“I think you and I are destined to do this forever.”
We can accept The Joker saying this to Batman because the two of them are opposite sides of the same coin. Chaos and Order. Dark and Light. Yin and Yang. One does not exist without the other. It’s a big step up from rival to nemesis, but Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens are undoubtedly at that point now. If last night’s NXT Takeover was the first time you’ve seen these two clash, then I suggest you hang the hell on, because this ride only has a high gear.
Once Upon A Time In Canada
Let’s get the pesky reality out of the way right now: The men we currently know as Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens are super good friends, maybe even BEST friends. They’re both from Quebec and they both started wrestling within two years of each other, so they’ve had a lot of common ground to build on. They would both find a home at California’s premier independent promotion, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), and start their tag team run in 2006. That picture you see above is either Sami Zayn or Sami Zayn’s good friend El Generico (depending on how dearly you value kayfabe) teaming up with Kevin in January 2013 for one last hurrah in PWG, where they ended up holding the tag team titles twice. Their success as a team would also stretch to Ring of Honor, where they would defeat The Age of the Fall for the tag team championships in 2008. However, it was inside the ROH ring where everything would fall apart.
“I Hate Your F*cking Guts”
At ROH Final Battle on December 19, 2009, Owens (then known as Kevin Steen, of course) would turn on Zayn after a loss to The Young Bucks. Zayn, ever the babyface, couldn’t bring himself to seek retribution for months. As 2010 dwindled, Zayn and Owens finally worked their way towards the climax – an unsanctioned Fight Without Honor set for Final Battle, 364 days after Owens betrayed his partner. This would also be a lucha de apuesta, with Zayn putting his mask on the line versus Owens’ ROH career. After a brutal match, Zayn emerged as the victor and sent Owens packing… temporarily.
Separation Anxiety
Zayn and Owens would cross paths in places like PWG, but Ring of Honor is where the rivalry truly stood out. After nine months away from ROH, Owens reappeared and managed to get himself a match against Steve Corino at… you guessed it, Final Battle 2011. Owens would win, thereby securing his future in the company. Oh, and he would also put Zayn through a table. 2012 would see very little of Zayn in Ring of Honor, but in October of that year he would lay down a challenge for Owens’ ROH Championship. They would meet in a Ladder War… at Final Battle 2012. Are you starting to sense a pattern here? Owens would retain the title, and Zayn would leave Ring of Honor for good.
You Complete Me
And then there was December 11, 2014. Now is the winter of their discontent. It feels like Frank Miller could be writing this. I’m trying to think of a wrestling rivalry that reaches the poetic heights of this one – a feud where each party is such a complete antithesis of the other. Maybe Austin/McMahon? Or perhaps one of my old favorites, CM Punk vs. Raven from Ring of Honor? All I know is that these two friends beating the crap out of each other feels deeply personal. Everything we know tells us they should be 100% compatible, yet they’re oil and water in the ring. They’re two brothers, born of radically different temperament and consequences. This feud touches a very raw nerve with disturbingly deliberate pacing, and I love it. Every December since 2009, two of the best wrestlers in the world make it a point to go to war.
“I think you and I are destined to do this forever.”
