Loyalty and Kevin Owens
One of wrestling's greatest betrayers is also one of its most steadfast
Chapter 2 of Fight Forever details the amazing story of how Kevin broke away from the wrestling school run by Jacques Rougeau. After sneaking into an IWS show and seeing some of their free-wheeling wrestling, he knew that was what he wanted. But for a long time he couldn’t break away from Rougeau’s school.
For years and years, Kevin in WWE has only been a bad friend. He turned on Sami the first night they were ever in WWE together. He engineered the Festival of Friendship for Chris Jericho. He teamed with the new Day for two weeks before attacking Kofi, then years later reconciled with Big E just to turn on him again. His alliances with Sami and Seth when they were both heels were brittle, uncertain. Even when he shifted to babyface, for a very long time he still had no friends, no one who trusted him.
Once he and Sami had healed that original rift, though, it was as if his character was finally free to be as loyal onscreen as off. This year we’ve watched him embrace Cody after his win, seen him help Seth limp to the back. In Saudi Arabia, he arrived at Sami’s side and left supporting an injured Randy Orton. It’s been fascinating to watch him have connections, friendships, fidelities of a sort he never had before. I suppose it’s likely one of them will launch us into a betrayal of some sort—this is wrestling, after all, and betrayal is the engine that drives stories forward. As far as I can remember, despite his many back-stabby moments, Kevin’s never had anyone he trusts betray him in WWE. Are we heading toward that, or will Kevin once again revert to character, or will he somehow manage to keep the faith a while longer?