Kevin Owens Explains Why He Turned On Jericho

The bond of JeriKO was thought unbreakable at one point in time, only to have Kevin Owens shatter it with a bang, pulling the rug out from under his former friend and leaving him on crutches in the process.

The "Festival of Friendship" certainly did not go as planned for Jericho, and Owens recently jumped on Stone Cold Steve Austin's podcast to give fans the reasoning behind his actions (via IWNerd).

"I don't want to go to deep today here but I will say that it had to happen and it was a long time coming. Just on my end, regardless of the relationship that Chris and I had. I feel like ever since I won the Universal Championship, I really hadn't been myself. I got here by being myself for 16 years. Once I took that title, I feel like I got sidetracked with Chris and it was more about being entertaining and being funny, and kinda popping each other and entertaining each other, just seeing how much fun we could have every Monday night, which is an important part of what we do"

Owens recalls their time on Monday Night RAW fondly, but ultimately he decided it was time for a return to basics.

"But there is also a side of what we do where at one point you gotta get serious and get where your head needs to be. I feel like as Universal Champion I really haven't done that yet . Now you got Goldberg coming after me and Brock Lesnar here almost every week now. I went through Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns but there are a lot of other people coming for that title and I feel like it was time to get rid of the distraction"

That list of challengers includes Goldberg, who will be aiming to grab the title for himself at Fastlane. You can see the entire announced card below, and Fastlane hits the WWE Network on Sunday, March 5th.

Universal Champion Kevin Owens vs. Goldberg.

Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman.

Cruiserweight Champion Neville vs. Jack Gallagher.

Raw Women's Champion Bayley vs. Charlotte Flair.

Raw Tag Team Champions Luke Gallows And Karl Anderson vs. Enzo Amore And Big Cass.

Sami Zayn vs. Samoa Joe

Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax

MORE WWE: Steve Austin Calls Out Kevin Owens / Forgotten Wyatt Family Member Returning Soon? / Major Spoiler On Kurt Angle's Return To WWE TV