WWE's Kevin Owens 'Played the Long Game' When Asking to Use Steve Austin's Finisher

Kevin Owens has a dream scenario unfolding at WrestleMania 38, as the fan-favorite WWE Superstar will come face to face with an icon by the name of Stone Cold Steve Austin, and it turns out he planted the seeds for that confrontation quite a while ago. Austin will face off against Owens as part of The KO Show, but Austin has said he set about getting into ring shape for the show, so odds are some punches will be thrown. In a new interview with ESPN MMA's Daniel Cormier and Ryan Clark, Owens revealed that when he asked Austin to use the Stone Cold Stunner finisher, he was playing the long game a bit, hoping that at some point it would lead to a WrestleMania return.

"It's unreal to find myself in this position. What's funny is, when I first asked him if I could use the Stunner as the finishing move and he gave me his blessing, it meant a lot to me personally and professionally coming from him because I looked up to him for the longest time," Owens said. "I did figure that, if at some point he were to come back, the logic would be that he would be involved with the guy doing the Stunner. I played the long game a little bit and it worked out in my favor."

It certainly did, and once the battle was locked in, Owens went all in, even donning prosthetics to give himself an Austin-style makeover with a bald head. He tricked the crowd for a minute as he came out to Austin's classic music, and it ended up being a fun segment even if Owens was stretching a bit out of his comfort zone.

"It's really funny because that's really not the kind of stuff I'm used to doing. That's happened before when one of the wrestlers would dress up as someone else, like their rivals, The Miz did it a few years ago, DX has done it, a couple of people have done it and done it well. It was me stepping out of my comfort zone a little, but I figured it was the most impactful thing I do going into the match or confrontation, but it ended up being a lot of fun. I think I pissed a lot of people off, which is delightful," Owens said.

Now the two will face each other this weekend, and we wouldn't be surprised if a certain Texas Rattlesnake unleashes a few Stunners of his own before WrestleMania comes to a close.

Are you excited for Stone Cold's WrestleMania return? Let us know in the comments or as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!

H/T Fightful