The friendship between Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn is at a crossroads, and The Prize Fighter thinks it might be time they go their separate ways.
Kevin Owens was the latest guest on WWE After The Bell with Corey Graves to discuss a wide variety of subjects. When asked about Sami Zayn’s betrayal at Survivor Series, KO believes he didn’t really betray him, but at the same time, he believes that the time has come for their careers to no longer be parallel. He noted that his message to Zayn on the November 28 episode of WWE RAW came from a genuine place, as he believes it’s time for them to go separate ways.
“Yeah, he really didn’t even betray me. He just helped his team win,” Owens said. “And he chose to do it in a pretty messed up way. But again, like I said on Monday, I really can’t blame him for everything I’ve done to him over the last 20 years. And I’m talking before WWE as well. So yes, the sentiment I really had is just our careers really have been linked forever. And in WWE, even if you just look at the last eight years from the moment I started NXT to now, even when we’re not on the same show, our careers are somehow parallel, people still lump us together.
“I mean, even if you just look at what we’ve done since I got to WWE, how many matches we’ve had. How many pay-per-views we’ve been in the same match, whether it was one on one or four-ways or ladder matches or whatever. We’ve done three WrestleManias together. The first one was in a multi-man ladder match. We’re in the same match. Second one, we were in a tag team asking Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan, and we had a singles match at WrestleMania. Like just that’s three of them. It is insane. So, at this point on Monday, what I said really came from the heart; it’s just done.”
Owens emphasized that he and Zayn have helped each other throughout their careers, but they have also held each other back because they’re always linked with each other. He stated that this dynamic applied to backstage matters, as he once got heat by association with Zayn.
“I think we’ve just done this for a long time,” Owens said. “We’ve really helped each other throughout our careers a lot. We’ve probably held each other back as well, just because of the constant pairing in people’s minds, even when we’re not together. I know for a fact I’ll tell you this back in 2017; in people’s minds, he and I were so just one. If he got heat backstage for something, I’d get the heat too, even if I have nothing to do with it.
“We got kicked off a Europe tour once together, for something that I don’t think either of us had anything to really be blamed for, but I was barely involved in that. Like it’s just no, get those guys out of here. It wasn’t just get one of them, both of them. Because literally everything from that aspect, what I said Monday stands, I think it’s just time to be done.”
The former WWE Universal Champion emphasized that Zayn is thriving now, and people are seeing how talented he is. He then stated that, at this point, their careers being parallel isn’t ideal anymore.
“He’s thriving. I meant when I said on Monday too. People are seeing the Sami Zayn that I’ve known was there for 20 years,” Owens said. “I don’t know why it took so long for people to really take notice and really give him the credit he deserves because he’s been incredible in WWE the whole time he’s been here, but the last few months have obviously opened a lot of people’s eyes to him, and it’s great, but I just don’t think it’s optimal for our careers to be parallel anymore.”
READ MORE: Sami Zayn: Something Is Missing From WWE TV When Me And Kevin Owens Aren’t On
What do you make of Kevin Owens’ comments? Do you truly believe that he and Sami Zayn are done? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit WWE After The Bell with a link back to this article for the transcription.
