WWE News: Hall Of Famer Gets A Bit Critical In Grading Kevin Owens’ Stunner
Over the course of the last few months, longtime wrestling fans have likely seen a number of old-school finishing maneuvers brought back into play. Dolph Ziggler has started using Sweet Chin Music. Ricochet began using the Codebreaker made famous by Chris Jericho. Kevin Owens has also started using the Stone Cold Stunner, and one legend ended up being a little bit critical in grading his execution of the move.
It has actually been rather interesting for longtime wrestling fans as some of these moves haven’t been seen in a long time. As more and more of the finishing moves started being used, The Inquisitr reported that Vince McMahon has wanted to put a stop to current superstars taking any other moves from legends.
Vince wants his current crop of talent to be more creative and come up with their own unique movesets.
Owens had been using the Pop-Up Powerbomb as his finisher for years, but he has started to venture out to the Stone Cold Stunner. It’s a move that was obviously made famous by one of the greatest WWF/WWE superstars of all time in “The Rattlesnake,” but KO hasn’t exactly perfected it just yet.
As a matter of fact, there is one person who has decided to be critical of Owens and grade the move – Stone Cold Steve Austin.
A couple of years ago, Austin said that he would be fine with anyone using the Stunner if they could do it right. When Owens started using it as his finisher, fans began wondering what the former WWE Champion thought of his execution, and The Wrap asked him about it.
“I would give it a B+. I’m a huge K.O. fan, but I’ve seen a couple of the deliveries that have been a little off.”
Now, no true wrestling professional is going to come right out and say that another superstar is doing their move perfectly. Not to mention the fact that letting Owens know he is a “little off” with some of his Stunners will give the former WWE Universal Champion something to work on.
Austin went on to say that it’s very possible that Owens could end up perfecting the move if he keeps working on it.
“He’s timing it up and he’s coming up — he’s got a little bit of a different finesse to it than I did. But I soon think he’ll achieve A to A+ status if practice makes perfect, and they gotta let him turn that thing loose.”
“I enjoy watching him use it and I’m glad someone is using it. And I’m glad it’s him.”
While it hasn’t been confirmed that Vince McMahon has stopped any other superstars from taking the moves of legends, Kevin Owens is safe with the Stunner. It’s one thing to break out a new finishing move, but it’s an entirely different thing to try and emulate that of a legend. If you can get the blessing of Stone Cold Steve Austin to use the Stunner, it’s best to work on it and get it as close to perfect as possible.