Kevin Owens Wants Brock Lesnar At WrestleMania, Talks Reaction To Triple H Helping Him, Owen Hart
WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens was the guest on the latest "Off The Top Rope" segment on ESPN SportsCenter with Jonathan Coachman. Below are some highlights.
* Owens said headlining WWE Clash of the Champions was "pretty surreal." He noted that even being on a WWE pay-per-view was surreal because he's watched so many since he was 11 years old. He said to main event a WWE pay-per-view and to walk in as WWE Universal Champion were two of the goals that he set when he joined the company, and he's accomplished them.
* He said he wasn't surprised that Triple H helped him win the title because Triple H knows a special talent when he sees one. He said it was great to see the fans reaction to the title win and see how excited they were. He said people had been waiting to see Triple H turn on Seth Rollins for a long time.
* When asked about the backstage reaction to his title win, Owens said that it left a lot of people backstage in disbelief. He heard more than one guy say that they couldn't believe that Triple H is back, that he was champion and that he was champion relatively quickly after starting with the company. He said that he signed with WWE 2 years and 4 days before winning the title.
* Owens talked about his son's reaction to him winning the title, and said that it was special to share it with his family. He said that his wife of 10 years always believed in him and never had a doubt in her mind that he would win it. He seemed to take a shot at ESPN Radio's Amin Elhassan, who mocked Owens' son's reaction last month, saying that it might be hard for some people to understand why his son was so proud because they don't give their children a reason to be proud and gave an exaggerated wink.
* Owens was asked about naming his son Owen after Owen Hart and the influence that Owen Hart had on him. He said that when he was younger, he could always tell that Owen was having a blast in the ring and that stuck with him. He said that after Owen passed away, every single person he spoke to would talk about how great of a guy he was and how he would go out of his way to make people happy. He said that was how he would want his son to be, and he asked his wife to name their son Owen when she was pregnant, which she agreed to right away. He said that his wife and himself told Bret Hart that story, and he appreciated it.
* He was asked about injuries and how much it comes into his mind before a match. Owens said it never does, because if you're worried about getting hurt, it instinctively causes you to not give it your all. He likes to worry about things once they happen.
* With Finn Balor's injury, he noted that Finn would admit that it's part of the job. It's horrible timing since he didn't get to defend the title once, but he's sure Finn will come back better and stronger. "Unfortunately for him, I'm the champion now so he's not getting it back," Owens said.
* Coachman asked Owens if there was someone that he'd like to work with that he hasn't worked with yet. Owens said that it's hard to pick just one, but there are people from NXT like Baron Corbin and Apollo Crews that he'd like to one day.
* At the end of the interview, Owens was asked if he had an opponent that he'd like to face at WrestleMania.
"I want Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania," Owens replied. "It's as simple as that."