Kevin Owens has re-signed with WWE.
Kevin Owens has re-signed with WWE per Fightful (h/t Wrestling Inc). Owens previous contract, signed in 2019, was restructured to extend to the end of January 2022. This led to a wave of speculation of Owens possibly jumping ship to AEW as his contract was set to expire.
As a Caucasian former ROH star with WWE credentials, Kevin Owens represents the prototypical talent whom AEW typically pushes as a main eventer. Former ROH stars Hangman Adam Page, Adam Cole, Cody Rhodes, The Young Bucks, CM Punk and Bryan Danielson have all thrived as top stars in AEW. Jay Lethal, perhaps the greatest ROH star in history, has not. No surprise there.
Prior to originally signing with WWE in 2014, Owens competed under his real name of Kevin Steen, where he developed ties to The Young Bucks and Adam Cole as the quartet formed the Mount Rushmore stable in ROH. Many fans were excited with the potential of the stable reuniting in Jacksonville. Owens himself even fueled speculation by posting the coordinates of Mount Rushmore in a since-deleted tweet.
During a promo on the November 1 broadcast of WWE Raw, Owens continued to dog-whistle to the hardcore fans when he referenced the stable on WWE’s flagship show, telling WWE champion Big E and Seth Rollins “there’s only room for one face of Monday Night Raw, this isn’t Mount Rushmore.”
Owens also seemed to reference his contract situation when he added “it might be for three more months, or three more years, that doesn’t matter. What matters is every single time I’m on Raw, you can believe I will do everything I can to give the WWE Universe something to remember.”
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Further fueling speculation was the fact that Owens has been on the losing end of several matches of late, including Monday’s quick tapout loss to Bobby Lashley. Despite his losing ways, however, Owens will be competing for the WWE Championship in a Fatal 4-Way at WWE Day 1 on January 1, 2022.
With his contract situation no longer a mystery, speculation will shift to fellow former ROH champion Kyle O’Reilly, who checks so many of AEW’s boxes they already seem to be booking his debut before even putting pen to paper. During recent backstage segments with Adam Cole and Bobby Fish, The Young Bucks have repeatedly referenced NXT’s Undisputed Era, which included Cole, Fish, Roderick Strong and O’Reilly. Currently a free agent, O’Reilly last competed in a Steel Cage match on the December 7 broadcast of WWE NXT, losing to Von Wagner.
