Kevin Owens: The Quebecois Star

Original article at Journal de Montreal

Please enjoy my copious comments following...please, I beg you. Let something come out of this that isn't pain and strife.

When the question is asked, it usually gets a response that is limited to two names. Who is the Quebec athlete still active who is the best known around the world?

If we consider that Georges St-Pierre is still pursuing his career, he is one of two names. The other is obviously Lance Stroll.

But there's an athlete and actor from Marieville who was in St. Louis on Monday night, in Saudi Arabia Thursday, and will be tomorrow at the Bell Center, who is more famous than all the others. Two weeks ago, he was working at the New Orleans Superdome in front of 78,133 viewers and millions of viewers around the world.

His good bearded face* is sold on t-shirts, beer glasses, figurines, pennants, pillows, blankets and anything else you can imagine from merchandise.

And Kevin Owens, whose real name is Kevin Steen, born in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and raised in Marieville, travels the planet while remaining faithful to the man he was 10 years ago. Before everything explodes!

And it's probably the real feat ...

The story of Obelix**

Kevin Owens is Obelix. Round and strong like the character, except that he was not born in the magic potion, he discovered it at 11 years old: "I was at RadioShack with my father. He wanted to rent a movie. But instead of choosing a movie, he rented a tape from Wrestlemania XI and we both sat down to watch it. After two hours, I fell in love with it. I knew what I wanted to do in life. Our family was of average class. We did not miss anything, but we had to count the money. The grand finale was between Lawrence Taylor and Bam Bam Bigelow, but the one that made me fall in love was Shawn Michael, who was fighting against Diezel. I was very small at age 11 and Shawn Michael was the smallest of the wrestlers on the tape. It encouraged me in my dream, "says Owens, lying on his bed in a St. Louis hotel room.

The kid continued to play hockey and soccer, but wrestling completely and totally took over his mind: "The moment I discovered wrestling, it was settled. I was watching wrestling shows at RDS and laying a mattress in my room to wrestle with my pillows, who were my opponents," he says.

At the age of 14, he discovered Serge Jodoin's wrestling school and learned the basics of the sport-show***.

Enter Jacques Rougeau

He was in high school during an introductory computer course when he took the next step. He could browse the internet, a privilege in 1999. He discovered at the Assumption a company, International Wrestling 2000, property of Jacques Rougeau. He asked the teacher for permission to call his mother for an emergency. She was a good sport and met Jacques Rougeau at his school. This is a new stage for the 16-year-old. He continues his apprenticeship, but above all, he participates in four or five galas a year organized by Rougeau.

But that's not enough and Owens, still calling himself Steen at the time, chooses the independent circuit of small promotions. He wrestles in church basements, in bars, in school gyms in front of 100 or 200 people. Sometimes you pay for it. Often, he is entitled to a bottle of water. But a devouring fire consumes.

When he completed his CEGEP in 2005, he found a little job**** at a gas station. The owner is a nice person who frees Kevin on weekends to fight in Philadelphia or New Jersey: "I lived with my parents, I lived with my salary at the gas station."
Already, he shares the road with his faithful friend Sami Zayn. The same Zayn with whom he worked in front of 78,000 people two weeks ago. The two kids run the little galas and end up making themselves known and respected: "Maybe because we were two and maybe because the other wrestlers felt our passion for sport, we always felt respected, "he says.

But he did not have a cent. Nothing. Nada. And [impenetrable colloquialism], he becomes madly in love with Karina: "When I met her, I had nothing, absolutely nothing. But she never stopped me from pursuing my dream. We had two kids, my 11 year old kid, Owen, in honor of Owen Hart, and Elodie. I found myself a more lucrative job at Staples, but I continued to climb the ladder in the indies. You can make a living in these wrestling circuits. Former stars come to revive their career and earn their salary. I was fighting five nights and I was coming to Karina and the children two nights. Then, I signed with bigger companies like Ring of Honor, where Paul Lévesque, known as Triple H*****, discovered me. I signed a contract with NXT, the WWE developmental brand, and moved to Orlando, Florida," says the Quebec native******.

The dream was waiting for him.

The big time with John Cena

I pass quickly on the nights spent rolling from one city to another, ordinary pay and shared meals to save on the food. I arrive in Corpus Christi, Texas, on May 31, 2015. That evening, a big bearcub******* from Marieville faces WWE star John Cena. Win or lose, it does not matter, you all know that professional wrestlers do not fight each other, they fight each other to ignite the crowd and give a show.******** They are athletes-actors. In Corpus Christi, Kevin Owens fought for 30 minutes with John Cena. Starting from Marieville, where he was fighting in church basements, he found himself on the biggest stage of the wrestling world. He remembers with emotion: "John Cena is a great professional. We were able to work for thirty minutes, giving us a good background*********. It happened a few nights in a row that I work with him. When I took the elevator when I arrived in another city, around 2 am, I looked at myself in the elevator mirror and felt very funny. I could not realize what was happening to me, I was asking myself: what am I doing here?' he recalls.

A new wealth

It's a fabulous and exciting life. But very hard. He leaves Karina and the house on Thursday evening or Friday morning and leaves to fight everywhere in America until Wednesday morning, when it's not Japan, Europe or the Middle East. But he explains that the working conditions are very good and that the "Company", as he constantly calls the WWE, treats its wrestlers well. There are 86 under contract. The basic agreement guarantees a very generous salary for the best of the group. Often in the millions: "In addition, I get percentages on derivatives and there are even more than you can imagine. We get paid when we sign autographs or promote the Company in a city and if we have special obligations, we get bonuses," he says.

The life of the wrestlers is a star's life. They are more famous than the hockey players in America. And the temptations on the road are numerous. Cases of alcoholism, dope or violence are numerous. The dramas are heartbreaking: "I'm so obsessed with wrestling that it helps me stay normal. I do not have temptations. In fact, my biggest temptation is pizza. I have a woman I love and two beautiful children. When I'm home in Orlando, we go to Disney or Universal Studios, we live with family. On the road, after my fight, I go to my hotel, I call my wife, I watch my show or my movie on Netflix and I fall asleep. I try to train at the gym a couple of times a week and take care of myself. I know that at age 33, my body will wear out from beating and falling. I already have back pain even if it goes down, "he says.

The Undertaker, Vince McMahon and the company ...

There would be pages and pages of stories to tell. How is it facing The Undertaker? And who are the best wrestlers to work with? Those who know how to play the game: "John Cena, he's so good that sometimes fans do not realize it and are upset. I think Roman Reigns is the next John Cena. I worked with him at least 100 times and he is really very good. I do not want to forget Sami Zayn, who is a great wrestler. We are discovering his true value. We have worked together since our beginnings. There is Kurt Angle, my boss, Randy Orton, a highly respected veteran. And there's Vince McMahon... ", continued Owens.

Ah, Vince McMahon! The big boss, the billionaire who boosted WWE. Kevin Owens speaks about him with respect and almost affection. He rubs shoulders with him every week and it is with him that he negotiated his contracts. He has the right to life and death over his wrestlers. A few weeks ago, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn made a mistake in a fight in London. They apologized after the evening in the locker room, citing a misunderstanding. No pardon, the two Quebecois****** were sent home, where they dried for a week: "When I met Mr. McMahon a week later, I wanted to explain myself. He gave me his hand saying it was forgotten and to continue my good work. He is not resentful, I had the proof."

Since then, the dream continues. With, in ten days, another tour in Europe ...

Marieville will never have traveled so much.


*Look. One does one's best. Google wanted 'mullet', here.

**I have significant irritation with this comparison--irritation Kevin himself would probably not share, I imagine. It's lazy, it's reductive as hell, and it adds nothing to the conversation. To write this way about Kevin Owens, to look at this man and say, "Well, he's large, I guess. That stands out", is emblematic of the shortsightedness I associate with media from the privileged. In my not remotely humble opinion, the wrong person was chosen for this job. Not to mention the fact that only deep comics nerds still/have ever read Asterix. It's the most superficial, shallow--Reseda help me, I'm losing it. For more information, see this article on Obelix

***...I'll allow it this once, but I'd like to see you after class.

****Sic. I would never in my right mind pretend like a job at a gas station deserves a diminutive, are you kidding me?!?

*****You're here, you know who Haitch is.

******I refuse to use 'Quebecker'. It's hideous, Québécois is lovely, end of discussion.

*******Yes, he wrote bearcub. About a man who at the time was 31 years old with two children.

********Forget seeing me after class, we need to meet during office hours and have a frank discussion about your motivations in working in journalism, and why precisely you chose to make no effort to examine why so many find wrestling entrancing. Your smugness is showing, in other words--and I know, I was like that myself once, which is also how I know one can in fact change and do better.

*********I tried, I'm sorry. I'm...I'm so tired, at this point.

Here's to all the new fans who'll come after me: if it's up to me, you'll never have to go scouring ancient ROH forums to find that damn letter. Cheers.