Kevin Owens played the long game with the Stunner.
Owens started using the Stunner, with a blessing from Steve Austin, in 2019 as his finisher to replace the pop-up powerbomb.
Fast forward a few years and now Owens will be standing across the ring from Austin at WrestleMania 38.
Speaking to Daniel Cormier and Ryan Clark, Owens discussed what it means for him to be in the same ring as Austin in Texas.
"It's unreal to find myself in this position. What's funny is, when I first asked him if I could use the Stunner as the finishing move and he gave me his blessing, it meant a lot to me personally and professionally coming from him because I looked up to him for the longest time. I did figure that, if at some point he were to come back, the logic would be that he would be involved with the guy doing the Stunner. I played the long game a little bit and it worked out in my favor," he said.
On the March 21 episode of WWE Raw, Owens took his Austin impression beyond the finishing move, donning a bald head and tricking the crowd into believing that they would be seeing Austin. It was not meant to be as it was just Owens acting as Austin.
Speaking about the impression, Owens said, "It's really funny because that's really not the kind of stuff I'm used to doing. That's happened before when one of the wrestlers would dress up as someone else, like their rivals, The Miz did it a few years ago, DX has done it, a couple of people have done it and done it well. It was me stepping out of my comfort zone a little, but I figured it was the most impactful thing I do going into the match or confrontation, but it ended up being a lot of fun. I think I pissed a lot of people off, which is delightful."
On Monday's WWE Raw, Owens noted that the KO Show with Austin would be the "main event" of WrestleMania Saturday. Fans can view the current lineup for the show by clicking here.
If you missed anything from Monday's WWE Raw, check out Fightful's full report on the show by clicking here.
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