It seems odd to imagine that, if given the opportunity, a WWE talent would rather not hold a major championship in WWE. That said, Kevin Owens offered up an extremely valid reason for not really wanting to win the Intercontinental Championship again.
This coming Friday, Owens will be part of a Fatal-Four Way on SmackDown for the title. If he wins, it would be his third run with the gold and it would be a big win over fellow Superstars Big E, Sami Zayn, and the current IC Champion Apollo Crews.
While a guest on The Bump, Owens was asked about how he's feeling going into that match and gave a very interesting answer. He noted that he would love to be Intercontinental champion again...but if he doesn't win the title, he won’t be upset. He explained:
Because, there’s a good reason. As everybody knows, Owen Hart had a very positive influence on my career. I was a big fan of his. I named my son after him. My wrestling name ‘Kevin Owens’ is obviously a tribute to my son and Owen Hart. And what some fans have pointed out to me in the past is that me and Owen Hart share a birthday. We were both born on May 7. But also, what’s cool is we were both Intercontinental champions twice. And if you add the total amount of days from both those reigns, we have the exact same amount of days as Intercontinental champion as well.
Saying he kind of would feel bad about breaking that streak and losing that one thing he's got in common with one of his idols, Owens says the one way he's tried to look at it is by telling himself it's a different belt.
Calling it a "brand new title", he said the belt he used to own was the same one Owen Hart wore. Now, the new design makes it kind of brand new championship and he can win it on that technicality and still have his shared moment with Owen.
If You Have To Twist Owens' Arm
Really, Owens would love to win the belt again and said if WWE has him take another run with the championship, he'll say, "Fine. But only because they’re twisting my arm, you know?"
Wrestlers have different reasons for wanting or not wanting to do certain things in the industry and for Owens, his appreciation for the late Owen Hart is extremely important to him. One more meaningless run with the championship certainly wouldn't be as appealing as getting to share something so cool with someone he looked up to.