How John Cena “Made” Kevin Owens

WWE is releasing Fight Owens Fight: The Kevin Owens Story tomorrow, July 4th. The DVD serves as quite the privilege for Owens, who has certainly earned this opportunity as he has endured one of the longest routes to the pinnacle of his sport.

However, this commemorative moment for Owens may not have even reached this point if not for John Cena.

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The documentary uses interviews from the likes long time friend and rival Sami Zayn along with Triple H. In one of his segments, The Game speaks about the process WWE used to debut Kevin Owens on the main roster. According to Triple H, John Cena orchestrated most of the story:

“Kevin came across as very authentic and I think Vince saw that. I know Cena saw that because Cena was the one that went to Vince and said that ‘lemme do this US open challenge with him and bring him to TV’, it just all worked out.”

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For those that don’t know, Owens would go on to pin John Cena cleanly at Elimination Chamber 2015. It was Kevin Owens’ first WWE match. His monumental debut set Owens down a scorching path that has already landed him a turn with the Universal Championship. If not for his first WWE moment, history would have played out much differently.

John Cena owns a bad reputation with some groups of fans as a guy who “buries” younger stars. While that’s a disputable notion, the fact that he “made” Owens is not. Cena often publically refutes the accusation that he has derailed young careers, saying that those budding superstars didn’t run with their opportunity. To Cena’s credit, he’s never once pointed to Owens success in an attempt to make himself look generous.

While Kevin Ownes may have gone on to do well without Cena, we cannot downplay the significance of beating the biggest star in the history of WWE in your first match. Honestly, Owens didn’t even have to beat Cena to get a sufficient rub, but nonetheless, he did and was blasted into WWE’ spotlight.

Owens has been consistently exceptional in his time with WWE. Currently, he’s enjoying a run a United States Champion. It’s a title he’s only defended once but that will soon be changing. This Tuesday, SmackDown will be holding a Battle Royal to decide Owen’s next opponent.