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Chris Jericho Explains Why Kevin Owens Is Ideal Opponent For Steve Austin

By TJR Staff • Published 10th March 2022
Steve Austin and Kevin Owens

According to Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens is the perfect opponent for ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin as the WWE legend looks to return to action at WrestleMania 38.

On March 8th, ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin accepted Kevin Owens’ challenge to meet him on a special WrestleMania edition of the KO Show, that he would “open up one last can of whoop-ass” on the former Universal Champion. While it is currently unknown if Austin’s return will be for a full match, or a brawl during the KO Show, one thing that is clear is that ‘The Texas Rattlesnake’ is coming back with a purpose.

One man who has clashed with Austin many times in the squared circle is Chris Jericho. In fact, the former AEW World Champion also has an extensive history with Kevin Owens as the two went from best friends to bitter enemies during Jericho’s last run in WWE.

During an appearance on The Kurt Angle Show (available via AdFreeShows), ‘The Demo God’ commented on Austin coming out of retirement and discussed why he believes Kevin Owens is the perfect opponent for the WWE legend.

“He’s the best guy for the job. He’s one of the only guys for the job because, first of all, if Steve does come back, he’s going to look like a killer. He’s going to be so big and jacked up, he’s not going to comeback and just be there wearing a shirt and shorts. He always told me, ‘If I go back, I don’t want to go back as anything less than before. If I go back, there’s going to be so much training going on, that I don’t want to comeback just for one.’ Maybe he wants to comeback for two, I don’t know, maybe he doesn’t comeback at all.

“If he does, who is he going to work? You look at the guys on the roster, he’s not going to work with Brock because he doesn’t need to get dumped on his head. Nobody wants to see that. He’s not going to work with Goldberg because you don’t want to put those guys from the same generation out there. I would never work…I work with other guys because I remember when Matt Hardy came in, ‘we don’t need to see a Jericho vs. Matt Hardy match. We don’t need to see Jericho vs. Christian.’ We’ve seen them. We need to see Matt Hardy and Sammy, Jericho and Kingston.”

Jericho went on to say that Owens is not only the perfect adversary inside the ring, but he is also one of the few who can go toe-to-toe with Austin on the microphone.

“If Steve comes in, the best guy for the job is Kevin Owens because Kevin will sell it on the mic, he can go toe-to-toe with Steve. He has a comedy element to him that Steve has as well and probably really have because he can use that to his advantage because Kevin will sell perfectly. You can’t do that with Roman Reigns.

“Kevin will be able to work with Steve exactly the way that Steve needs and can work, which is meat and potatoes. That’s Kevin Owens. he can do some flying and flipping, but if you ask him, he’d probably rather punch and kick you in the corner and that’s Steve’s whole offensive plan. I think it’s a great idea and I would love to see it happen. Kevin has been using (the Stunner) for a while because Steve allowed him to. There’s your story. You want a realistic story, you have it right there.”

H/T to Fightful for the above transcription.