Kevin Owens has admitted that he had half an eye on a match with Steve Austin when he asked to used the Stunner back in 2019.
For almost two decades, Stone Cold Steve Austin has remained happy in retirement, content that his in-ring days were over. Despite numerous pitches to return to action, Austin resisted temptation, insisting that he had accepted that his time had been and gone.
However, that all changed in early 2022 as it was reported that not only had WWE approached the star about a comeback, it was actually happening. It was later revealed that Austin’s target would be Kevin Owens who had been making disparaging comments about Texas for a number of weeks.
While it is unclear as to what shape the confrontation will take, being advertised only as a special edition of the KO Show, it has been reported that Austin will be more physically involved than he has been in nearly 20 years.
In a new interview with Daniel Cormier and Ryan Clark, Kevin Owens recalled how much it meant to him to be given permission by the WWE Hall of Famer to use his Stunner finishing move. Interestingly, Owens said that he knew even then in 2019, that he was putting himself in prime position to be Austin’s opponent should he ever return to the ring.
“It’s unreal to find myself in this position. What’s funny is, when I first asked him if I could use the Stunner as the finishing move and he gave me his blessing, it meant a lot to me personally and professionally coming from him because I looked up to him for the longest time. I did figure that, if at some point he were to come back, the logic would be that he would be involved with the guy doing the Stunner. I played the long game a little bit and it worked out in my favour,”
On a recent episode of Monday Night Raw, Owens dressed up as Steve Austin to mock the WWE legend. Appearing complete with bald cap and knee braces, one of which was undone, as Austin’s always seemed to be.
Owens admitted that the segment saw him step out of his comfort zone, but he had a lot of fun doing it.
“It’s really funny because that’s really not the kind of stuff I’m used to doing. That’s happened before when one of the wrestlers would dress up as someone else, like their rivals, The Miz did it a few years ago, DX has done it, a couple of people have done it and done it well. It was me stepping out of my comfort zone a little, but I figured it was the most impactful thing I do going into the match or confrontation, but it ended up being a lot of fun. I think I pissed a lot of people off, which is delightful.”
The special edition of the KO Show is set to be the main event of night one of WrestleMania 38 on April 2nd. On the same night, Becky Lynch will defend her Raw Women’s Championship against Bianca Belair, and Seth Rollins will meet a mystery opponent. It has long been rumoured that this opponent will be a returning Cody Rhodes.
H/t to Fightful for the transcription.