Kevin Owens admits he was never happy as a champion in WWE: ‘I always wanted more’

Kevin Owens has been a formidable force for his entire 10-year run with the WWE. He is no stranger to high-profile matches like the one he has against undisputed WWE champion Cody Rhodes at the inaugural Bash in Berlin pay-per-view on Saturday. Owens’ career is one he and countless others dreamed of but, unfortunately, it took him nearly half of his run to truly appreciate it.

Owens was an early benefactor of WWE’s renewed interest in signing top independent wrestlers. He signed with WWE in 2014 and won the NXT championship two months after his debut. His first main roster match was a clean pinfall victory against all-time great John Cena. It probably ranks among the best first six months for any WWE superstar. Owens became intercontinental champion and reached the semifinals of a vacant WWE world heavyweight title tournament before his first full year as a WWE signee ended. He continued his tremendous success in the next two years, becoming universal and United States champion.

“From 2015 to 2018, that’s all I could think about,” Owens told CBS Sports about his title aspirations. “That’s when I was champion all the time. I was intercontinental champion, U.S. champion, universal champion, and I was never happy. I always wanted more.

“I wanted the next week to be bigger. I’d finish a match and think what’s next week? The people I’d speak to would say, ‘I don’t know what’s next week, we’ll figure it out.’ I really didn’t enjoy any of it as much as I should have.”

Owens fulfilled much of his childhood dream but was too blinded by passion to enjoy it. To put into context how much Owens loves professional wrestling, he learned English by watching WWE programming. The future champion didn’t speak the language until age 11, picking up the vocabulary by listening to legendary WWE commentator Jim Ross. That childhood fascination sparked a lifelong dedication to pro wrestling. Owens debuted at 16 and spent 14 years crafting an acclaimed independent run that finally caught WWE’s eyes. 

Owens could not save himself from a self-sabotaging cycle of success until forced to. Owens took a five-month hiatus in 2018 to recover from double knee surgery. It was his first opportunity in years to prioritize self-reflection.

“I needed that time away because I had been on the road for four years with WWE,” Owens said. “It’s like a train. You get on and you don’t get off. You don’t realize how quickly time passes.

“I talked to people about how it was really hard for me to shut it off and not be consumed by wrestling all the time.”

The time off was physically and emotionally healing. Confronted by the epiphany that his all-consuming obsession with professional wrestling was no longer optimal, Owens called up one of his idols out of the blue. Shawn Michaels answered on the other end.

“He was kind enough to listen to me,” Owens said. “He said he was like me in many ways throughout his career. Always obsessed with what’s next and not enjoying the ride. Hearing it from someone I looked up to so much helped me let go.

“Since then, I still have my moments where I get swept up but I can pull back and say, ‘Hey, this is pretty incredible.’ Maybe it’s not perfect or it’s not the way you think it should be sometimes, but come on. That’s been very helpful.”

Check out the full interview with Kevin Owens below.

Owens’ presentness came in the nick of time. While he couldn’t enjoy his only reign as a WWE world champion, Owens was able to savor rarer and more remarkable moments. He tangled with childhood hero “Stone Cold” Steve Austin in the legendary wrestler’s first match in 19 years and won the undisputed tag team championships in a WrestleMania 39 main event with best friend Sami Zayn. Next up is the first WWE title match on a German PPV.

“It’s worked out alright. I was in the ring at WrestleMania this year with Randy Orton. Mindblowing stuff.”