Kevin Owens is currently playing a face character, but he’s been among the best wrestling heels in recent memory. Most of the best moments from Owens’ career have come from the heel side in WWE, NXT, ROH and PWG. Even when Owens plays a face, it usually stems from the audience enjoying his heel antics and the promotion needing to make a change.
The dastardly actions of K.O. have become associated with his career as the top highlights. Owens knows how to push the buttons of the audience to get his desired reaction. Few wrestlers have been able to draw the natural heat as much as Owens in his career. Find out which actions stand out the most, with the worst things done by K.O. as a wrestling character.
10 Betraying New Day
The start of 2019 saw Kevin Owens returning to WWE as a face for the first time in his career. WWE changed the reported plans of Owens challenging Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 35 in favor of Kofi Kingston during the KofiMania rise.
Owens replaced an injured Xavier Woods in New Day for a few weeks after Kingston won the WWE Championship. However, it was a huge setup for Owens to betray Kofi by brutally attacking him and making it clear he wanted the title.
9 Mocking Shane McMahon's helicopter accident
One of the strangest real stories outside of the ring for WWE featured Shane McMahon surviving a scary helicopter accident. Shane and the pilot were the only two people on the helicopter that was forced to make a crash landing in the waters of Gilgo Beach.
Kevin Owens was in the midst of a brutal feud with Shane and utilized that to his advantage. The savage promo line saw Owens saying Shane’s kids would have been better off without him after Shane told him to never reference his family. It led to a huge scuffle in the ring setting up their eventual match.
8 Attacking Daniel Bryan on night he announced return
Daniel Bryan received the best news of his career in 2018 when WWE doctors cleared him to compete. The unhappy time as Smackdown General Manager saw Bryan getting to end his retirement and return to the ring.
WWE already had Bryan involved in a storyline with Shane McMahon, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. Both Owens and Zayn brutally attacked Bryan for attempting to punish the heels for their prior attack on Shane. Fans were heartbroken seeing Bryan withering in pain just hours after his announcement.
7 Ending tag team with El Generico in ROH
The history between Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn goes back to their time in Ring of Honor and PWG as Kevin Steen and El Generico. Both wrestlers bonded on the Canadian independent scene before getting booked in the top indies as a tag team.
ROH Final Battle 2009 saw Kevin teasing a retirement after he and Generico lost to the Young Bucks. It turned out to be a huge swerve, with Steen smashing Generico’s skull with a steel chair to end their time together and start the blood feud.
6 Attacking John Cena after hard fought loss
Kevin Owens started his WWE main roster career by having a series of three PPV matches against John Cena. The first one featured a shocking clean victory over the face of the company that instantly got him over.
However, Cena would get revenge winning the second match at Money in the Bank 2015. Owens appeared to show respect for Cena with a handshake before stabbing him in the back. The vicious powerbomb on the ring apron showed that Owens had no respect for Cena in defeat.
5 Betraying Sami Zayn
The first night of Kevin Owens’ time in NXT signified how untrustworthy his character would become. Fans reacted to Owens as the biggest face on the roster in his debut victory over CJ Parker to get everyone excited.
The show ended with Sami Zayn winning NXT Championship and getting to hug his longtime close friend as the locker room celebrated. NXT did their first tease of the end logo fake out before Owens brutally attacked Zayn. The instant heel turn made it clear that Owens as a prizefighter putting success above friendship.
4 Having Chris Jericho help him defeat Seth Rollins in Hell in a Cell
One of the best matches of Kevin Owens’ career saw him defeating Seth Rollins to retain the Universal Championship inside of the Hell in a Cell structure. Owens and Rollins stole the show with an instant classic, despite not getting the main event spot.
However, the ending left many fans unhappy when Chris Jericho found his way into the cage. It turned into a handicap match with Jericho’s help giving Owens the victory. Finishes like this made the audience hate Owens as a heel character cheating his way out of tough matches.
3 Attacking Candice LeRae in PWG to form Mount Rushmore
Mount Rushmore was among the most popular acts in PWG history. Kevin Owens united with the Young Bucks and Adam Cole to form a super heel faction looking to take over PWG by eliminating all the top faces.
The shocking moment of Owens’ heel turn saw him attacking Candice LeRae along with the other faces. Kevin hitting the package piledriver on LeRae signified he’d become a ruthless heel again. Owens delivered attacks on Candice a few times before either joined WWE.
2 Betraying Chris Jericho
Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens found lightning in a bottle with their characters becoming best friends. The Raw brand saw Owens and Jericho becoming the consistent highlights of the show each week during the first few months of the brand split.
However, it all ended in heartbreaking fashion during the infamous Festival of Friendship segment. Owens felt Jericho was holding him back with the silly antics, and delivered his most crushing betrayal yet. No wrestling fan will ever forget the moment of Jericho realizing his name was on K.O’s list before the vicious beat down.
1 Brutally beating up Vince McMahon
Vince McMahon had one of his final physical in-ring moments with Kevin Owens back in 2017. The rivalry between Owens and Shane McMahon reached its most personal level when Shane’s father got involved.
Owens delivered a brutal headbutt to a then 72-year-old Vince in the middle of the ring. The beat down of multiple moves came with Vince having blood dripping down his face. Everyone in the audience and watching at home were shocked at Owens decimating a senior citizen without any remorse.