Kevin Owens Explains Why He Chose the Stunner as His New Finisher

When Kevin Owens returned from his double-knee surgery back in February, he made a significant change to his moveset. Instead of using the Pop-up Powerbomb as his finisher like he had since joining WWE, the former world champion decided to adopt "Stone Cold" Steve Austin's iconic Stunner as his finishing move.

Fans seemed to love the change, which was made all the more effective when Owens firmly turned into a babyface over the summer to feud with the likes of Dolph Ziggler and Shane McMahon. In a new interview with Sports Illustrated, Owens explained why he chose to change things up and how Austin felt about the idea.

"I felt like everybody was doing powerbombs left and right, and I wanted to try something else," Owens said. "And one day it occurred to me that no one does the stunner as a finishing move, but to me, it's always been the best move. So I just went to Steve one day when he was here and I asked him, and he said, 'I can't believe nobody's asked me this before, but of course you can use it. Do whatever you want with it.'

"I did that out of respect for the people who've come before me," he continued. "I would never want to do that without his approval. He gave me the approval and it's working for me, so I have no intention of stopping and no intention of renaming it, either. It's the stunner and it always will be the stunner."

When Owens first used the move in a match with Roman Reigns back in 2017, it prompted Austin to bring him onto his podcast and teach him the finer details of the finisher. Back in early August the "Texas Rattlesnake" gave a grade on Owens' performance with the move.

"I would give it a B+," Austin told The Wrap. "I'm a huge K.O. fan, but I've seen a couple of the deliveries that have been a little off."

"He's timing it up and he's coming up — he's got a little bit of a different finesse to it than I did," he continued. "But I soon think he'll achieve A to A+ status if practice makes perfect, and they gotta let him turn that thing loose."

He added: "I enjoy watching him use it and I'm glad someone is using it. And I'm glad it's him."

Owens did not appear on WWE television this week after costing Elias the 24/7 Championship the week prior.