Rare are the opportunities for professional wrestlers to return home to perform in front of their home crowd. As soon as he learned that World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) was making a stop in Montreal, Kevin Owens started his seduction operation.
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Friday’s gala at the Bell Center will feature athletes from the SmackDown stable. “KO” is usually part of Raw, which holds its events on Mondays. The native of Marieville, however, would not have missed this for anything in the world.
“As soon as I heard that SmackDown was coming back to Montreal, I started begging the executives to send me too and they agreed. It’s really “fun” to be able to be there. It’s been too long since I had the chance to be in Montreal,” he said earlier this week.
Owens does not expect to appear on television on Friday. He should deliver a fight for the crowd after the gala, which should please the thousands of fans who will be there. It is also a little candy that he will offer himself.
Besides, the 38-year-old man will always remember his first gala.
“I still remember the first ‘show’ I attended, when I was 12, at the Montreal Forum in 1996. I remember all the fights, I remember lots of moments from the ‘show’, because it really is an unparalleled experience,” he said, hoping to see a large crowd cheering on his fellow wrestlers on Friday.
Like in hockey
A hockey fan, Kevin Owens pleased his father, his brother and his nephews by taking a box for the National Hockey League (NHL) draft which took place at the Bell Center in July.
Although he is not as keen on the sport as his family members, he was very happy to see the careers of other young athletes take off in Montreal, as he himself did a while ago. over 20 years.
“I’ve always loved hockey, I played it when I was little. When I discovered wrestling and started training, I stopped paying attention to any sport except wrestling,” said the Quebecer.
“To see the guys who get drafted, in a way, they must have felt the same way I did when I got the call from WWE. It really is a dream come true. It’s cool to see guys who have worked their whole lives to get there.”
In Montreal, Owens surprised Vancouver Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau, an avid wrestling fan, during a televised segment. The two men are still in contact, he said.
Changes
Now that Vince McMahon has been removed from WWE management, his daughter Stephanie and son-in-law Paul Levesque have taken over. Better known as Triple H, the latter breathes new life into the company’s product.
“The degree of psychology he brings to what we do, the vision he has of how we should perform or accomplish certain things, it’s really unique,” Owens said. I’ve met many, many people in the wrestling world who are good at the industry, but Triple H is really on another level.”
The character of the Quebecer could benefit from it. For the past few weeks, he seems more aggressive and ambitious than ever in the ring. Owens is ready to prove that he is indeed a threat.
“It’s less a new attitude than a return to basics. I’ve always liked that side when I had the chance to perform like that. I can’t wait to see where it goes and I’m going to give everything to make it a success.”