Mid 20th Century
164-659: Kevin Yanick Steen (born May 7, 1984) is a Canadian professional wrestler . He is signed to WWE , where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Kevin Owens . Steen began his career in 2000, at the age of 16. Prior to joining WWE in late 2014, he wrestled under his birth name for Ring of Honor (ROH), where he held the ROH World Championship and ROH World Tag Team Championship . He also wrestled extensively on
328-619: 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. 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
492-649: A Last Man Standing match to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match at Money in the Bank . At the event on July 18, Owens failed to win the contract as it was won by Big E . As part of the 2021 Draft , Owens was drafted to the Raw brand . On the November 1 episode of Raw , Owens lost to WWE Champion Big E in a non-title match; after Seth Rollins hit a cheap shot on Big E, Owens apologized and claimed he never saw Rollins' involvement in
656-465: 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
820-535: A fatal five-way match . At Fastlane on February 21, Owens successfully defended the Intercontinental Championship against Ziggler. At WrestleMania 32 on April 3, Owens lost the title against Zack Ryder in a seven-way ladder match . He resumed the feud with longtime rival Sami Zayn after he attacked him on Raw , which led to a match at Payback on May 1, where Owens defeated Zayn. At Extreme Rules on May 22, Owens faced Zayn, Cesaro and The Miz in
984-430: A fatal four-way match for the Intercontinental Championship, but failed to regain the title when The Miz pinned Cesaro. The following night on Raw , Owens defeated AJ Styles to qualify for the 2016 Money in the Bank ladder match , but he failed to win the match at Money in the Bank on June 19. "I think Stephanie [McMahon] wants Raw to be the best show possible and if you want that, you've got to pick me, because I'm
1148-868: A professional wrestler after he and his father watched a videotape of the match between Diesel and Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XI . When Steen was 14, his parents allowed him to start training with Serge Jodoin, a wrestler based in Quebec . The following year, Steen began training with Jacques Rougeau . He also trained with Terry Taylor , whom he has called his "main trainer". Steen had his first match on May 7, 2000 (his 16th birthday) in L'Assomption, Quebec . Steen trained with Rougeau and wrestled for Rougeau's promotion for four years, before beginning to wrestle with several other Canadian promotions. On August 16, 2003, Steen made his International Wrestling Syndicate (IWS) debut at Born to Bleed. Pierre Carl Ouellet defeated El Generico and Steen at Blood, Sweat and Beers in
1312-446: A " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to the platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of
1476-495: A Steel Cage match, Manhattan Mayhem II on August 25 in a two out of three falls match, and Man Up on November 30 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. On June 6, 2008, Steen and Generico participated in a one night tournament to crown new ROH World Tag Team Champions, defeating Go Shiozaki and ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness in
1640-544: 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 on September 21, the Briscoe Brothers defeated Steen and El Generico to retain the ROH World Tag Team Championship . Steen and Generico suffered three consecutive losses to the Briscoes at Caged Rage on August 24 in
1804-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
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#17328915174631968-457: 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
2132-418: A brother named Edward Lower. He is of French-Canadian and Irish descent and speaks French as his first language. He learned to speak English by mimicking everything he heard while watching WWF Monday Night Raw . Steen participated in ice hockey, soccer, and baseball, but never considered developing a career out of them—especially soccer, after suffering an injury at age 11—and instead considered becoming
2296-520: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
2460-513: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
2624-574: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
2788-498: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . Professional wrestling promotion Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s A professional wrestling promotion
2952-634: A distraction from Jericho, thus ending his championship reign at 188 days. The following night on Raw , Owens accepted Jericho's challenge for a match at WrestleMania 33 on April 2 as long as Jericho would defend the United States Championship, which Owens won for the first time in his career. On the April 11 episode of SmackDown Live , Owens was traded to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2017 WWE Superstar Shake-up . Owens, who would still defend his newly won title against Jericho at Payback with
3116-488: 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
3280-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
3444-414: A genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has a more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for
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#17328915174633608-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
3772-538: 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 on July 1, Steen and El Generico defeated The Irish Airborne (Jake and Dave Crist), Pelle Primeau and Mitch Franklin, and Jimmy Rave and Adam Pearce in
3936-754: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
4100-571: 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
4264-594: 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
4428-515: A match where had Owens lost, he would be fired. Owens then lost to Elias in the first round of the King of the Ring tournament , where McMahon served as the special guest referee. On the September 10 episode of SmackDown , McMahon fired Owens, after McMahon tapped out to Chad Gable in their King of the Ring semi-final match, where Owens was serving as the special guest referee. The following week, Owens attended
4592-533: A match with Lashley the previous night on Raw , which required surgery. On the February 26, 2019, episode of SmackDown , Owens returned as a face , replacing Kofi Kingston in the WWE Championship match at Fastlane against Daniel Bryan , per Vince McMahon 's orders. At the pay-per view on March 10, a returning Mustafa Ali was added to the match, thus making it a triple threat match, and Owens failed to win
4756-553: 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
4920-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
5084-429: A new contract with the promotion, Steen returned to Ring of Honor on June 26, 2011, at Best in the World , 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
Kevin Owens - Misplaced Pages Continue
5248-514: A new partner in Steve Corino . At the following pay-per-view, The Big Bang! on April 3, 2010, 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
5412-488: 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
5576-574: A no contest, the two continued to brawl until they had to be separated. Owens also made appearances on the main roster as NXT Champion, defending the title against Zack Ryder during an NXT Championship open challenge on the June 4 episode of SmackDown , against Neville on the June 8 episode of Raw and against Heath Slater on the June 12 episode of Main Event . On the July 4 WWE Network special, The Beast in
5740-519: A non-title match to Reigns that same night, thus earning Reigns a WWE Universal Championship match against Owens at Roadblock: End of the Line . At the event on December 18, after failing to help Jericho defeat Rollins, Owens retained the championship by disqualification when Jericho intentionally attacked him with a Codebreaker . This led to Reigns' rematch at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event being under
5904-555: A one-off appearance as Tommaso Ciampa 's mystery fourth partner for the WarGames match against The Undisputed Era ( Adam Cole , Bobby Fish , Kyle O'Reilly , and Roderick Strong ), which Team Ciampa won. At Survivor Series on November 24, Owens made up part of Team Raw in a losing effort to Team SmackDown also involving Team NXT. The next night on Raw , Owens began a feud with Seth Rollins, and would be targeted in attacks by Rollins and his allies AOP ( Akam and Rezar ). Owens entered
6068-460: A pivotal milestone in the history of the promotion when he became the first IWS World Heavyweight Champion to internationally defend the title, in defeating Roderick Strong on October 30 in Rahway, New Jersey for Jersey All Pro Wrestling (JAPW). On September 22, 2007, at Blood, Sweat & Beers, Steen defeated Jay Briscoe . On February 16, 2008, at Violent Valentine, El Generico defeated Steen for
6232-487: A steel cage match on the December 25 episode of SmackDown , and at Royal Rumble on January 31, 2021, but lost all matches after interference from Jey Uso and Paul Heyman . At Night 2 of WrestleMania 37 on April 11, Owens defeated Sami Zayn and attacked Logan Paul after the match. At Hell in a Cell on June 20, Owens lost to Zayn. After a brief hiatus, Owens returned on the July 2 episode of SmackDown , defeating Zayn in
6396-402: A tag team match at WrestleMania 34 on April 8, where Bryan made his in-ring return, being defeated after Bryan submitted Zayn. The night after WrestleMania 34, Owens, now a free agent, showed up on Raw along with Zayn and asked Raw General Manager Kurt Angle for a job. Though reluctant, Angle made a match between Owens and Zayn where whoever won the match and would receive a Raw contract, but
6560-561: A tag team match which they lost after a miscommunication. The following week, Owens stated his distaste in McMahon's constant dominance on television, before fleeing as McMahon called for security. Later that night, Owens interfered in Ziggler's match against Roman Reigns and hit McMahon with a stunner , turning face once again. At Extreme Rules on July 14, Owens defeated Ziggler in 17 seconds. At SummerSlam on August 11, Owens defeated McMahon in
6724-488: A tag team match with their jobs on the line and with McMahon and Bryan as special guest referees, after Bryan gave them a fast count. Both failed to win AJ Styles's WWE Championship in a handicap match at Royal Rumble on January 28 and at Fastlane on March 11 in a six-pack challenge also involving Dolph Ziggler , Baron Corbin and John Cena . After that, they continued their feud against Bryan and McMahon, culminating in
Kevin Owens - Misplaced Pages Continue
6888-484: A title match was set for NXT TakeOver: Rival . At the event on February 11, 2015, two months to the day after his debut, Owens captured the championship from Zayn via referee stoppage after repeatedly powerbombing a disorientated Zayn. With this win, he became the quickest superstar to win the NXT Championship from his debut, a record that stood for over nine years until it was surpassed by Ethan Page in July 2024. On
7052-453: 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 Wrestling Observer Newsletter as the best feud of the year. Prior to the outcome, on November 4, 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
7216-469: A tribute to his son Owen (who himself is named after Owen Hart ), 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 friendships with) several current WWE or NXT wrestlers on the independent circuit years ago, but WWE signed them first—he declared that despite these friendships he would now fight anyone and everyone because fighting
7380-411: A triple threat match also involving the returning Chris Jericho . The following week, Owens received a rematch, where Styles retained after the referee did not see Owens' shoulder up, due to being accidentally struck by Owens earlier in the match. After the match, Owens demanded a rematch with a competent official. SmackDown Live General Manager Daniel Bryan then made a match between Owens and Styles for
7544-555: A triple threat match on October 18, 2003. On November 15 at Payback's A Bitch, El Generico defeated Steen in their first-ever singles match against each other. IWS held its 5th anniversary show "V" on June 15, 2004, at Le SPAG, where El Generico defeated PCO in an IWS title match to win his first IWS World Heavyweight Championship , only to have Steen cash in his #1 contendership won earlier that night against Excess 69. Steen defeated El Generico, also winning his first IWS World Heavyweight Championship. Steen's first title reign in 2004, marked
7708-497: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
7872-575: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
8036-666: A year-long reign. He then departed for a tour with Dragon Gate , and did not return to CZW until February 2008 when he made a one-time appearance and fought Vordell Walker to a no contest . Steen returned to CZW six years later, competing in two matches for the promotion in 2014. Steen first was defeated by Japanese competitor Masato Tanaka before defeating D. J. Hyde twenty-two days later at an event in Rhode Island. While wrestling in CZW, Steen also began working for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG). On May 13, 2005, at Jason Takes PWG , Steen
8200-442: Is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling . "Promotion" also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event. Within the convention of the show , the company is a sports governing body which sanctions wrestling matches and gives authority to the championships and is responsible for maintaining the divisions and their rankings. In truth,
8364-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
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#17328915174638528-428: Is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain
8692-460: 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, at the 2013 Battle of Los Angeles , 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
8856-427: The 2016 Royal Rumble match , but was unsuccessful after being eliminated by Sami Zayn. The following night on Raw , Owens entered a feud with Dolph Ziggler , with the two trading victories over each other on back to back episodes of Raw . On the February 15 episode of Raw , Owens won the Intercontinental Championship for a second time, defeating former champion Dean Ambrose, Stardust , Tyler Breeze and Ziggler in
9020-530: The 2020 Draft in October, Owens was drafted to the SmackDown brand. He defeated Dolph Ziggler on the October 30 episode of SmackDown to qualify for Team SmackDown at Survivor Series on November 22, where Team SmackDown lost in a clean sweep by Team Raw. Owens then reignited his rivalry against Roman Reigns and challenged him for the Universal Championship on three occasions—at TLC on December 20, in
9184-825: The AAW Heavyweight Championship , and Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), where he held the CZW Iron Man Championship . Steen signed with WWE in August 2014, and joined their developmental branch NXT before debuting on the main roster in May 2015. In WWE, he has won nine championships – the NXT Championship once, the Universal Championship once, the Intercontinental Championship twice,
9348-468: 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 . In a steel 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
9512-609: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
9676-493: 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 at Final Battle , 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 then found
9840-463: The Royal Rumble match on January 26, 2020, at #27, but was eliminated by Rollins. At WrestleMania 36 on April 4, Owens defeated Rollins in a No Disqualification match. On the pre-show at The Horror Show at Extreme Rules on July 19, Owens defeated Murphy , an ally of Rollins. After this, Owens entered into a program with Aleister Black , trading victories until the October 12 episode of Raw , when Owens defeated Black, ending their feud. As part of
10004-762: The United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including a distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by
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#173289151746310168-550: The United States Championship three times, and the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship (the Raw and SmackDown Tag Team Championships) once with Sami Zayn . He has headlined the company's flagship annual event WrestleMania on two occasions; the first at Night 1 of WrestleMania 38 , in which he lost to "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in a one-off match 19 years after Austin's retirement, and
10332-683: The independent circuit for 14 years, most notably in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), where he held the PWG World Championship a record three times , as well as the PWG World Tag Team Championship on three occasions. Steen also competed for International Wrestling Syndicate (IWS), where he held the IWS World Heavyweight Championship three times, All American Wrestling (AAW), where he held
10496-577: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
10660-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
10824-506: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
10988-411: The 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance the spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from
11152-437: 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
11316-641: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
11480-437: The August 22 episode of SmackDown Live , Owens demanded another rematch which Shane allowed, with Baron Corbin as the special guest referee, but was once again unsuccessful, after Corbin walked out on the match and Shane took over, distracting Owens enough for Styles to capitalize and win. This also meant that as long as Styles held the title, Owens could not challenge Styles for the title again , ending his feud with Styles. On
11644-500: The August 27 episode of Raw , after failing to win the Intercontinental Championship from Seth Rollins, Owens sat in the middle of the ring and said the words "I Quit". On the September 3 episode of Raw , Owens returned to attack Bobby Lashley. At Super Show-Down on October 6, in what was originally set to be a singles match between Owens and Cena, he instead teamed with Elias in a losing effort against Lashley and Cena. On October 8, WWE announced Owens suffered injuries to both knees in
11808-738: 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 , Kings of Wrestling ( Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli ), Steen and Tozawa made it to
11972-688: The East event held in Tokyo , Japan , Owens lost the NXT Championship to Finn Bálor , ending his reign at 143 days. At NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn on August 22, Owens had his rematch for the title in a ladder match against Bálor, but failed to regain the title in what would be his final match in NXT. "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 While still
12136-532: 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
12300-421: The February 13 episode of Raw , Jericho hosted a "Festival of Friendship" for Owens, who was not impressed with Jericho's idea of humor and instead then presented Jericho with a new list as a gift, but when Jericho realized that he was the first name on it and that it was "The List of KO", Owens turned on Jericho and viciously attacked him. At Fastlane on March 5, Owens lost the title to Goldberg in 22 seconds after
12464-754: The IWS World Heavyweight Championship. On March 22, 2008, at Know Your Enemies, Steen regained the IWS World Heavyweight Championship by defeating Max Boyer & former champion El Generico in a 3-Way match. On May 24, 2008, at Freedom to Fight, Steen became the first-ever to hold two IWS titles simultaneously when he defeated Max Boyer to win the IWS Canadian Championship in an IWS Championship Unification match. Steen made his Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) debut on September 10, 2004, at High Stakes II , where SeXXXy Eddy defeated Steen, El Generico and Excess 69 in an IWS 4-Way Match, which
12628-460: The March 25 episode of NXT , he successfully retained the NXT Championship against Finn Bálor . At NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable on May 20, Owens' rematch for the title against 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
12792-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
12956-477: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
13120-484: The NXT Champion, Owens made his unannounced main roster debut on the May 18 episode of Raw , responding to John Cena 's United States Championship open challenge. However, instead of competing in the match, he attacked Cena and stomped on the United States title 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
13284-424: 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
13448-521: 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
13612-411: 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
13776-517: 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. 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
13940-455: The September 5 episode of SmackDown Live , Owens demanded another shot at the United States Championship; when Shane refused, Owens insulted Shane's children, causing him to attack Owens. As a result, Shane was suspended and Bryan announced that Mr. McMahon would be on SmackDown Live the following week. At Hell in a Cell on October 8, Owens defeated Shane in a Hell in a Cell match after interference from Zayn, who turned heel to push Owens off
14104-548: The United States Championship at SummerSlam , with Commissioner Shane McMahon as the special guest referee. During that time, Owens dropped the Face of America gimmick and reverted to the Prizefighter persona, shedding both the suits, America-orientated promos and his pursuit of the United States Championship. At SummerSlam on August 20, Owens was defeated by Styles, in a match where both wrestlers argued with Shane over his decisions. On
14268-591: The Universal Championship, his first world title in WWE. Between September and October, Owens successfully defended the title against Rollins, first in a singles match at Clash of Champions on September 25, and then at Hell in a Cell in a Hell in a Cell match on October 30, both times after interferences from Jericho. Owens and Jericho were later announced as co-captains of Team Raw for the traditional Survivor Series match against Team SmackDown, alongside Braun Strowman , Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins at Survivor Series . At
14432-619: The WWE Championship match at the Day 1 pay-per-view, making it a triple threat match . At Day 1 on January 1, 2022, Owens failed to win the title as Bobby Lashley and Brock Lesnar were added to the match and Lesnar won the title. On the March 7 episode of Raw , Owens and Rollins failed to capture the Raw Tag Team Championship in a triple threat tag team match against RK-Bro and Alpha Academy. Later that night, Owens announced that he
14596-437: The WWE Championship, thus turning him back into a heel . On May 19, Owens failed to win the WWE Championship from Kingston at Money in the Bank . At Stomping Grounds on June 23, Owens teamed with Sami Zayn to defeat Big E and Xavier Woods. On the July 2 episode of SmackDown , Owens questioned Shane McMahon 's decisions and underhanded tactics before they were interrupted by Dolph Ziggler , leading to McMahon booking them in
14760-443: 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
14924-659: 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. 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 then returned to
15088-517: The announce table as Shane attempted a Leap of Faith off the cell. On the following episode of SmackDown Live , Zayn referred to Owens as his "brother", after revealing why he helped Owens rather than allow Shane to win. At Survivor Series on November 19, Owens and Zayn attacked Shane McMahon during the main event, which backfired after McMahon attacked both with a steel chair and Orton delivered an RKO to Owens. At Clash of Champions on December 17, Owens and Zayn defeated Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura in
15252-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
15416-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
15580-550: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
15744-424: 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. Ultimately, Steen left PWG after interest from ROH increased. According to Steen, he could not wrestle for ROH and PWG at the same time and chose ROH because of the money and the exposure. On February 17, 2007, Steen returned to Ring of Honor , teaming with El Generico in
15908-404: The best thing going, [...] But being picked where I was kind of a slap in the face , to be honest, but I'll use that as motivation to show everybody why I should be the face of Raw." Owens commenting on his 18th draft pick position, in an interview with The Independent in August 2016 During the 2016 WWE draft , Owens was drafted to the Raw brand. At Battleground on July 24, Owens
16072-412: The broader public. In the United States, wrestling is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as
16236-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
16400-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
16564-440: 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 No. #4 , Steen and Generico defeated
16728-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
16892-461: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
17056-571: The company serves as a touring theatre troupe , as well as event promotion body for its own events. Most promotions are self-contained, organized around one or more championships and do not acknowledge or recognize the legitimacy of other promotions' titles unless they share a working agreement. Governing bodies, such as the CyberFight , United Wrestling Network , WWNLive , Allied Independent Wrestling Federations , Union of European Wrestling Alliances, Pro Wrestling International and, previously,
17220-468: The competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on the independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in
17384-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
17548-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
17712-583: 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
17876-439: The event on November 20, Team SmackDown would emerge victorious. The following night on Raw , Owens defeated Rollins in a No Disqualification match to retain the championship once again following the interference of Jericho. WWE United States Champion Reigns then issued a challenge to Owens, who stated that he did not need Jericho's help against him, and Owens suffered his first pinfall loss since becoming champion after losing
18040-597: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
18204-440: The finals of the tournament, where they were 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
18368-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
18532-563: The first round, Chris Hero and Adam Pearce in the second round, but losing to Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black in the finals. 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
18696-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
18860-455: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
19024-439: 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 event on September 17, Steen interrupted
19188-513: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
19352-492: The individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in a professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
19516-471: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
19680-487: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
19844-538: The main roster, the Intercontinental Championship . On October 3, Owens' first title defense came on the WWE Network special, Live from Madison Square Garden , where Owens defeated Chris Jericho . On October 25, at Hell in a Cell , Owens successfully defended the 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
20008-408: The match Steen attacked El Generico and unmasked him. On December 18 at Final Battle , 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
20172-580: The match as well. At Backlash on May 21, Owens defeated AJ Styles by count-out to retain the United States Championship . Owens competed in the Money in the Bank ladder match at Money in the Bank on June 18, along with Sami Zayn, Shinsuke Nakamura, Styles, Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin , which was won by Corbin. During a house show at Madison Square Garden on July 7, Owens lost the United States Championship to Styles, ending his second reign at 66 days. He regained it at Battleground on July 23 and lost it back to Styles two days later on SmackDown in
20336-414: The match ended in a no contest and Owens and Zayn remained free agents. This decision was overruled the following week, as both men would be awarded Raw contracts by Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon . On the May 7 episode of Raw , he lost a Money in the Bank qualifying match to Braun Strowman. At Backlash on May 6, Owens and Zayn were defeated by Strowman and Lashley. On the May 14 episode of Raw , he
20500-447: 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
20664-484: The match. However, Big E hit the Big Ending on Owens even after an apology, claiming he can "see right through" Owens. The following week, Owens attacked Big E out of frustration after the former's match against Rollins, turning heel for the first time since 2019. Owens attacked Finn Bálor the next week, cementing his heel turn. On the November 29 episode of Raw , Owens defeated Big E by disqualification to be added to
20828-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
20992-470: 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
21156-714: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
21320-439: The purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise a bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether
21484-543: 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
21648-408: The ring apron, establishing himself as a heel in the process. On the December 18 episode of NXT , Owens wrestled former NXT Champion Adrian Neville to a double countout and powerbombed Neville onto 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
21812-592: The second at Night 1 of WrestleMania 39 , where he teamed with Zayn to defeat The Usos for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team championships. After the tag team championship win, Owens became WWE's 23rd overall Grand Slam Champion . Kevin Yanick Steen was born on May 7, 1984, in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu , Quebec , Canada , and raised in Marieville , 29 kilometres (18 mi) east of Montreal . He has
21976-455: The semifinals at Survivor Series on November 22. He then entered a feud with Ambrose, where he lost the Intercontinental Championship to Ambrose at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 13, ending his reign at 84 days. Owens unsuccessfully challenged Ambrose for the championship on the January 7 episode of SmackDown and at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view on January 24, 2016 in a Last Man Standing match . Later that night, Owens entered
22140-440: The show as an audience member, but had also filed a kayfabe wrongful termination lawsuit against McMahon. On October 4, during the 20th Anniversary of SmackDown , Owens defeated McMahon in a ladder match with both men's careers on the line. As per the pre-match stipulation, McMahon was fired from WWE. On October 11, Owens moved back to the Raw brand as part of the draft . On November 23 at NXT TakeOver: WarGames , Owens made
22304-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
22468-507: The stipulation that would see Jericho (who would pin Reigns in a handicap match involving Owens, to win the United States Championship on the January 9, 2017, episode of Raw ) being suspended above the ring in a shark proof cage . On January 29 at the Royal Rumble, Owens defeated Reigns in a No Disqualification match after Braun Strowman interfered. The following night on Raw , Owens defended
22632-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
22796-488: The title after Bryan pinned Ali. After WrestleMania 35 , Owens started a storyline, where he congratulated Kofi Kingston for winning the WWE Championship and joined The New Day as their honorary third member, since Big E was recovering from an injury. However, since Daniel Bryan suffered an injury at WrestleMania, SmackDown needed a top level heel, so on the April 23 episode of SmackDown , Owens turned on Kingston and attacked him and Xavier Woods , proclaiming that he wanted
22960-504: The title against Strowman (who revealed that he helped Owens retain the WWE Universal Championship because of his dislike for Reigns and because Owens had promised him a title shot) and once again retained the title after Reigns attacked both him and Strowman. On the February 6 episode of Raw , Owens was challenged by Goldberg to a championship match at Fastlane , which Jericho accepted on Owens' behalf, much to his dismay. On
23124-402: The top of the cage through the announce table, meaning Owens' feet touched the floor first, rendering him the winner. On the July 23 episode of Raw , Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon granted Kevin Owens an opportunity to face Strowman at SummerSlam under the stipulation that if Owens won, he received Strowman's Money in the Bank contract . At the event on August 19, Owens lost to Strowman. On
23288-505: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
23452-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
23616-541: The two took place at Money in the Bank on June 14, which Cena won, and after the match, Owens powerbombed Cena onto the ring apron. Owens, no longer NXT Champion later challenged Cena to a match for the United States Championship at Battleground on July 19, which Cena won by submission, thus ending their feud . After the loss to Cena, Owens defeated Cesaro at SummerSlam on August 23 and on an episode of Raw eight days later. On September 20 at Night of Champions , Owens defeated Ryback to win his first singles title on
23780-405: The venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as a performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in
23944-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
24108-432: The winner going to SmackDown as well, started referring to himself as the "Face of America" and also began sporting a different look, having trimmed his beard and hair down, while wearing a suit. At Payback on April 30, Owens lost the title back to Jericho, thus ending his reign at 28 days. However, Owens reclaimed the title on the May 2 episode of SmackDown Live by defeating Jericho, and then attacking and injuring him after
24272-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
24436-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
24600-492: Was also keeping the promotion's president Cary Silkin in the dark on when Steen would be brought back. 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 his weight jumped to 291 lb (132 kg). His contract expired in February 2011. After signing
24764-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
24928-454: Was defeated by Trevor Lee in his PWG farewell match. Before signing with the WWE, Steen had attended One Night Stand in 2006, sporting a PWG shirt, and again for Breaking Point in 2009 in Montreal. 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. His new ring name had only the surname changed to Owens,
25092-426: Was defeated by Zayn. At SummerSlam on August 21, Owens teamed with Chris Jericho to defeat Enzo Amore and Big Cass . On the August 22 episode of Raw , Owens defeated Neville to qualify for the vacant Universal Championship fatal four-way elimination match the following week. On the August 29 episode of Raw , Owens defeated Big Cass , Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins after interference from Triple H to win
25256-405: 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
25420-462: 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
25584-522: Was given another opportunity to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match, which he won by defeating Lashley and Elias in a triple threat match. At the event on June 17, the ladder match was won by Braun Strowman. In the following weeks, Owens unsuccessfully attempted to develop a partnership with Strowman to replace an injured Sami Zayn, leading to Strowman destroying Owens' car. At Extreme Rules on July 15, Owens defeated Strowman after he threw Owens from
25748-400: Was hosting "The KO Show" at WrestleMania 38 and invited "Stone Cold" Steve Austin to be the guest, who accepted the invitation the next day. In the main event of Night 1 of WrestleMania 38 on April 2, Owens revealed that the invitation to the show was a ruse, challenging Austin to an impromptu No Holds Barred match, which Austin accepted 19 years after his retirement. Owens lost to Austin and
25912-636: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
26076-409: 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 , with his ROH future on the line. At the event on December 23, 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
26240-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
26404-432: Was subsequently escorted out of the stadium by Dallas police officers. Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling ) is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling
26568-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
26732-408: Was the best way he could provide for his family. At NXT TakeOver: R Evolution on December 11, Owens defeated CJ Parker in his debut match, in which Parker legitimately gave him a broken nose with a Third Eye ( palm strike ); later that night, when Sami Zayn (the former El Generico) won the NXT Championship , Owens came to the ring to congratulate Zayn before attacking him with a powerbomb onto
26896-572: Was unofficially chosen as "CZW Match of the Year". 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 in a fatal four-way match involving B-Boy , Super Dragon , and Mike Quackenbush . A few months later in August, Steen defeated Franky The Mobster to win
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