Kevin Owens On Why He's Less Interested In Working With The Current NXT
In an interview with French Canadian podcast Les anti-pods de la lutte, WWE star Kevin Owens was asked about NXT 2.0 and the change to that from the original NXT. A former NXT Champion who got his start in WWE under the original incarnation of the NXT brand, Owens called NXT 2.0 so different that it should necesitate a name change.
"Today's NXT is very different than the NXT I was part of, to the point I believe it should have a totally different name," Owens revealed. "And I don't think it's better or worse, but it's just too different. So when I'm watching NXT, I don't see the NXT I was part of. It's not the same thing. It's a little bit like Ring of Honor. The ROH of old days and the ROH now, it's just not the same thing.
"So to me, it's completely two different products, so when I'm watching it, I put myself in the mindset we had when I was at NXT and the mindset there seems to have right now, it's completely different. It's very hard for me to compare them. I don't even consider that to be the same show. I don't really feel any attachment to NXT now."
It wasn't all negativity with Kevin Owens, who praised elements of NXT's WarGames show that took place earlier in December. Even still, he admitted that he wouldn't want to go to this new NXT brand (something he would've been willing to do years ago) and reiterated it is not the same as the brand that used to house him and other current WWE stars.
"Listen, there are very talented people working there, and I have watched the last TakeOver show they did and there were parts of it that I thought was really good, but it's like a few years ago, if they had asked me to go back to NXT, I would have said yes," Owens said. "But if they would ask me that now, I don't think I would be as receptive to go back, because it's not the same thing.
"I don't think I fit in the new NXT as I was fitting in the NXT I was part of, with guys like Sami, Finn, Samoa Joe and Nakamura. When I watch NXT now, I don't feel the same thing I felt when I was watching NXT two years ago."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Les anti-pods de la lutte and provide an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription