Kevin Owens: Anatomy of a Superstar

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A Chip on your Shoulder

Kevin Owens therefore has all the technical knowledge and can tell a phenomenal story in the ring. He is emphatic on the microphone and using that to feed into his rivalries. He has a legacy among the extreme wrestling fandom and a growing recognition within the casual audience. And his family provide him that extra surge to become the best he can possibly be. But Owens has another, perhaps even stronger ammunition within him that has grown throughout years in the cutthroat business side of professional wrestling, and that is a chip on his shoulder.

There are a number of factors that worked against him that most wrestlers have to contend with on a regular basis, but Owens had the unfortunate situation of getting on the wrong side of a head booker. In ROH, he had a terrible relationship with Jim Cornette, which unsurprisingly has mainly been attributed to Cornette taking an instant disliking to both Owens and El Generico, now known as Sami Zayn. Owens had composed an entire angle to continue his feud with Generico, but Cornette did not take any interest in those plans, despite the pair having the hottest rivalry in ROH at the time. This snub could have wrecked his career going forward, but it was channeled correctly into making him stronger.

Cornette was wrong to push Owens aside, and paid the price for it, as that only strengthened the fans intrigue and desire to see him succeed. That is something that the most successful wrestlers usually have to contend with and overcome in the best way possible. Steve Austin’s chip was he wasn’t seen as a main eventer in WCW, and he became the star of the Attitude Era. The Rock had a chip of being booed out of the building in Madison Square Garden, and used that to become the most electrifying and popular athlete to transcend the world of sports entertainment. John Cena is still carrying his chip in that so many fans jump all over him for not being a good wrestler or burying his opponents, and that simply keeps him getting up and asking for more.

Owens’ gripe was over how he was perceived and his image as a superstar, and that didn’t cause him to crumble and transition to a generic look. Instead he stood up for what he was, and let his actions and words speak for himself, and boy did the fans respond. Although it took him a little longer to make it to NXT and he had to witness Zayn, Neville and Finn Balor get their first, this was the fire underlying Owens’ debut in NXT, pushing him to take the chance and make up for lost time. This is arguably the mysterious “It Factor” that turns a wrestler into a superstar, and shows that enduring and responding to adversity in the correct manner gets you results as a professional wrestler.

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