Sometimes, a WWE rivalry doesn’t need anything extra to make it feel personal. For Kevin Owens and CM Punk, the history between them has already done that.
Speaking to FACES Magazine, Owens was asked whether he had to manufacture any animosity toward Punk for their Undisputed WWE Championship feud. His response made it clear that whatever exists between them is very real.
No. You know, some people, you’re just not compatible with, and he’s one of them. I’m sure he’d happily say the same, like, we don’t gel.
That came after their August 14 confrontation on SmackDown, when Owens brought nearly two decades of history into the story. He recalled feeling embarrassed by Punk in front of the locker room and admitted he still regrets not confronting him physically at the time.
Now, that history is following them to Toronto.
But Owens isn’t assuming being in Canada automatically gives him an advantage. He knows Punk remains extremely popular and expects the crowd could be split.
You know, I don’t know if it’s so much home field advantage, honestly, because he’s obviously extremely popular, and the crowd might be split, the crowd might be more on his side, I really don’t know. I’m Canadian, yes, and Toronto’s always been incredible for me, but, you know, he’s a very, very popular guy.
Toronto also means much more to Owens than simply having a hometown crowd behind him. It was where he wrestled what he once believed could be the final match of his career before undergoing neck surgery.
The reason I picked Toronto for the match was because not only is it an amazing crowd, but that’s where I had my last match, where I, what I thought would be my last match. And I remember thinking, if it is my last match, I really couldn’t have asked for a better place to have it, and a better opponent to do it with.
Now, Owens gets to return to that same city with an Undisputed WWE Championship opportunity, while his parents will be there to watch him.
So, my parents will be able to be there, and there was awhile where I didn’t know if my parents would ever get to see me in the ring again. And now, they’re going to get to see it, and it’s a big match, and it’s potentially a match where I could win the Undisputed World Title in front of them.
That makes Friday’s match about much more than an old grudge. Owens has the chance to win a world championship in front of his parents after once wondering whether they would ever see him wrestle again.
And when it comes to Punk, Owens says there’s no need to manufacture anything. The two simply “don’t gel.”
Now, they get to settle that difference inside the ring with the championship on the line.
