Kevin Owens has had quite the extensive experience on the independent pro wrestling circuit. He made a name for himself in IWS in Montreal and of course in ROH and at PWG. There were definitely other integral stops along the way for this athlete, but he also made a lot of friends by way of the indies.
Two such friends were The Young Bucks, who he still considers dear friends. He has said this in interviews before, but he has reiterated it recently in an interview with Corey Graves on After the Bell.
It was during this interview that he went into his background with The Bucks and his friendship with Cody Rhodes. He also went into why he decided to stay with WWE last year when his contract with the company was up, admitting that the potential offer of going on board with AEW was an interesting one, but one that he ultimately passed up. And finally, he went into what he thinks of Cody’s re-signing with the company.
Here is some of what he said:
“I love all those guys, we know who we’re talking about…I’m so close to them still; I talk to them fairly regularly. I haven’t seen those guys in a long time and obviously, I haven’t been in the ring with them in forever. I had a blast when I was in the ring with those guys all the time when I was on the independents…
So there was definitely an appeal there to go back and hang out with those guys and get in the ring…that would’ve been sweet. But ultimately the thing that really sealed the deal was Vince McMahon made it clear that he wanted me to stay. A part of me almost felt like it was going to be corny, but this place is like a family…
Just like AEW is probably like a family for those guys as well and it’s not just the other wrestlers and performers. It’s the crew; it’s everybody backstage; it’s everybody that works behind the scenes. Like some of my best friends in this company aren’t people you see on camera…It was just really hard not picturing myself coming to work on Monday or Friday and seeing those people…it just felt like the best decision and it just made the most sense…
I’ve told him this before but I’m so proud of Cody…When he was here, he and I got close pretty quickly and then he left and that really sucked for me because I felt like I was really losing (a friend). I have people in this business that are really more like brothers to me than friends, it’s not everybody but there are a few people out there that I consider more like family. Cody is one of them, so when he left, it was a blow to me…
I figured, look, we’re going to be so busy, we’re barely going to see each other, which is true, we saw each other once, maybe twice the whole time he was gone. When he was going out on his own, he was doing it because he felt this was best for him. He didn’t feel like he was being given the chance to be what he could be in WWE, so he decided to bet on himself and leave…
And the only thing I did, he asked me for some sort of guidance because he had never been on the independent scene before, and I gave him The Young Bucks’ numbers and I told them ‘can you guys take care of this guy?’ And look what happened. They really changed the industry, they did, there’s no denying it. Cody went out and did that, he didn’t do it himself, he had a lot of help and a lot of people but he was an integral part of that…
Then he came back here, which I don’t know about as much, but I think that was always his ultimate goal. As he was doing it, as things were progressing, his mindset might have changed at some point and seen himself coming back at some point because he was doing so well.”
via Kevin Owens on After the Bell w/ Corey Graves /Wrestling Inc. (Transcription)
So in the end, AEW certainly lost out, but things in pro wrestling don’t always stay the same for long and a possibility for KO in AEW is still possible down the line. That of course is if he isn’t locked in for like 10 years. But having him on the WWE roster and Cody as well (and Seth Rollins too), has definitely made things bearable…even when the show is lagging in anything remotely close to entertaining….
Seeing Kevin come out from week to week, being himself, it has always been a plus, and now with Cody there too…the product is that much more bearable. Still…KO in AEW…man that has a nice ring to it, eh? Too bad it never went down.
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