Kevin Owens has had a successful WWE run since the company signed him in 2014. He’s been an NXT Champion, an Intercontinental Champion, a Universal Champion, and most recently, the United States Champion. As far as three-year runs go, you won’t find too many that are better than this.
You’d think that all these accomplishments would tell you how high WWE is on Owens as a performer, but all the titles pale in comparison to the infamous Vince McMahon headbutt. It was violent. It was different. It was shocking. It was Kevin Owens’ defining moment thus far.
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When Vince McMahon puts that kind of faith in you, it means something. A very small collection of WWE talent gets the honor of beating up the boss, and the fact that Vince chose Owens, a guy who made his name outside of WWE’s walls, is kind of fascinating. Who could have predicted that Kevin Steen would be in this spot five years ago?
Owens shared that sentiment in his guest appearance on the In The Corner podcast. (Transcription via 411mania.com.)
“I’ve said this before to my relatives and my friends, and I might have said it in an interview here or there… there are moments in my WWE career that I will forever remember. The Universal title, my debut at NXT, my debut on RAW, winning the Intercontinental title was a huge deal to me, but being in the ring with Vince McMahon and giving him the worst beating that he’s probably ever taken outside of a wrestling match, you know besides the times where he actually faced somebody in the ring bell to bell for a match. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody beat Vince McMahon how I beat him, and it was something that will stay with me for a very long time. When I look back at my accolades and the things I accomplished, when it’s all said and done, it’s going to be at the top of the list for sure, or very close to it.”
Owens is right. What he did to Vince McMahon was unlike anything we’ve seen from WWE in a long time, and that’s what made the moment so special. For whatever reason, that kind of wrestling is a thing of the past. Times have changed.
Owens would later add “He [Vince] talked a lot of smack, told me I was going to get my ass kicked by Shane and he would [expletive] me up. He wasn’t shy about making his feelings known as far as Hell In A Cell was going to go down, and then I cracked him in the head, and he stopped talking.” This is great stuff from Owens, and as nothing more than an interested viewer, I hope this story pays off.
