WWE planned to make Damian Priest Kevin Owens‘ on-screen best friend. However, Owens had good reasons to turn it down.
On an episode of What Do You Wanna Talk About? with Cody Rhodes, Kevin Owens opened up about a storyline idea pitched to him in early 2021.
“Well, so in 2021, it’s the pandemic era. I was embroiled in a feud with Roman Reigns. It was the beginning of a four-year nightmare that just would not stop for me. But when it started, you know, we were wrestling in front of empty buildings. Well, we had the weird screens there[Thunderdome]. And right when we’re gonna have the blow off match it was gonna be the Last Man Standing match, the Royal Rumble, which turned out to be everyone’s favorite match that we had.”
“About three weeks before, I’m thinking, okay, we’re firing on all cylinders. We’re going to the Royal Rumble. It’s a big match. It’s gonna be a lot of fun. And then I’m at television, and they come tell me, well, things are kind of changing now. You’re going to be introducing your new best friend to help you take on The Bloodline. Because it’s the numbers game. Like, who’s this guy? They go, you know Damian Priest from NXT?”
Kevin Owens explains why he rejected the storyline to be paired with Damian Priest
Owens rejected the idea, believing the pairing was too random and unbelievable since they had no prior connection.
“Well, I have nothing against him, but no one would believe that we’re best friends. We cannot be more opposite, and it’s so random. Turns out somebody threw this idea out there and it stuck for about five minutes until I said, no, I don’t wanna be friends with him.”
“On TV, maybe in real life, but let’s start somewhere. And yeah, he got killed, but he’s going to take my match. It was going to be him versus Roman Reigns at the Royal Rumble. I was incensed. I said, f*ck no, but hey, for what it’s worth, I didn’t derailed his career. He debuted on the main roster like two weeks later.”
Cody Rhodes reacted and praised Owens for being selective with creative ideas, admiring his ability to say no to storylines that don’t fit his character. Owens said he likes Priest, but the pitch just didn’t work. He thinks it came down to insulting the audience’s intelligence because he and Priest never even interacted at that point.
“It was one thing if they told me, you’re gonna bring him in as your backup, just a guy you saw in NXT that impressed you. But no, he has to be your best friend. I’m like, also, I spent years television wise screwing every f*cking friend I had. And not in the fun way, backstabbing them.”
