WWE superstar and former Universal Champion Kevin Owens recently appeared on the After The Bell podcast to discuss his relationship with longtime rival/friend, Sami Zayn. The Prizefighter doubles down on his comments made on Raw when he said he was done with the Honoary Uce, adding that their careers being linked for so long has finally taken a toll on him. Highlights from the interview can be found below.
Says he can’t blame Zayn for doing what he did at Survivor Series:
I really can’t blame him for everything I’ve done to him over the last 20 years. And I’m talking before WWE as well. So yes, the sentiment I really had is just our careers really have been linked forever. And in WWE, even if you just look at the last eight years from the moment I started NXT to now, even when we’re not on the same show, our careers are somehow parallel, people still lump us together
How linked their careers have been:
I think we’ve just done this for a long time. We’ve really helped each other throughout our careers a lot. We’ve probably held each other back as well, just because of the constant pairing in people’s minds, even when we’re not together. I know for a fact I’ll tell you this back in 2017; in people’s minds, he and I were so just one. If he got heat backstage for something, I’d get the heat too, even if I have nothing to do with it.
Recalls getting kicked off a European tour with Zayn:
We got kicked off a Europe tour once together, for something that I don’t think either of us had anything to really be blamed for, but I was barely involved in that. Like it’s just no, get those guys out of here. It wasn’t just get one of them, both of them. Because literally everything from that aspect, what I said Monday stands, I think it’s just time to be done
Says Zayn is thriving in WWE and fans can finally witness it:
He’s thriving. I meant when I said on Monday too. People are seeing the Sami Zayn that I’ve known was there for 20 years. I don’t know why it took so long for people to really take notice and really give him the credit he deserves because he’s been incredible in WWE the whole time he’s been here, but the last few months have obviously opened a lot of people’s eyes to him, and it’s great, but I just don’t think it’s optimal for our careers to be parallel anymore.
(H/T and transcribed by WrestleZone)