Kevin Owens Reveals What Vince McMahon & Triple H Told Him During WWE Universal Title Run
Kevin Owens recently spoke with Alex McCarthy of talkSPORT and discussed his first run with the WWE Universal Title, admitting that he'd like to set the record straight with a second reign.
Owens' only world title reign in WWE came in 2016 after he won the vacant Universal Title following Finn Balor's shoulder injury, which he suffered during the title win. Owens held the title from August 29, 2016 until quickly dropping it to WWE Hall of Famer Bill Goldberg at Fastlane on March 5, 2017.
Now Owens is hoping for a second reign to set the record straight, not because of how his first ended, but because of how he wasn't able to enjoy it the first time around.
"I don't really care how it ended," Owens said. "It ended the way it ended and they all have to end at some point. At least it ended for a reason. There was a reason for it ending beyond, 'Hey, Owens isn't doing a good job.' Because that wasn't the case. Whether it should have ended that way or not is another discussion altogether.
"What I mean the most when I talk about I'd love to have another Universal title run to make things right is for myself. My mindset has changed a lot since I was champion and back then I didn't take the time to enjoy any of it. I was just too focused on trying to make it good, make it better, make it as good as it can be and I really, really didn't enjoy it the way I should have."
Owens revealed that several people around him had alerted him to the fact that he wasn't embracing and relishing the title reign like he should. This feedback came from people like WWE Hall of Famers Triple H and Shawn Michaels, WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon, and even Owens' wife and parents.
"My wife was instrumental in making me realize that," Owens said. "My parents as well, even guys like Shawn Michaels, Triple H and even Vince McMahon himself, they've all told me that it seemed like I forgot to enjoy this part of things and if you're not going to enjoy being the champion, then what are you going to enjoy in this industry?
"I'd love to be able to get back there just so I can enjoy it properly, but we'll see. All I can do is do my best to stay in that story and hopefully I get to take it from Roman or somebody else in the future."