WWE superstar Kevin Owens recently spoke with Darren, Daunic, and Chase about a number of pro-wrestling related topics, including his approach to working inside the WWE ThunderDome and how important his run in NXT was for his career. Highlights from the interview are below.
His approach to wrestling in the ThunderDome:
“For me, I was kind of lucky in a way because it took me a good 15 years wrestling on the independents before I got to WWE. For those 15 years, I ended wrestling in front of very small crowds sometimes, as little as 20 people. When we got into that setting where we were wrestling practically in front of 15 or 20 crew members and that was about it, it wasn’t that foreign to me to wrestle in front of a small crowd. What I did, I started using the camera crew, the tech guys, everyone, the announcers…I started using them as my audience because all of those guys have been with WWE for so long. I know that if what I’m doing is entertaining them in some way and those guys come up to me and say, ‘Hey, that’s good stuff,’ they’ve seen it all so I know that I’m putting out quality work and that the people at home are most likely enjoying it as well. That’s how I attacked it.”
How important his NXT run was:
“It was really crucial because even though I was only there for a few months really – I was 15 years in when I got to NXT after signing with WWE, so I had a good bit of experience already. But NXT and the Performance Center, where you start honing your craft and learn the WWE way of doing things, that building and NXT as a brand, it’s all about developing skills and talent and giving them a new level of skill. Guys like Dusty Rhodes, and Robbie Brookside, and Terry Taylor – there’s so many great coaches there. So even there I was only there for eight or nine months, I really benefited from being there and learning from those guys so once I showed up on RAW, I went toe to toe with John Cena immediately. Those few months there were crucial in getting ready for that. It was very important to my career.”
(H/T and transcribed by 411 Mania)