Kevin Owens found himself dominant his very first night in NXT back in 2014, defeating CJ Parker (now known as Juice Robinson) at TakeOver: R Evolution before ruining Sami Zayn’s championship celebration following the main event. Instead of celebrating the fact that his friend had won NXT gold for the first time in his career, Owens turned on Zayn, delivering a brutal pop-up powerbomb onto the ring apron. He captured the NXT Championship from Zayn two months later.
NXT gold was only the beginning for Kevin Owens in WWE as the star has gone on to hold both the Intercontinental and United States Championships, as well as becoming WWE Universal Champion in 2016. He is currently assigned to WWE Raw, where he recently competed alongside Johnny Gargano, reuniting their popular independent wrestling tag team the Panda Express.
Shawn Michaels Asked Kevin Owens To Make A Special WWE NXT Appearance Ahead Of Halloween Havoc
In addition to his in-ring accomplishments, Kevin Owens regularly takes to the microphone when hosting The Kevin Owens show. Ahead of the October 18th episode of WWE NXT, Owens revealed on social media that he’d received a call from Shawn Michaels, who serves as Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative behind the scenes of WWE’s developmental brand.
According to Owens, Michaels asked him to host a special episode of The Kevin Owens Show to interview the three men who’ll face off in a triple threat match for the NXT Championship at Halloween Havoc. Owens agreed, and the NXT fans were delighted to see him back in the black and gold brand.
The interview with Bron Breakker, Ilja Dragunov, and JD McDonagh was filled with tension, with Owens insisting that he wanted anyone but McDonagh to be the champion, hours after blocking the former Jordan Devlin on social media. Dragunov revealed that his hitting Bron Breakker during last week’s episode was no mistake, and that he intended to regain championship gold as he was never defeated before being forced to relinquish the NXT UK Championship prior to its unification with the NXT Championship at Worlds Collide.
The segment ended in chaos, with Ilja Dragunov standing tall with the NXT Championship above his head. However, NXT fans were in for one more surprise when Money in the Bank winner Austin Theory made a surprise appearance, holding his briefcase high in a tease that he might go after the NXT Championship at Halloween Havoc instead of continuing to target Roman Reigns.