WWE’s Kevin Owens knows all about inflicting pain on the human body and not just those of his in-ring opponents.
The daredevil Canadian star has been one of the grappling world’s top stars for years and is firmly established as a major player in WWE.
WWEKevin Owens and Cody Rhodes will again do battle at Royal Rumble[/caption]
As well as his compelling promos on the microphone and believability as an on-screen villain, he has captivated audiences and wowed live crowds with his willingness to put himself through unimaginable physical punishment.
Owens had already racked up a 14-year career beating up himself and others before signing for WWE in 2014 and, since then, has rarely held back.
Notable feuds with John Cena, Randy Orton, Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn have all left their mark on the 40-year-old but, it seems, some have taken a more physical toll than others.
In an exclusive talkSPORT interview, Owens lifted the lid on some of the more extreme discomfort he’s felt whilst honing the craft of professional wrestling over the years, a number of them taking place during his WWE tenure.
One that wasn’t was a clash with Brit Nigel McGuinness. The two traded some fairly heavy blows during their Ring of Honor battles in 2018, one rough landing on his back at the edge of the ring apron Owens particularly recalling as ‘real bad.’
Another, in WWE, saw him dive off the ring apron in an attempt to damage foe Bobby Lashley, only for powerhouse Lashley to move out of the way, right on cue.
Owens reflected with a wince: “Bobby moves and I just hit the floor and it just destroyed me, just destroyed me.”
A clash against resident WWE monster Braun Strowman at SummerSlam in 2018 was never likely to produce calm and gentle results for the Grand Slam Champion, who challenges Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed Championship at Royal Rumble.
A willing Owens took a sickening chokeslam from Strowman, the impact lingering with devastating sensations, the star confessing the trio of impacts were the most painful of his career adding of the latter:
“He gave me a chokeslam on the steel part of the ramp, which was only about three feet wide, and that one stayed with me for a while.
“I felt almost shockwaves, like radiating in my body for several months after that one. It was bad.”
Even a ‘random attack’ segment in WWE with good pal Finn Balor – which one would expect to carry less risk than a 20-minute pay-per-view match, left Owens feeling a ‘stinger’ after taking a drop kick.
Owens may have made a career out of hurling himself from top ropes, cages, tables and all manner of inventive weaponry, but it still seems as though pain in the wrestling world comes from the most unexpected of sources.
The man himself summed it up best, saying: “You never know what’s going to hit in a certain way and what’s going to hurt in a certain way. And it’s always kind of hope for the best.”
Quite what awaits Cody Rhodes at Royal Rumble on February 1st remains to be seen, but with Owens involved, it seems clear it’s unlikely to tickle.
WWE’s Road to WrestleMania Tour hits the UK this March, bringing RAW and SmackDown live to The O2 Arena. Tickets available now from Ticketmaster.co.uk
