Kevin Owens meant what he said about Sami Zayn on WWE Raw.
Owens and Zayn have known each other for years, even before they came to WWE. They teamed up together in Ring of Honor, and they had a memorable feud with each other. In WWE, they have clashed with each other on several occasions, and they have also joined forces at different points. Their rivalry has been reignited as Owens has targeted The Bloodline. Zayn cost Owens the WarGames match at WWE Survivor Series, and the following night on Raw, Owens told his foe that he was simply done with him.
Speaking on WWE After The Bell with Corey Graves, Owens commented on his message and noted that it came from the heart. He sated that they have helped each other throughout their careers, but they have also held each other back, given the way they're constantly paired together in people's minds. Owens recalled how, years ago, when Zayn got backstage heat for something, Owens got some of the heat, too. He then circled back and emphasized that it's time for them to be done as a duo, as Zayn is thriving on his own now, and their careers shouldn't be lumped together anymore.
"At this point, on Monday, what I said came from the heart. We’ve done this for a long time, we’ve really helped each other throughout our careers a lot, but 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’ll tell you this, back in 2017, in people’s minds, he and I were so one that if he got heat backstage for something, I’d get the heat too. Even if I had nothing to do with it. We got kicked off a Europe tour once, together, for something that...I don’t think either of us had anything to be blamed for, but I was barely involved. It was just, ‘get those guys out of here.’ It wasn’t just, ‘Get one of them. Both of them.’ Literally, that aspect of what I said on Monday stands. It’s just time to be done. He’s thriving. I meant that 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 people so long to take notice and get the credit he deserves because he’s been incredible in WWE the whole time, but the last few months have obviously opened people’s eyes and it’s great, but I don’t think it’s optimal for our careers to be parallel anymore," Owens said.
Owens went on to describe how, even when they've tried to go their separate ways in the past, they always find a way back to each other. He noted that their match at Battleground 2016 was supposed to be the last one, but they have continued to face each other over the years.
"I kind of think we both tried to separate ourselves for a long time and it just never worked out, somehow we’d always find a way back to each other. This is 2016, we had a match at Battleground, and everyone; the commentators were talking about it, everyone backstage was talking about it, Vince McMahon was saying, ‘this is your last one. We’re going to do this one and this is it.’ How many matches have we had since then?" Owens said.
While they have been on opposite sides of Owens' war with The Bloodline, Owens and Zayn last faced each other in a singles match in 2021, when they clashed on the July 2 episode of WWE SmackDown. This bout was the culmination of their feud at the time; they had also faced off at WrestleMania 37 and Hell in a Cell 2021.
Owens recently commented on his knee issues. Check out his comments here.
In an interview, The Undertaker praised Zayn's work with The Bloodline. Click here to see what he had to say.
Zayn recently commented on why he works so well with The Bloodline. More information is available here.
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