Tomorrow evening, Kevin Owens will challenge Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship at Bash in Berlin. While KO has never been far from the main event scene, the fact he's challenging for the title is something that's excited his legion of fans.
Owens has previously held the NXT Championship and had a stint as Universal Champion too; that reign ended after seven months, with the Prizefighter eventually dropping the title to WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg.
"It wasn’t the most memorable run," Owens tells Uproxx. "At the time, I didn’t really appreciate it for what it was. So I’d love to be able to get another run at it, another shot at it, and have a good championship run. Just be able to look back at a run and be able to say I was a good champion."
Despite being disappointed with how things played out for him, Owens admits he's pleased with how he's remained consistently on top in WWE.
"I had no expectations (coming into WWE) and I was told many times by a lot of people when I started not have expectations. In fact, I was told at the time you’re probably only going to be in NXT. I had no expectations at all. I don’t think anybody did. I remember, I just passed 10 years last week that they re-announced my signing. And I was reminded on social media by a lot of people, I remember people saying I probably won’t last six months because who I was, how I looked, all kinds of stuff. So I think to say that my career in the WWE over the last 10 years exceeded expectations is an understatement."
"It seems like most of the audience, from what I can tell, enjoys what I do. And when I go back and watch what I do, mostly, I enjoy it — I take a lot of pride in that. I just want people to enjoy what I do. I want to contribute positively to the television program I’m on and to the shows I’m on. Once I feel that’s not the case anymore, I’ll be out of here. But until then, I pride myself on putting up good stuff. Pretty much everybody at WWE does, which is why I think WWE is so, I don’t want to say hot, but it is. It’s hot. It’s on fire right now. I think that’s just because everybody works extremely hard, everybody prides themselves on their work, and the audience is enjoying what we’re doing."
Bash in Berlin could be Owens' final chance at world championship gold, especially as his contract expires next year. Apparently, he hasn't signed an extension, something we're sure will lead to speculation about him potentially leaving WWE.
"I don’t have a decade left here," Owens acknowledges. "Another 5, 6 years or something if the opportunities are there and the circumstances are right."
He adds, "Mainly, though, I really just want everything I do to be memorable and enjoyable for people watching, and I really want to help the future of the industry. Whether, you could say work with the younger talent or whatever, but it’s not even necessarily younger talent, there’s talent of all ages that are coming up, that are developing. And I want to have a blast doing it."
You can find the full Bash in Berlin card by clicking here. Stay tuned for more on that PLE and Owens' WWE future as we have it.