Kevin Owens

Not to be confused with Kevin Owen. For the basketball player, see Kevin Owens (basketball).

Kevin Owens
File:Kevin Steen July 2014.jpg Kevin Steen (now Owens) in July 2014
Birth name	Kevin Steen
Born	(1984-05-07) May 7, 1984 Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada
Spouse(s)	Karina Steen (m. 2007)
Children	2
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Kevin Owens Kevin Steen Big Show
Billed height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Billed weight	266 lb (121 kg)
Billed from	Marieville, Quebec, Canada
Trained by	Carl Ouellet Jacques Rougeau Serge Jodoin Terry Taylor
Debut	May 7, 2000

Kevin Steen (born May 7, 1984) is a Canadian professional wrestler. He is signed to the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, where he performs under the ring name Kevin Owens and is a former WWE Intercontinental Champion. Prior to joining WWE in 2014, Steen wrestled under his birth name for Ring of Honor, where he held the ROH World Championship and ROH World Tag Team Championship. He also wrestled extensively on the independent circuit for 14 years, including stints in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, where he held the PWG World Championship and PWG World Tag Team Championship, and Combat Zone Wrestling, where he held the CZW Iron Man Championship. Prior to debuting on the main WWE roster in May 2015, Owens wrestled in WWE's developmental branch NXT, where he held the NXT Championship.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (2000–2004)

Steen first developed an interest in professional wrestling after watching a match between Shawn Michaels and Diesel at WrestleMania XI at the age of 11. Three years later, his parents allowed him to start training with Serge Jodoin, a wrestler based in Quebec. The following year, he began training with Jacques Rougeau. He also trained with Terry Taylor, whom he has called his "main trainer". Steen had his first match on his sixteenth birthday in L'Assomption, Quebec on May 7, 2000. Steen trained with Rougeau and wrestled for Rougeau's promotion for four years, before beginning to wrestle with several other Canadian promotions, including the International Wrestling Syndicate.

Combat Zone Wrestling (2004–2006, 2008)

Steen in December 2004

Steen made his Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) debut on September 10, 2004 at the High Stakes event. He lost in a fatal four-way match featuring El Generico, Excess, and SeXXXy Eddy, the latter of which was victorious in that match. He continued to make appearances with CZW and soon began teaming with El Generico against Super Dragon and Excalibur.

On May 14, 2005, Steen took part in the "CZW Best of the Best tournament" and he advanced to the finals after defeating Kenny The Bastard in the first round and Chris Hero in the second round. He was unable to clench the trophy, however, as he lost in the finals, which was a fatal four-way match involving B-Boy, Super Dragon, and Mike Quackenbush. Quackenbush won the match.

A few months later in August, Steen won his first championship in CZW. He pinned Franky The Mobster to win the CZW Iron Man Championship. He went on to defend the championship in individual matches against Nate Webb, El Generico, Chris Sabin, and Super Dragon. He also defended it in a match involving Necro Butcher, D.J. Hyde, B.J. Whitmer, and The Messiah.

In a cage match held at CZW Trapped involving The Canadians, The Blackout, The Forefathers of CZW, and Eddie Kingston, Steen lost the Ironman Championship to female wrestler LuFisto. He lost the championship one day shy of having a year-long reign. He then departed for a tour with Dragon Gate, and didn't return to CZW until February 2008 when he made a one–time appearance and fought Vordell Walker to a no contest.

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (2005–2008, 2010–2014)

While wrestling in CZW, Steen also began working for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG). On May 13, 2005, at Jason Takes PWG, Steen was entered into his first feud in PWG, when he helped Excalibur defeat Super Dragon in a Guerrilla Warfare match, in the process revealing himself as the fake Super Dragon, who had been attacking the real one the past few months. On August 6, 2005, Steen won the PWG Championship after defeating A.J. Styles at Zombies [Shouldn't Run]. Steen held the title for nearly four months before losing the championship to Joey Ryan at Chanukah Chaos (The C's Are Silent), following interference from Super Dragon. Steen's feud with Super Dragon ended on December 16, 2005, at Astonishing X-Mas, where he was defeated in a Guerrilla Warfare match.

In 2006, Steen began teaming with El Generico and they began to pursue the PWG World Tag Team Championship. On July 29, 2007, at Giant Size Annual #4, Steen and Generico defeated the reigning champions PAC and Roderick Strong to become the PWG World Tag Team Champions. They successfully defended the belts for almost three months before ultimately losing them to the team of Davey Richards and Super Dragon on October 27 in England as part of PWG's "European Vacation II" tour. The next night, Steen teamed with PAC in an attempt to regain the belts from Dragon and Richards, announcing before the match that if he lost, he'd leave the company indefinitely. Steen and PAC lost, leading to Steen leaving PWG.

However, Steen returned to PWG and, along with El Generico, won the title for a second time, this time from The Dynasty (Joey Ryan and Scott Lost) on March 21, 2008 in an impromptu match. Steen and Generico became the first team in PWG history to be a part of the annual "Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament" to defend the belts in each match they had. In the tournament finals, they lost the title to Jack Evans and Roderick Strong, thus ending their second reign. Finally, Steen left PWG. According to him, he could not wrestle for ROH and PWG at the same time and chose ROH because of the money and the exposure.

File:KevinSteen2011cropped.png

Steen at a GCW event in December 2011

When Steen left ROH in 2010, his friend Super Dragon asked him to wrestle in PWG and Steen agreed. On December 11, 2010, Steen wrestled Akira Tozawa for his first PWG win in two years. He has since returned to a more prominent role in the company after a few sporadic years (having only made five appearances between 2009 and 2010). On January 29, 2011, Steen was defeated by Chris Hero at PWG's annual WrestleReunion-sponsored event. Later that evening, after a four-way tag team match to determine which of four teams would enter the 2011 DDT4 tournament, Steen ran out to attack the eventual winners, the RockNES Monsters (Johnny Goodtime and Johnny Yuma), before declaring his intention of winning the DDT4 tournament. On February 2, 2011, it was announced that Steen would be teaming with Akira Tozawa for the tournament, which took place on March 4. In their first round match, Steen and Tozawa, known collectively as the Nightmare Violence Connection, scored an upset victory over the Briscoe Brothers (Jay and Mark Briscoe). After another upset victory over the ROH World Tag Team Champions, The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli), Steen and Tozawa made it to the finals of the tournament, where they were, however, defeated by The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson). On July 23 at PWG's eighth anniversary show, Steen first defeated PAC in a singles match, before teaming with CIMA to defeat PWG World Tag Team Champions, The Young Bucks, in a non-title match. After Claudio Castagnoli had defeated Chris Hero in the main event of the evening to retain the PWG World Championship, Steen challenged him to a match and, in his third match of the night, defeated him to win the PWG World Championship for the second time. At the following event on August 20, Steen entered the 2011 Battle of Los Angeles, defeating Dave Finlay and Eddie Edwards in his first round and semifinal matches. Later that same night, Steen was defeated in the finals by old rival El Generico. On September 10, Steen made his first PWG World Championship defense, defeating former champion Davey Richards. On October 22, Steen lost the PWG World Championship to El Generico in a ladder match, following interference from The Young Bucks. After the match Super Dragon made his first appearance in over three years by saving Steen with the two accepting The Young Bucks' challenge for a Guerrilla Warfare match. On December 10, Steen and Dragon, known collectively as "Appetite for Destruction", defeated The Young Bucks in a Guerrilla Warfare match to win the PWG World Tag Team Championship. On March 17, Steen defeated El Generico and Eddie Edwards in a three-way match to win the PWG World Championship for the third time. Steen made his first title defense on April 21, defeating Sami Callihan in an open challenge. On May 25, Steen successfully defended the PWG World Championship against Brian Cage-Taylor. That same night, Steen and Dragon were stripped of the PWG World Tag Team Championship, after Dragon was sidelined with a heel fracture. On July 21 at Threemendous III, PWG's ninth anniversary event, Steen made his third successful defense of the PWG World Championship against Willie Mack. On September 1, Steen was eliminated from the 2012 Battle of Los Angeles in the first round by Ricochet, following a distraction from Brian Cage. After having his championship belt stolen from him by the 2012 Battle of Los Angeles winner Adam Cole, Steen successfully defended the title in a three-way match against Michael Elgin and Ricochet on October 27, after which he challenged Cole to a match for December 1. On December 1, Steen lost the PWG World Championship to Adam Cole in a Guerrilla Warfare match. After El Generico had agreed to a deal with WWE, he and Steen reunited one more time on January 12, 2013, by entering the 2013 Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament. After wins over the Briscoe Brothers and Future Shock (Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly), they were defeated in the finals of the tournament by The Young Bucks. On August 31, Steen turned heel and formed a new stable named "The Mount Rushmore of Wrestling" with PWG World Champion Adam Cole and PWG World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks. On July 26, 2014, Steen was defeated by Trevor Lee in his PWG farewell match.

Ring of Honor

Teaming and feuding with El Generico (2007–2010)

Main article: Kevin Steen and El Generico

On February 17, 2007, Steen returned to Ring of Honor, teaming with El Generico in a losing effort to the Briscoe Brothers. On April 14, Mark Briscoe returned in the middle of a match between Steen and Generico and his brother Jay and Erick Stevens. Mark was attacked by the duo, however, and was pinned by Steen after a package piledriver. On May 11, Steen (as a heel) and Generico (as a face) defeated Jason Blade and Eddie Edwards. At Respect is Earned, Steen and El Generico defeated The Irish Airborne (Jake and Dave Crist), Pelle Primeau and Mitch Franklin, and Jimmy Rave and Adam Pearce in a Tag Team Scramble dark match. That same night, Steen and El Generico brawled with the Briscoe Brothers, ending with Mark Briscoe suffering a mild concussion from a steel chair shot. At Driven, the Briscoe Brothers defeated Steen and El Generico to retain the ROH World Tag Team Championship. Steen and Generico then suffered three consecutive losses to the Briscoes at Caged Rage in a Steel Cage match, Manhattan Mayhem II in a two out of three falls match, and Man Up in a ladder match. Their only tag team win over the Briscoes was at Death Before Dishonor V Night 1 in a non–title Boston Street Fight.

File:Steenerico.jpg

Steen (left) and Generico (right) teaming together in 2008

On June 6, 2008, Steen and Generico participated in a one night tournament to crown new ROH World Tag Team Champions. They defeated Go Shiozaki and ROH World Champion Nigel McGuiness in the first round and Chris Hero and Adam Pearce in the second round before losing to Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black in the finals.

On June 27 in Dayton, Ohio, Steen and Generico defeated The Age of the Fall's Tyler Black and Joey Matthews when Steen pinned Matthews following the package piledriver. The next day in Chicago Ridge, Illinois, Steen and Generico were defeated by AOTF members Black and Necro Butcher when Butcher pinned Steen following a roll up and a chair shot to the face from Black. On July 25, Steen faced off against ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness in a title match for the company's debut show in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, but Steen lost the match.

At a pay-per-view taping in Boston on September 19, Steen and Generico beat The Age of the Fall to finally win the ROH World Tag Team Championship. This also fulfilled Steen's promise of winning a title in ROH before the November 21 Dayton show. They lost the championship to The American Wolves (Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards) at a television taping on April 10, 2009.

On December 19, 2009, at Final Battle 2009, ROH's first live pay-per-view, after a loss to The Young Bucks, Steen turned heel by attacking his tag team partner El Generico. Steen has since found a new partner in Steve Corino. At the following pay-per-view, The Big Bang!, Generico and Cabana defeated Steen and Corino via disqualification, when Steen used a chair on his former partner. On June 19 at Death Before Dishonor VIII, Steen defeated El Generico in a singles match. On September 11 at Glory By Honor IX Generico and Cabana defeated Steen and Corino in a Double Chain match, when Cabana forced Corino to tap out. After the match Steen attacked El Generico and unmasked him. On December 18 at Final Battle 2010 Steen and Generico ended their year–long feud in an unsanctioned Fight Without Honor, where Steen put his ROH career on the line against Generico's mask. However, Steen did not like the idea, because he would lose money if he lost, but in the end he agreed to the match, because he thought ROH would use Generico as a top wrestler after the feud. In the end El Generico won the match and thus forced Steen out of ROH. The feud was voted by Wrestler Observer Newsletter as the Best Feud of the year.

Prior to the outcome, on November 4, 2010, Kevin Steen's contract agreement with Ring of Honor ended due to financial budget concerns, which ultimately played a role within the stipulations of the match. Steen wrote most of the El Generico rivalry storyline himself, though he claims that his poor relationship with new booker Jim Cornette, who had little interest in either Steen or Generico, resulted in a great deal of frustration for him. During the feud, ROH booker Adam Pearce promised Steen he would main event Final Battle, but Cornette made Davey Richards-Eddie Edwards the main event and Steen-Generico after the event. Steen also claims that Cornette "froze" him out of ROH, believing he was also keeping the promotion's president Cary Silkin in the dark on when Steen would be brought back.

Wrestling's Worst Nightmare (2011–2013)

Main article: S.C.U.M. (professional wrestling)

When Steen was pulled out of ROH events, ROH President Cary Silkin paid him every month. Cornette told Steen he would be brought back a few months later, so Steen lost 40 lb (18 kg), but when ROH was sold, Cornette told him to wait another six months. Steen was unhappy and ate a lot and gained a weight of 291 lb (132 kg). His contract expired on February 2011. After signing a new contract with the promotion, Steen returned to Ring of Honor on June 26, 2011, at Best in the World 2011, being introduced by Corino, who had turned face shortly after Steen's departure from the promotion and claimed that he needed redemption as well. However, ROH officials forced him to leave the arena before he could show that he was a changed man. After Corino was defeated by Michael Elgin, Steen ran in to save him from a beatdown at the hands of the House of Truth, but ended up turning on him and his sponsor Jimmy Jacobs. Afterwards, Steen was dragged out of the arena, while Jim Cornette swore that he would never again wrestle for ROH. The original idea was to introduce Steen as a rehab wrestler. However, Steen turned down the idea, because he did not "want to look like The Bravado Brothers". Though Steen was booked as the heel of the storyline, the fans took his side and instead booed Cornette. The storyline continued on July 22, when Steen invaded ROH's official message board, writing posts praising Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. On September 15 ROH's message board was "hacked" to redirect to a video, where Steen announced his intention of attending ROH's Death Before Dishonor IX the following weekend.

At the pay-per-view on September 17, Steen interrupted a match between El Generico and Jimmy Jacobs and called out Steve Corino, who was at the time wrestling in Japan, before powerbombing Jacobs on the ring apron. Steen was then confronted by Jim Cornette and ROH president Cary Silkin, whom he tried to Package Piledrive, before being ushered out of the arena by the security. On the November 5 episode of Ring of Honor Wrestling, Steen reappeared with Ohio Valley Wrestling talent Christian Mascagni as his legal adviser, threatening Jim Cornette and Ring of Honor with legal action unless he was reinstated within three weeks. On the December 3 episode of Ring of Honor Wrestling, Steen was granted a match with Steve Corino at Final Battle 2011, with his ROH future on the line. At the event, Steen defeated Corino, thus granting back his career in ROH. Afterwards, he delivered a package piledriver to Jimmy Jacobs, before putting El Generico through a table with the same maneuver. At the end of the evening, he confronted Davey Richards and promised to become the ROH World Champion in 2012. On March 4, 2012, at the 10th Anniversary Show, Steen defeated Jimmy Jacobs in a No Holds Barred match and ended the pay-per-view by having another confrontation with Davey Richards. Steen continued his win streak during the Showdown in the Sun weekend, first defeating El Generico, with help from Jimmy Jacobs, in a Last Man Standing match on March 30 and then Eddie Edwards in a singles match on March 31. On May 12 at Border Wars, Steen defeated Davey Richards to win the ROH World Championship for the first time, making him the first Canadian to hold the championship.

File:Kevin Steen and Eddie Edwards face off.jpg

Steen facing off with Eddie Edwards at Showdown in the Sun in 2012

Following the match, Steve Corino entered the ring and hugged Steen and Jacobs; the three men went on to form a stable later named S.C.U.M. (Suffering, Chaos, Ugliness, and Mayhem). Steen made his first successful title defense on June 15, defeating Eddie Edwards. On June 24 at Best in the World 2012: Hostage Crisis, Steen defeated Davey Richards to retain the ROH World Championship. At the following pay-per-view, Boiling Point on August 11, Steen successfully defended his title against Chikara Grand Champion Eddie Kingston. On September 15 at Death Before Dishonor X: State of Emergency, Steen made another successful title defense against Rhino. On October 6, a title match between Steen and Jay Lethal ended in a no contest in Lethal's home state of New Jersey, after which Steen spat at Lethal's parents, who were sitting at ringside. Seven days later at the following internet pay-per-view, Glory By Honor XI: The Unbreakable Hope, Steen made a successful title defense against Michael Elgin. Afterwards, Steen was delivered a box, which contained El Generico's mask. On December 16 at Final Battle 2012: Doomsday, Steen successfully defended the ROH World Championship against the returning El Generico in a ladder match. On March 2, 2013, at the 11th Anniversary Show, Steen defeated Jay Lethal in a grudge match to retain the ROH World Championship. On April 5 at Supercard of Honor VII, Steen lost the ROH World Championship to Jay Briscoe.

Final feuds (2013–2014)

File:Kevin Steen at ROH May 2013.jpg

Steen at a Ring of Honor event in 2013

At the following night's tapings of Ring of Honor Wrestling, S.C.U.M. turned on Steen, with Corino announcing that he would not be seen in ROH again. Steen, however, returned to ROH on May 4, now working as a face and replacing Jay Lethal in a tag team match, where he and Michael Elgin faced S.C.U.M.'s Cliff Compton and Jimmy Jacobs. The match ended with Jacobs pinning Steen for the win, after which Elgin walked out on him. Steen continued his rivalry with S.C.U.M. on June 22 at Best in the World 2013, where he was defeated by Matt Hardy in a No Disqualification match. The following day, Steen replaced The Briscoes due to injuries in a Steel Cage Warfare match and forced his former stable out of ROH, despite interference from Corino and Hardy, when he pinned Jimmy Jacobs to win the match and disband S.C.U.M. On August 3, Steen entered a tournament for the vacant ROH World Championship, defeating Brian Kendrick in his first round match. On August 17, Steen advanced to the semifinals of the tournament with a win over Roderick Strong. On September 20 at Death Before Dishonor XI, Steen was eliminated from the tournament by Michael Elgin. Following the tournament, Steen started feuding with Michael Bennett. The two faced off on October 26 at Glory By Honor XII, where Bennett was victorious, following a distraction from his girlfriend Maria Kanellis. On December 14 at Final Battle 2013, Steen defeated Bennett in a Stretcher match, where the loser would be forced to stop using the piledriver. On February 8, 2014, Steen earned a shot at the ROH World Championship by defeating Jay Lethal, Michael Elgin and Tommaso Ciampa in a four-way number one contender's match. Steen received his title match on May 10 in Toronto at Global Wars, but was defeated by the defending champion, Adam Cole. After losing to Shinsuke Nakamura at the Ring of Honor/New Japan Pro Wrestling co-produced War of the Worlds iPPV on May 17, Steen announced he was leaving ROH. This led to him being insulted and attacked by Silas Young. After defeating Young on June 22 at Best in the World 2014, Steen announced that his contract was up in a "month and a half". At the July 19 Ring of Honor Wrestling tapings, Steen defeated Steve Corino in his final ROH match.

WWE

NXT (2014–2015)

On August 12, 2014, WWE announced that Steen had signed with them and was due to report to their developmental system NXT on August 25. He was given the new ring name Kevin Owens, and NXT began airing promotional videos from November 20 to hype his upcoming debut; Owens detailed that he had wrestled for 14 years before making it to WWE, having faced (and formed a friendship with) several current WWE or NXT wrestlers on the independent circuit years ago, but WWE signed them first. Now that he was here, Owens declared that he would fight anyone and everyone, because fighting was the best way he could provide for his family.

At the NXT TakeOver: R Evolution live special episode on December 11, Owens defeated CJ Parker in his debut. During the match Parker legitimately gave Owens a broken nose with a Third Eye (palm strike). Still, later that night, when Sami Zayn (the former El Generico) won the NXT Championship, Owens came to the ring to congratulate Zayn before powerbombing him into the ring apron to establish himself as a heel (villainous character). On the December 18, 2014 episode of NXT, Owens wrestled former NXT champion Adrian Neville to a double count-out and powerbombed Neville into the apron after the match. After yet another post-match attack by Owens on Zayn, an irate Zayn demanded a match against Owens, but Owens refused to wrestle unless it was for the championship. Zayn agreed and a title match was set for NXT TakeOver: Rival on February 11, 2015. At the event, Owens captured the title (two months to the day after debuting) from Zayn via referee stoppage, having powerbombed a disorientated Zayn five times, and was stopped before he could execute a sixth. On the March 25 episode of NXT, he successfully retained the NXT title against Finn Bálor. At NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable, Owens' rematch for the title against Sami Zayn went to a no-contest after Owens continued to beat down an injured Zayn, until the debuting Samoa Joe stopped him. After weeks of tension between the two, Owens faced Joe on the June 17 episode of NXT. After the match went to a no contest, the two would continue to brawl until they had to be separated.

"Love him or hate him, you can't deny his impact on the first six months of 2015 – or wonder how high he'll climb by year's end. It's wrestling, folks. It's Kevin Owens ".

Kenny Herzog of Rolling Stone in July 2015

On the July 4 WWE Network special event held in Tokyo, Japan, Owens lost the NXT Championship to Finn Bálor, ending his reign at 143 days. At NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn, Owens had his rematch for the title in a ladder match against Bálor, but he failed to regain the title. This match would be the last match and appearance of Owens in NXT.

Intercontinental Championship feuds (2015–present)

Owens made his unannounced main roster debut on the May 18, 2015, episode of Raw responding to John Cena's United States Championship "Open Challenge", however, instead of competing in the match, Owens attacked Cena and stomped on the United States title belt in a show of disrespect, setting up a non–title match between the two at Elimination Chamber on May 31, which Owens won cleanly by pinfall. A rematch between the two took place, in June, at Money in the Bank, which Cena won, and after the match, Owens powerbombed Cena onto the ring apron. Owens later challenged Cena to a match for the United States Championship, which took place at Battleground, on July 20, which Cena won by submission, thus ending their feud. Following the loss to Cena, Owens entered a feud with Cesaro defeating him in two matches — at SummerSlam on August 23 and on an episode of Raw eight days after.

On September 20, at Night of Champions, Owens defeated Ryback to win his first singles title on the main roster, the Intercontinental Championship. Owens' first successful title defense came at a live special from Madison Square Garden when he defeated Chris Jericho after once again manipulating his opponents vision. On October 25, at Hell in a Cell, Owens successfully defended his championship in a rematch against Ryback. Owens then took part in the tournament for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship, in which he defeated Titus O'Neil and Neville, but lost to Dean Ambrose in the semifinals at Survivor Series.

After Dean Ambrose became the number one contender to the Intercontinental Championship, Owens lost the title to him at TLC on December 13. On the December 28 episode of Raw, Owens debuted a more aggressive persona, as he brutally assaulted Neville after losing to him in 21 seconds, until he was stopped by Ambrose. Later that night, Owens assaulted Ambrose after his match and powerbomb'd him through the announce table, while Michael Cole called Owens a "madman".

Other media

In 2012, Ring of Honor (ROH) released two 2 disc sets entitled Kevin Steen: Ascension to the Top, focusing on his first two years with the promotion, and Kevin Steen: Decent into Madness, covering his solo run from 2009–2010. In 2013, ROH released a DVD titled Kevin Steen: Hell Rising, which included both his best matches in the promotion and a shoot interview, in which Steen went into detail most notably about his relationship with Jim Cornette and his booking of ROH. The DVD was pulled from ROH's online store shortly after its release. It was made available again during the 2013 Christmas season. Following his departure, ROH release another 3 disc set entitled Thanks Steen Thanks, which featured matches from the end of his championship run through his final match with the company.

Personal life

Growing up in Marieville, Quebec, Steen is of French-Canadian heritage and speaks French as his first language. Steen participated in sports such as hockey, soccer, and baseball. He never considered developing a career out of any of those sports, especially soccer after suffering an injury at age 11. Instead, he considered becoming a professional wrestler after watching a VHS tape of WrestleMania XI with his father. Steen learned to speak English as a teenager from watching WWE Raw and mimicking the promos and commentary that he heard.

Steen and his wife Karina have a son named Owen (named after Owen Hart) and a daughter named Élodie Leila. In May 2008, at the end of the DDT4 Night One event, Steen's then-six-month-old son appeared in a segment with Excalibur, in which Excalibur called him ugly. Steen performed three consecutive package piledrivers on Excalibur before placing his son on top of Excalibur for the pin.

In wrestling

Steen (top) performing a cannonball on Twiggy

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Steen (top) performing a super rolling fireman's carry slam on Alessandro del Bruno

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Steen (right) superkicking Adam Cole

• Finishing moves
  • As Kevin Owens
    • Pop-up powerbomb
  • As Kevin Steen
    • F-Cinq (ROH) / Deep Sea Diverticulitis (PWG) (Spin-out fireman's carry facebuster) – 2012–2014
    • High-angle crossface – 2010
    • Package piledriver, sometimes from the top rope
    • Sharpshooter
    • Steenalizer (Package fallaway powerbomb, sometimes into the turnbuckles)

• Signature moves
  • Fallaway slam onto the barricade
  • Go Home Driver (ROH / PWG) / Scoop lift spun out into an over the shoulder back-to-belly piledriver (WWE)
  • High-angle senton bomb
  • Jumping double knee facebreaker
  • Moonsault, sometimes while performing a double jump
  • Multiple suplex variations
    • German
    • Sidewinder Suplex (Swinging leg hook belly-to-back suplex)
    • Sleeper
    • Swinging fisherman from the top rope – usually used as a superplex counter
  • Package lift spun into a sidewalk slam – 2015–present
  • Powerbomb into the ring apron – usually used to cause a storyline injury
  • Running cannonball
  • Running senton
  • Single knee fireman's carry gutbuster
  • Sitout scoop slam
  • Somersault leg drop
  • Somersault plancha
  • Steen Breaker (ROH / PWG) / Pumphandle neckbreaker (WWE)
  • Step-up enzuigiri
  • Superkick

• Nicknames
  • "The Anti-Christ of Pro Wrestling"
  • "Mr. Wrestling"
  • "Wrestling's Worst Nightmare"
  • "The Zoo Enthusiast"
  • "The Prizefighter"

• Entrance themes
  • "Tear Away" by Drowning Pool (CZW/PWG/ROH)
  • "Word Up!" by Korn (IWA-MS)
  • "Now You're a Man" by DVDA (PWG)
  • "Better" by Guns N' Roses (C*4/IWS)
  • "Unsettling Differences" by Blue Smock Nancy (ROH)
  • "Fight" by CFO$ (WWE/NXT; December 11, 2014–present)

Championships and accomplishments

File:ROH World Champion Kevin Steen.jpg

Steen is a former ROH World Champion

File:Kevin Owens March 2015.jpg

Steen (under the ring name Kevin Owens) as NXT Champion

• All American Wrestling
  • AAW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• Capital City Championship Combat
  • C*4 Championship (1 time)
  • C*4 Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Mike Bailey

• Combat Revolution Wrestling
  • CRW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Pat Skillz

• Combat Zone Wrestling
  • CZW Iron Man Championship (1 time)

• Elite Wrestling Revolution
  • EWR Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
  • Elite 8 Tournament (2005)

• International Wrestling Syndicate
  • IWS Canadian Championship (1 time)
  • IWS World Heavyweight Championship (3 times)

• North Shore Pro Wrestling
  • NSPW Championship (1 time)

• Pro Wrestling Guerrilla
  • PWG World Championship (3 times)
  • PWG World Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with El Generico (2) and Super Dragon (1)

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked him No. 10 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2013 and 2015

• Ring of Honor
  • ROH World Championship (1 time)
  • ROH World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with El Generico

• Rolling Stone
  • WWE Wrestler of the Year (2015)

• SoCal Uncensored
  • Match of the Year (2011) with Super Dragon vs. The Young Bucks on December 10
  • Wrestler of the Year (2005, 2011, 2012)

• Squared Circle Wrestling
  • 2CW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • 2CW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jason Axe

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • Best Brawler (2010–2012)
  • Feud of the Year (2010) vs. El Generico

• WWE
  • WWE Intercontinental Championship (1 time)
• WWE NXT
  • NXT Championship (1 time)

Lucha de Apuesta record

See also: Luchas de Apuestas

Winner (wager)	Loser (wager)	Location	Event	Date	Notes
El Generico (mask)	Kevin Steen (ROH career)	New York City, New York	Final Battle 2010	December 18, 2010

External links

• Kevin Owens's profile on WWE.com
• Ring of Honor profile
• Kevin Steen at the Internet Movie Database
• Kevin Owens on Twitter

{the real breakout star of 2015}