As ‘Saturday Night’s Main Event’ approaches, WWE star Kevin Owens has all the tools and none of the distractions

Kevin Owens can’t stand Cody Rhodes.

A man known for his short temper and willingness to act as a result, Owens has had a relatively slow burn when it comes to making sure Rhodes knows how he feels. As he prepares to face Rhodes for the WWE Championship at the newly revived “Saturday Night’s Main Event,” there is a clarity that Owens has reached at this point in his career that seems to be guiding his actions: He’s not here for the festivities, the peacock. , or pomp and pageantry. He wants to win without distraction, succeed without interruption, and make sure that anything he considers dishonest is done away with.

In his estimation, Rhodes has gone from conquering hero to arrogant ass in record time. Part of the problem is that Owens feels like he’s been in the same position and needed someone to bring him down. “Who calls himself QB1?” Owens asks quizzically Cody’s self-written status as WWE Champion. “Who gets the letters ‘QB’ stitched on their own jacket? Nobody goes around calling Cody Rhodes a quarterback. That’s what he calls himself. I just think it’s so crazy.

“He’s the one who left in 2016 because he wasn’t happy. He didn’t like the opportunities, he didn’t like the way he was portrayed, all that. And he came back. He was always obsessed with being top guy being a quarterback whatever you want to call it I was there obsessed like that and all that I realized it wasn’t very healthy my point of view changed but I don’t know there’s a limit to , how much arrogance I could stand.

It’s not like Owens is on cruise control. It’s just that now he knows when to hit the gas and when to hit the brakes. Admittedly, it wasn’t always his strong point. Owens tore his way through promotions, titles and friends throughout the independent scene, earning an impossible number of championships from 2003 to 2014. He is perhaps best known for his work in Ring of Honor and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, becoming a four-time world champion between the two campaigns. But in a twist, his frustrations and desire to be the top act, specifically in Ring of Honor, led to a blood feud between himself and best friend/tag team partner, Sami Zayn. The two feuded across independents, in NXT, and throughout their time on WWE’s main roster. But the constant was that desire for more, that need to feel like he was the very best, and to stop at absolutely nothing to prove that point.

Owens’ balls-to-the-wall, leave-no-bone-unbroken style was a hit on the indies, and there were fears that in WWE he would be asked to tone down the things that made him so good. That turned out to be untrue as he still superkicks, piledrives and powerbombs with the same intensity that got him noticed in the first place. “Something I’ll always remember, (former NXT General Manager) William Regal coming to a PWG show, watching the show and saying, ‘There’s a lot of things I see that I would do differently or that I wouldn’t do that necessarily, but the audience loves it,” says Owens.

“So he didn’t knock it. He just said, ‘Obviously, everyone who paid for the ticket loves it.’ I think that’s a positive way to influence the future generation.”

Regal’s optimism proved correct. Owens became NXT Champion, a multiple United States and Intercontinental Champion, and teamed with Zayn to defeat The Usos for the Undisputed Tag Team Titles at “WrestleMania 39.” But the ultimate prize is the WWE’s Universal Championship, which through lineage is now part of the WWE Championship timeline. He is won it onceand has had several chances to reach that status again, but has always seemed to be thwarted by one team or faction, most recently Roman Reigns and The Bloodline. But “Saturday Night’s Main Event” gives Owens the opportunity to once again become champion without all the outside noise affecting him.

Rhodes does not have a family to support him. It is simply who is the best man and who can prove it at the moment.

“When I go to work, I’m more concerned about delivering what’s asked of me,” Owens says, “as opposed to 2015, 2016, 2017. I was really obsessed with, well, delivering, but I wanted to deliver. because I wanted to get more opportunities and I wanted to get bigger and I wanted to be the biggest star that I could be and be number one. It has changed in the sense that I have got so much done.Now I’m just really happy to be on the show and give people memorable times and good TV.

“I’m still hungry though. I still wanted another run as champion. It’s been a while and I’d love to be in that spot and see how I can deliver in that spot.”

For decades, WWE operated on the idea that you have your very best stars and everyone else can fill in the pieces. The Attitude Era, with its litany of title changes and the amount of people involved in major programs, eventually gave way to a generation of talent called upon to do anything and everything. The Miz could be WWE Champion, then head to the tag team scene. Natayla always could function as a top candidate for a women’s title, work on helping new talent find their footing. And Kevin Owens – prizefighter in name, attitude and intent – could step away from his personal pursuits and be one half of WWE’s most beloved bromance.

At every turn, every opportunity, Owens put his best foot forward and elevated the material he was given. In his estimation, it is not a unique talent, but what everyone should strive for, as long as it is done to uplift themselves and the company. “Everybody’s goal in wrestling … should be (to be) as versatile as possible, because of course that opens a lot of doors. Although at times I would say it might even work against you, to be honest, due to the nature of this industry. However, it is something you want. You want to know a little bit of everything. You want to be versatile and you want to be able to live up to expectations.

“I want to be as useful as I can be to the show I’m on. I want to contribute as much as I can. And selfishly, I want to feel fulfilled and I want to feel like I’m doing something good. I want to be a part of good things just for my own personal enjoyment.”

As we approach Saturday night, Owens is at the peak of his powers and the peak of his influence.

And he is not alone.

His era of Ring of Honor and Pro Wrestling Guerilla talent is at the forefront of modern professional wrestling. Bryan Danielson seemingly ended one of the most amazing careers in recent memory by losing the AEW World Championship in October. The Young Bucks’ influence led to the creation of AEW itself. Sami Zayn has been the emotional anchor in the industry’s ongoing top story, and the Motor City Machine Guns have elevated WWE’s loaded tag team division. So as Owens, the group’s biggest solo talent outside of Danielson and AJ Styles, examines their legacy and success, the talent was always there for him; it’s just always been about the timing to have all that talent at the top at once.

“I’m not surprised by any of the guys’ success. Although I will say that the Machine Guns coming to WWE recently was really surreal,” says Owens, “because it’s almost like we all made it.

“A lot of us from back then all made it to the mainstream wrestling level or whatever, but the Guns, the Machine Guns, they had done TNA but they never made it to WWE. I guess you assume after a while time that it’s not going to happen Not because they weren’t good enough they’ve always been top talent in the wrestling world but I don’t know for some reason it’s not in the cards or the timing Something like that that they finally had to end here, it was pretty crazy.

“And yet when I watch them on ‘SmackDown,’ it’s like, oh yeah, of course those guys are here. It’s like they’ve always been here because they probably always should have been here.”

Owens could very well walk out of The Nassau Coliseum on Saturday night as the WWE Champion. He could win the Royal Rumble and then win the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania. He could challenge Steve Austin to one WrestleMania main event rematch. There is no ceiling on Owens, as he has proven time and time again that if given the chance, he would just punch the damn ring. He is absolutely capable of filling any role at any time and wears it like a badge of honor.

What Owens wants most now, whether it’s a title match or not, is more time. More time to fight, more time to grow and more time to experience what has brought so much joy to him, his family and his peers. “I’ve never had a singles match with Rey Mysterio,” Owens says, speaking of the only active wrestler whose shirts he will wear unironically. “I can’t imagine my career ending without getting to do that. … The Young Bucks are guys that I would love to wrestle again. PAC is someone I would love to wrestle again. Finn Bálor, I don’t have wrestled Finn for a long time and I love to wrestle Finn Bálor I would love to have the chance to wrestle Finn Bálor at WrestleMania.

“My main goal for the rest of my career is to have the best time I can and give the fans the best memories possible to look back on when I’m done. That’s really what drives my career and drives my motivation for the rest of my career.my career i have really achieved much more than i ever thought i would.

What he has achieved will be achieved.

Owens is one of wrestling’s ultimate utility players, and he’s always one play away from new recognition.