to portray even going to the extent of having a wrestling singlet made for his WWE matches rather than performing in his trademark t-shirt.
Nevertheless, Owens asserted that it was podcast host Christian and the late-great Dusty Rhodes who helped him gain confidence and encouraged him to be himself in the WWE.
Besides crediting Dusty for influencing him more than any other person in an extremely short period of time, KO also said, “You know who (has) got a great Dusty impersonation, by the way, is Dean Ambrose...it's really good, and it's not just his voice, it's the way he speaks, even the stories he tells because, obviously, he was around Dusty a lot, so he (has) got the stories down and everything! It's absolutely fantastic.”
“I like Dean a lot, but it's definitely my favourite thing about him, his Dusty impersonation."
What’s next?
Kevin Owens presently performs for WWE’s SmackDown brand. He’s currently working as an ally with real-life friend Sami Zayn on the WWE’s Tuesday night show.
Author’s take
Kevin Owens is one of the most talented performers in the WWE today, bar none.
KO has time and again been commended for his mental fortitude, and his composure in the face of his unceremonious departure from ROH just proves to further accentuate his mental and spiritual toughness.
