Kevin Owens Responds To "Lazy" Claims From Daniel Bryan

Above is a clip from today's live WWE Now Fastlane preview with Cathy Kelley and Mike Rom talking to Kevin Owens, who will challenge WWE Champion Daniel Bryan at tonight's pay-per-view.

Owens responded to recent comments made by Bryan, about how Owens is lazy. These comments were made during Bryan's "Superstar A and Superstar B" promo, which you can see at the end of this post.

"You know, the one Superstar Bryan doesn't talk about in that video is Superstar C, and that's the delusional jackass he's become over the past few months," Owens said. "Because for him to say I'm lazy, for him to say that I haven't put my body through the ringer for the past 19 years... you know, is the kind of crap I've heard my entire career. I just never expected it from Daniel Bryan because Daniel Bryan was one of the people who I looked up to in the past. He was one of the guys, when Sami Zayn and I were coming up on the independent scene, never h ad to be nice to us but he always was. So, I took that at face value and I took that as a sign that he was a good person, but clearly something went wrong somewhere over the past few years, and now Daniel Bryan is the way he is, and that's great for him, it's working out, he's the WWE Champion, he's doing great. But for him to say that I'm lazy, for him to say that I don't work... like, everybody who knows me, everyone who knows me, I think lazy is the last word they would ever use. Because I haven't done as many crunches as Daniel Bryan in the last 19 years? If he wants to think that makes me lazy, that's great. For him to say, by the way, I was born with all the talent in the world, hey I wish that was true. I'm sure my first wrestling trainer would tell him differently because I wasn't... I believe I was born to do this, but I certainly wasn't born with all the attributes and all the qualities to do this, besides the toughness. And I guess the bottom line is that tonight, I'm going to show Daniel Bryan that he's very wrong in his thinking. But I also know that he doesn't believe what he said, that's just him trying to get under my skin and look, I'm good at getting under people's skin. Now the shoe's on the other foot and that's OK. I understand that he's trying to do and it's not going to work."

Owens continued, "Because tonight is very important to me for a lot of reasons. It's my first pay-per-view back. I know Owens and Elodie and my wife Karina are going to be watching it at home, my parents are going to watch it, and that's a big deal to them. But also, when I was moving up on the independent scene, there was a wrestling company called AIW, it's based in Cleveland, that I wrestled for quite a bit towards the end of my independent career, right before I went to WWE. And it was run by two guys, John and Chris, and I became really close friends with those guys, and Chris passed away a little under two years ago. Tonight, I can't help but think how psyched he would be that I'm wrestling for the WWE Title in Cleveland. So, tonight I'm dedicating my match to him, to his memory, and I can't wait to beat Daniel Bryan, shut him up and win the WWE Title in Cleveland, for all those reasons."

For those who missed it, below is the full "Superstar A and Superstar B" promo that Owens was responding to:

"You know what? Typical, typical, typical, typical Kevin Owens," Bryan said. "Let me tell you a little story, let me tell you a tale of two Superstars. OK, here is Superstar A, who was born with a tremendous amount of talent, more talent than anybody had ever seen. And day after day, year after year, he does nothing with it. And he just relies on his talent, and year after year people start noticing his talent, but they say he's never going to make it because he's too lazy. But guess what? He was born with such an extraordinary amount of talent that he makes it, and he makes it and becomes Universal Champion. But he has never changed his work ethic."

Bryan continued, "Now, let me tell you about Superstar B. He was born with just average talent, with an average upbringing. But with an incredible work ethic and an incredible intellect. And year after year, he worked hard and he trained hard, and year after year, people told him he would never make it because you don't have the talent. But do you know what that Superstar did? That Superstar went on to become Universal Champion, he became WWE Champion, he main evented WrestleMania because he had intellect, and he had work ethic."

"Now, let me tell you another tale about these two Superstars. Let me tell you about their injuries, OK?," Bryan said. "Superstar A got injured out of neglect, out of over-consumption, out of just eating whatever he wants and being overweight, and that was the damage that made him have to get double knee surgery. Superstar B worked so hard that everything he did affected his body. And he worked, and he worked, and he worked, and then they told him, 'You know what? You've worked so hard you can't work anymore, you have to retire.'"

"And let me tell you a tale of these two Superstars, how they reacted to their injuries. Superstar A got surgery and just waited and rested until they told him, 'OK, you can come back.' Superstar B was told he would never fight again, and he fought, and he fought, and he worked harder than anybody had ever worked before. And now that Superstar is WWE Champion. These two people, these two Superstars, are competing at Fastlane for the WWE Championship. Superstar A and Superstar B. Talent and laziness vs. intellect and work ethic. Who do you think is going to win?," Bryan asked.