Kevin Owens Reveals Conversation With Cody Rhodes Before WWE Survivor Series

Kevin Owens is quietly establishing himself as a WarGames veteran. The Prizefighter first competed inside the double steel cage match at NXT Takeover: WarGames 2019, joining the team of Tommaso Ciampa, Keith Lee, and Dominik Dijakovic in their fight against the Undisputed Era. Owens’s placement in that bout came as a surprise entry, but his latest WarGames match was anything but. The former Universal Champion aligned with Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, Butch, and Ridge Holland well before WWE Survivor Series went down, setting his sights on Roman Reigns while also trying to beat some sense into former friend Sami Zayn.

When the night finally came, Owens walked out in some new ring gear. Owens rocked jeans and his usual cutoff tee, but his usual KO logo was substituted for an image of Dusty Rhodes, a tribute to the creator of the WarGames match.

Speaking on WWE After The Bell, Owens revealed that he got Cody Rhodes’s blessing before donning the American Dream t-shirt.

“I talked to Cody beforehand to make sure he was cool with it and everything,” Owens said (h/t Fightful). “It’s always neat to tie back to history and give Dusty a little nod. I try to do that as much as I can because he was so influential in my career. I really had access to him for a very short time, maybe ten months, between the time I started in NXT and the time he passed. In those ten months, he really left a mark on me that nobody has. I’ve known people for years in this industry and they haven’t had half the influence on me that Dusty had in that short time. Anytime I get to do something as a little shoutout to him, I take that opportunity.”

Owens added that Dusty was imperative in giving him the confidence he needed to be himself in WWE.

“Triple H took a shot on me. He gave me a chance,” Owens said. “Dusty, right from the get-go, made me comfortable and made me understand that I could be who I am. I didn’t have to try to put up a front or try to be something I wasn’t. That’s never who he was. He stayed true to himself his entire career. That would be the biggest thing he imparted in me during the short time we had together.” 

While WarGames has been in WWE for years now, November’s bout was the first time that the match had been brought to the main roster.

“To be part of the first main roster WarGames, be able to do that, and just being part of the match itself, it’s an exciting concept,” Owens continued. “Anytime there is something new, it’s great to be part of it and this was new to a lot of people. Obviously, not everyone who watches the main roster necessarily watches NXT or knows what WarGames was from back in the day. It was cool to be part of this new concept that a lot of people saw for the first time.”

Owens is expected to challenge Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Title at WWE Royal Rumble next month.