Kevin Owens has gone through a series of ups and downs since debuting on the main roster; one of the low points of his tenure was losing in a matter of seconds to Bill Goldberg. This moment was a stark contrast from debuting with his NXT Championship and confronting John Cena, only to shockingly defeat him cleanly at his first main roster event, Elimination Chamber .
Owens lost his NXT Championship to Finn Balor at The Beast in the East in Japan, ending his 143-day reign. However, he quickly became a mainstay on the main roster, and defeated Ryback at Night of Champions to win the Intercontinental Championship just four months after debuting on the main roster. He kept the title for nearly three months, before losing it to Dean Ambrose and regaining it on the February 15, 2016, edition of Raw . He lost the title in a seven-man ladder match at WrestleMania 32 to Zack Ryder.
For a number of months leading up to his Universal Championship win, Kevin Owens saw himself in feuds that did not do too much to ascend him up the ladder, namely with names such as Sami Zayn, as well as teaming with Chris Jericho to compete against Enzo and Cass at SummerSlam 2016. While Owens stated during the WWE 365 Network Special that it was an honor working with one of his favorite competitors as a child, Chris Jericho, he was not happy that he was relegated to the opening match at the event, and was looking forward to next year. He also admitted that he should have appreciated working with Jericho more in the beginning, but ended up having the best moments of his WWE career with him.
RIGHT NOW on @WWENetwork : It’s the SERIES PREMIERE of #WWE365 highlighting the past year in @FightOwensFight ‘s journey! pic.twitter.com/RFVY5CqfgJ
— WWE Network (@WWENetwork) November 20, 2017
Kevin Owens Explains What He Thought Of Bill Goldberg
At this year’s WWE Fastlane event, Owens defended his Universal Championship against Goldberg. The match only lasted 22 seconds, as distraction from a returning Chris Jericho caused Goldberg to execute a spear and Jackhammer to Owens, and defeat him to win his first WWE championship in nearly 14 years.
Owens stated on WWE 365 that he “hated Bill Goldberg” growing up watching the Monday Night Wars. However, he added that if someone told him that he would be defending the WWE Universal Championship against Goldberg one day, he would not believe it. Owens explained that it is amazing how things come full circle, as he was indeed able to compete against Goldberg in a match for the title.
[Featured Image by WWE]
