Kevin Owens Thanks Steve Austin After Hitting the Stunner on SmackDown Live

Kevin Owens' return on SmackDown Live this week was full of surprises.Not only did the former WWE [...]

By Connor Casey

Kevin Owens' return on SmackDown Live this week was full of surprises.

Not only did the former WWE Universal Champion take Kofi Kingston's spot in the WWE Championship match at Fastlane, but he also broke out a new finisher that looked very familiar to old school wrestling fans — the Stunner.

Owens took to Twitter after the show and gave a shout out to Steve Austin, the man who made the Stunner iconic.

"Hey (Steve Austin), I finally figured it out!"

Since joining the WWE, Owens had used the Pop-Up Powerbomb as his finisher. While he broke out the move during Tuesday's main event tag match against Daniel Bryan and Rowan, it wasn't enough to keep the WWE Champion down.

Owens first appeared at the start of the show during a Fastlane contract signing that was supposed to see Kingston and Bryan sign for a title match at the pay-per-view. But just before Kingston could put his name down, Vince McMahon walked out onstage and told the veteran star he wasn't a big enough draw for the show. He then introduced Owens, who had been out of action since October after getting surgery on both knees.

Even though fans were outraged by McMahon's decision, Owens appeared to be a babyface throughout the show. He even requested Kingston be his tag partner for his match against Bryan and Rowan.

He continued to play the babyface role after the match in an interview with WWE's YouTube channel.

"I'm going to address something that a lot of people have an issue with, and it's the fact that I'm taking Kofi Kingston's place in this match at Fastlane after more than earned his spot in that match," Owens said. "And that's totally fair. Look I'm not blind, I'm not deaf. I've been watching for the five months, but more importantly I've been watching for the last two weeks and I've seen this phenomenon. I've seen it happen. They call it 'KofiMania,' every year I call WrestleMania 'KOMania,' seems like the road to WrestleMania right now is 'KofiMania.' And look, he deserves that title match at Fastlane, he does. But the thing is I negotiated this with Mr. McMahon."

Owens showed a glimpse of his more sarcastic, heelish side on Twitter.

"Everyone thinks you made the right decision and loves you for it, (Vince McMahon)!" Owens wrote. "P.S. Don't check your mentions."

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