Kevin Owens: It 'Hurt A Little' Not Having A Match At WWE Elimination Chamber 2023

By all accounts, Kevin Owens has had a remarkable 2023 in WWE. He headlined Night One of WrestleMania 39 with his best friend Sami Zayn, defeated The Usos, and captured the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships. At Night of Champions, they defeated Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa to retain them. And they're involved in WWE programming on a weekly basis. Yet before all that, when Elimination Chamber came to Montreal, Quebec, Canada in February, Owens wasn't even on the card. Appearing on "Love Wrestling," KO didn't hide how much that hurt.

"Well, I gotta be honest, not being on the actual show was a real bummer. There's no way around that," he confessed.

Even still, that didn't take away from Owens being able to enjoy the moment for Zayn that night. "To be a little part of it at the end was great. To see Sami get his really big moment that he deserved ... To be in that spot in that moment for him, that was really big, so it was great to see that," he added. "But, you know, not being on the show, it definitely hurt a little."

Owens maintains a similar mindset whenever WWE travels to Canada — and not specifically just for Montreal. If he's not on the card in his home country, he's not particularly thrilled about it. And that's something he's found applies to most Canadian wrestlers.

"Honestly, it's not even just 'cause it's Montreal. I feel the same way everywhere," he continued. "Anytime we go to Canada and I'm not on one of the shows, I'm like 'Why am I not on this show,' you know?" And despite his best efforts to explain this to others, he added there's often been this disconnect, suggesting "I don't think they quite grasp that Canada is just one big city in a way for their homeland guys."

If you use quotes from this article, please credit "Love Wrestling" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.