Kevin Owens On Having Similar Career Path As AJ Styles, If He Was Always Close With Chris Jericho

USA Today has a new interview with WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens, who was promoting Sunday's Royal Rumble pay-per-view. Below are a couple of highlights:

AJ Styles and himself not going through WWE developmental system:

"I think for A.J. and I both, if we had taken another route, I don't know that we would have been as successful as we've been in WWE," he said. "I think the career path we took was instrumental in getting us to be who we are now as performers, as wrestlers, and getting to be so successful so quickly once we got here.

"But there's many ways to make it to WWE. Our career path isn't necessarily the only way or even the best way, but for us and the kind of performers we are, there was really no other way. For us, there was no other option. This is how it had to be."

His friendship with Chris Jericho:

"We always got along, but I don't know that we were that close. The more we appeared together on RAW, the closer we grew, and we're really good friends now. I always had a lot of respect for him, not only because he's one of the biggest WWE superstars of the last decade, but also because he's Canadian and I'm Canadian. There's a almost like an unspoken bond that just kind of happened naturally when you're from the same place and that bond also comes from having a similar career path to make it to WWE."

Owens also discussed if he regrets changing his name from Kevin Steen, his goals, his rivalry with Sami Zayn resuming some day and more. You can read the full interview by clicking here.

Source: USA Today