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Ever since his NXT debut, Kevin Owens became one of WWE’s biggest stars in the past few years. He already has a number of accomplishments and achievements to his name. He is a former NXT Champion, Universal Champion, United States Champion, and Intercontinental Champion. In addition, he has phenomenal and passionate promo abilities. He even got “Stone Cold” Steve Austin out of retirement. But, before all of this, Owens made a name for himself as a top competitor in ROH. A former ROH World Champion, he is one of the best and most important wrestlers to ever step foot in the promotion.
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The Rise And Fall Of Kevin Steen And El Generico
Owens, who wrestled under the name Kevin Steen in ROH, made his first appearance for the company in 2007 at ROH The Fifth Year Festival: Philadelphia. Teaming with El Generico (Sami Zayn in WWE), the two faced Jay and Mark Briscoe. Despite losing, it was the start of a tag team between Steen and Generico, who came to be known as Steenerico. It was also the beginning of a long feud between them and The Briscoes. They faced off for the ROH World Tag Team Championships many times at this point, but The Briscoes always came out on top. Steen would also challenge Takeshi Morishima for the ROH World Championship later in 2007 and Nigel McGuinness in 2008.
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Steenerico continued to team and chase after the ROH World Tag Team Championships. Eventually, their dream finally came true. They defeated Age of the Fall, Tyler Black (Seth Rollins in WWE), and Jimmy Jacobs, to finally win the titles at ROH Driven 2008. As champions, they faced Age of the Fall, The Briscoes, The American Wolves, and Kenny King and Rhett Titus. Steen challenged for the titles again with a number of other partners, including Jay Briscoe, Bryan Danielson, and Generico, b he never regained them. Then, at Battle of Los Angeles 2009, the unthinkable happened. After losing to The Young Bucks, Steen attacked Generico. It was the end of Steenerico.
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Kevin Steen Becomes The Ring Of Honor World Champion
Steen found a new tag team partner in Steve Cornio, taking on Generico and Colt Cabana on a number of occasions. Steen and Generico faced off in a number of matches, but their most important match to this point was at Final Battle 2010. In an Unsanctioned Mask vs ROH Career Fight Without Honor, Generico defeated Steen. He was gone for now, but Steen was intent on coming back.
Following Steen involving himself in numerous matches and delivering messages, he eventually made his return to the ring at Final Battle 2011, defeating Steve Corino.
Steen was focused on the ROH World Championship and eventually got his wish. At ROH Border Wars 2012, Steen won the ROH World Championship from Davey Richards. It also saw the start of a new faction, S.C.U.M., with Jacobs and Corino. It was the start of a dominant 328-day reign as champion. During this time, he defeated Eddie Edwards, Richards, Homicide, Eddie Kingston, Jay Lethal, and more. It also saw a brutal and violent Ladder War match with his former best friend, El Generico. Steen was seemingly unstoppable, but at ROH Supercard of Honor VII in 2013, his reign came to an end at the hands of Jay Briscoe.
Kevin Steen Leaves ROH And Kevin Owens Enters WWE
After losing his title, Steen continued to compete in ROH. He faced many of the names he had previously, along with new opponents like Matt Hardy. In his final opportunity for the ROH World Championship, he faced Adam Cole in a losing effort at the ROH and NJPW event, Global Wars. In another ROH and NJPW show, War of the Worlds, he lost to Shinsuke Nakamura. In his final match for ROH, he defeated Corino. Only a few months later, his name changed to “Kevin Owens” and he was competing in NXT.
Owens’ time in ROH is extremely important to his career. During his time competing in ROH, he displayed tremendous character work. He displayed immense amounts of intensity in his promos and made it known when he had a thought on his mind. In addition, the storyline from ROH between himself and Zayn further carried on into WWE. The two have been the best of friends and the worst of enemies. The two have an incredible amount of respect for each other. In a Gorilla Position interview, Owens said, “Being In WWE was always what I wanted.” Undoubtedly, the time that Owens spent in ROH helped him truly perfect his craft and become the competitor in WWE today that fans have come to know and love.
