Kill. Steen. Kill.
The first time I saw Kevin Steen was in 2011. I attended a Ring of Honor event in Chicago Ridge at the Frontier Fieldhouse; a gymnasium that for any other event wasn’t remarkable, but was a place where magic happened when ROH came through town.
Steen was working this program after being off television for a year, where he’d make run-ins at various events, and it would eventually lead to his reinstatement, a string of great matches, and the ROH World Championship. I didn’t know who he was at the time, but when he showed up in the crowd to watch the main event (Davey Richards vs. El Generico), people went crazy for him.
After the show, I talked to a few guys near me to find out more about Steen and what had happened, since it had been a few years since I actively watched the ROH product. On the way to my car, I passed by Kevin swinging on a playground outside of the building. We exchanged a few pleasantries, I thanked him for the show, he threw a few F-bombs at Jim Cornette, and that was that.
When I got home I watched everything I could find on the internet about Kevin Steen. His promos captivated me. He wasn’t refined, but he also wasn’t trying to be, and something about that resonated. Over the next two years he won the world title and had some of the best programs in company history with guys like Davey Richards, El Generico and Eddie Edwards. His promo work got even better.
He really became my favorite act in wrestling when I started watching Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. If you want to see the most fun wrestling promotion, full of guys who go out there and throw away the script, throw away the rulebook and just have a good time, watch PWG. I’ve never seen them run a disappointing show.
Tonight, Steen takes the name “Kevin Owens” and begins his career as a hopeful WWE Superstar. That’s a match-up I didn’t ever anticipate seeing in the PG era of programming, but one I’m excited for nonetheless. Owens has unlimited potential. The only thing that will stop him from getting to the very top of the industry is someone else holding him down. Even then, Punk did it. Bryan did it.
Triple H mentioned that in five years he’s excited to watch WrestleMania to see what’s become of everyone from the NXT. Everyone I’ve listed here – Owens, Zayn, Neville, Charlotte, Corbin, Graves – could be a part of that show.
I guess my prediction is that we see something very special tonight. We’ll see you out there…
