At WWE Survivor Series on November 26th, Kevin Owens teamed with The Brawling Brutes and Drew McIntyre as they took on all five members of The Bloodline inside WarGames. Owens was revealed to be the fifth member of their team on the previous night’s episode of SmackDown.
Kevin Owens fought valiantly for his team, and at one point, it appeared that he might score a shocking pinfall victory over Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns. However, Owens’ longtime friendSami Zayn grabbed the referee, stopping him from counting to three as Owens had Reigns pinned. Zayn further proved his loyalty when he hit Owens with a low blow, allowing Jey Uso to hit a splash and score the pinfall victory for their team.
In tribute to the man who created WarGames, Kevin Owens donned a Dusty Rhodes shirt for the occasion, and also wore a red elbowpad in tribute to the late WWE Hall of Famer’s Bionic Elbow.
Kevin Owens Spoke About Wanting To Add More Elements To His Dusty Rhodes Tribute
Speaking to Corey Graves on WWE After the Bell, Kevin Owens said it was a “thrill” to be a part of WarGames at WWE Survivor Series and detailed wanting to pay tribute to Dusty Rhodes at the event.
“Yeah, it was a real thrill to be a part of it when I did that. I did the one in NXT just because it was great to be part of something that Dusty created, you know. And then to be part of the first one on the main roster and you know, I took the opportunity to wear his t-shirt and the red elbow pad as a you know, as a tribute to him.”
Continuing, Kevin Owens revealed that he got the blessing of Dusty’s son Cody Rhodes before paying tribute to his late father. He also detailed how, despite not spending much time with the WWE Hall of Famer, Dusty Rhodes was incredibly influential on his career.
“I talked to Cody beforehand to make sure he was cool with it and everything. It’s just always neat to kind of be able to tie back to history and give, you know, Dusty a little nod. I try to do that as much as I can because he was so influential in my career, I really had access to him for a very short time. Like, we’re talking maybe 10 months between the time I started in NXT, and the time he passed, you know.
“But man in those 10 months, he really left a mark on me that nobody has, like I’ve known people for years and years and years and years in this industry, and they haven’t left half the influence on me that Dusty had in that short time. So anytime I get to do something a little, like a little shout out to him, I take that opportunity. So to be part of the first main roster WarGames, be able to do that, and then just being part of that match itself, it’s a very exciting concept.
“You know, anytime there’s something new, it’s great to be a part of it. And this was new to a lot of people because it was the first time they got to see on the main roster. Obviously, not everybody that watches the main roster necessarily watches NXT, not everybody watched, you know, knows what WarGames was from all the way back in the day. So it was cool to be a part of this new concept that, you know, a lot of people probably start for the first time on Saturday.”
Kevin Owens and Corey Graves then discussed some elements of Owens’ outfit that could have been altered to pay further tribute, but Owens said that he wasn’t able to get white kneepads in time and didn’t have access to cowboy boots.
“GRAVES: I love the tribute, the reference to the elbow pad. You just needed the white knee pads on the outside of your jeans.
“OWENS: I know I couldn’t, I couldn’t get them. Also, I didn’t have cowboy boots either. So I thought yeah, you pointed it out you [bleep].
“GRAVES: But I knew I knew what you were going for. That’s why I brought it forward. I was trying to help a lot.
“OWENS: I tried to wear the kneepads outside of my jeans, but with the running shoes, it really doesn’t look as cool.”
If you use any quotes from this transcription, please credit WWE After the Bell and link back to this article with a h/t to Inside the Ropes.