Kevin Owens Says He Doesn’t Feel Like a Character, Talks WWE Run, AJ Styles Not Being on His Level

– WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens recently spoke with The Mirror to promote WrestleMania 32 and the upcoming UK tour. The full interview can be found at this link. Below are highlights:

If a WrestleMania match against AJ Styles interests him:

No not at all actually, I feel like AJ is not on my level. He’s got to cut his teeth in WWE a little before he can even think about coming after somebody like me. He’s just got here, he’s pretty new and he’s a bit of a rookie. I feel like I’ve been showing the WWE Universe for nine, 10 months my superiority and how dominating I am as an Intercontinental Champion. I was NXT Champion and I have accomplished so much more than he has. I feel like before he can even think about coming after me he needs to get a decent haircut first of all, then get a couple of victories in WWE. Then I’ll entertain the idea of maybe stepping into the ring with him, when I feel he deserves to be in there with me.

If his WWE run has exceeded his expectations:

Yeah you know it’s been a pretty crazy ride. I feel like I’ve lived in less than a year what some WWE Superstars live over five, six or seven years, or even an entire WWE career. I’ve been part of so many pay-per-views, been in the ring with John Cena, Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, all those guys you said, Roman Reigns… all the top names. And I’ve put up quite the fight against all those guys. I’ve been Intercontinental Champion twice already. I feel like I’ve already done so much that I dreamed to do for 20 years, when I wanted to be a WWE Superstar. But I’ve got so much left to accomplish and there is so much left to do. It’s all very exciting. I’m pretty proud of everything I’ve done so far and I’m looking forward to the next five, six or even 10 years, who knows how long I will be doing this for. I’m really enjoying the ride.

If he thinks having a clearly identifiable character, an arrogant and menacing bully at a time when there aren’t a lot of clearly defined gimmicks, has helped him resonate with WWE fans:

You know maybe so. I don’t feel like I’m a character, I certainly don’t feel like I’m a gimmick, I am who I am. Owens may not be my real last name but it’s close as it gets because it’s my son’s name, Owen, that’s why I picked that name, and Kevin Owens is who I am, I can’t stress that enough. Obviously I’m not going round town being as smarky as I am outwardly, but you know, on the inside I am nearly exactly that guy. The bright lights, the music and the ring of Raw and SmackDown that’s my platform to kind of let it out, but really what you see on TV every day is a big part of who I am. So I don’t know if that’s why it connects with people, because it’s very genuine, but that’s one thing even on the independent scene before my time with WWE, that I always made sure to bring out, that everything I do is genuine. I feel like that’s what connects with audiences. If they can tell you’re genuine then they will get behind you or they will hate you. Either way they will react to you because they feel like what they’re watching is reality… and that’s me.

I’ll be honest I don’t like that word gimmick. I think a lot of people use it and don’t really know what it means – I don’t know what it means. I never connected with people who had outlandish characters if you will, I connected with the people who stayed true to themselves, which is why I was the biggest ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin fan there was. I’m a ‘no frills’ kind of guy.

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