What’s the story?
WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens was recently on The Steve Austin Show where he discussed his use of the ‘Stone Cold’ Stunner in his Royal Rumble match against Roman Reigns and how he looked at Goldberg as a Steve Austin rip-off during his childhood days.
In case you didn’t know…
Owens became only the second man after Finn Balor to win the WWE Universal Championship on the 29 August episode of Raw last year and has held on to the title ever since. In his reign so far, ‘The Prizefighter’ has successfully defended his championship against Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns on multiple occasions. His match against Goldberg at the Fastlane pay-per-view tonight will be the first time that he puts his title on the line against a superstar other than Rollins and Reigns.
The heart of the matter
Speaking to ‘The Texas Rattlesnake’ about his use of the WWE Hall of Famer’s trademark ‘Stunner’, Kevin Owens explained that he needed to do all that he could in order to beat Roman Reigns at the Royal Rumble even if it meant borrowing a move from other people.
However, ‘K.O.’ admitted that it wasn’t good enough and he would have been better off speaking to Austin before he went on to use the move. Here’s what the WWE Universal Champion had to say:
“I was trying to win! And where were we? Texas of all places! What better place than [that] to bust it out?" Owens added, "in hopes of beating [Reigns], you have to throw everything at him, everything but the kitchen sink. You've got to put everything you have in and sometimes even borrow a thing or two from other people.
I didn't think of the gut shot. I did the best I could. It wasn't enough. But, hey, maybe I should've called [Austin], but it just happened. It wasn't something I planned. It just came to me.”
Owens also revealed how he never liked WCW and thought of Goldberg as a cheap ‘Stone Cold’ rip-off. He added that he never looked at ‘The Myth’ as a WWE guy and he is still an outsider to him. He stated:
“I was never a WCW guy. I was a WWF/WWE guy my entire life. I heard of WCW; I knew of WCW, but I never watched it. I didn't care. But '97, '98, whatever it was, if I may, I was the biggest 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin fan out there and I will say that to anybody who claims otherwise.
And to me, I would see this other guy on WCW wearing the black trunks, bald head, similar [facial hair], the goatee, and I was like, 'this guy's just a cheap 'Stone Cold' ripoff. Goldberg?
Goldberg really wasn't around [WWE] enough for me to make that same sense of like, 'okay, now he's a WWE guy.' Even his run that he had here, whatever it was, 11 months, from the night after WrestleMania 19 to WrestleMania 20 and then, he left.
To me, he was just the dude from WCW. Now, I'm a WWE guy and to me, [Goldberg is] still an outsider.”
What next?
Kevin Owens is all set to defend his title against Goldberg at the Fastlane pay-per-view in Milwaukee, Wisconsin tonight. In a few hours from now, we will know which of the two superstars will go to WrestleMania 33 as the WWE Universal Champion.
Sportskeeda’s Take
It is highly likely that the WWE may be thinking on the lines of making Goldberg the new WWE Universal Champion to ensure that his WrestleMania match against Brock Lesnar is fought for a title. We could also see Chris Jericho costing Kevin Owens the championship at Fastlane and building up to a match between them at the grandest WWE event of the year.
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