Kevin Owens Says It’s “Unreal” To Be Facing Steve Austin

Kevin Owens has discussed his upcoming face-off with Steve Austin, revealing that he “played the long game” when it came to getting that WrestleMania moment.

‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin retired from the ring almost two decades ago following his final match against The Rock at WrestleMania 19. Despite being given many offers to return to action, Austin resisted temptation and seemed to be content in his retirement.

However, things changed early in 2022 as it was reported that WWE had approached ‘The Texas Rattlesnake’ about a comeback and he had accepted the offer. It was later revealed that Austin would clash with Kevin Owens who had been making disparaging comments about Texas for several weeks.

While it is still unknown exactly how Austin plans to confront Owens – with his WrestleMania return currently being advertised as a special edition of the KO Show – ‘The Bionic Redneck’ has promised to “open one last can of whoop-ass” on the former Universal Champion.

Speaking to Daniel Cormier and Ryan Clark, Kevin Owens has discussed how much it meant to him for Austin to give him his blessing to use his Stunner finishing move in 2019. He also admitted that he knew at that time that he was putting himself at the front of the line to be Austin’s opponent should he ever return to the ring.

“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 favour,”

Recently on Raw, Owens dressed up as Steve Austin to mock the WWE Hall of Famer. Appearing complete with bald cap and knee braces, one of which was undone, as Austin’s always seemed to be.

Owens explained that the segment saw him step out of his comfort zone, but he had a lot of fun doing it.

“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.”

The special edition of the KO Show is set to headline night one of WrestleMania 38 on April 2nd. On the same night, Becky Lynch will defend her Raw Women’s Championship against Bianca Belair, and Seth Rollins will battle a mystery opponent. It has long been speculated that this opponent will be a returning Cody Rhodes.

H/T to Fightful for the above transcription.