The Rivalry between Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn

Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn met in 2002. Before thinking about the WWE, they fought in basements, bars, and pool halls in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They made a name for themselves in the independent scene as brothers. Now, they fight to eliminate each other from their path.

Zayn learned about Kevin's existence from colleagues in small Canadian companies. "They always talked about Kevin as the best in Quebec," he recalls. But despite his qualities in the ring, they considered Owens as "an idiot." Sami didn't think so when they first met.

Owens learned about Sami at a wrestling event in 2002. He was fighting while Zayn was in the audience being himself: loud and excited. He was accompanied by Kevin's friends and he thought, "How annoying." But that was his personality and he learned to accept it.

They had many things in common, the same goals and dreams. They were united by their passion for wrestling. Both wanted to join the WWE. They became brothers, according to Owens. For Zayn, they were a team that came out of Quebec to conquer the United States and the world.

They didn't plan to be friends, they had to be. Zayn wanted to internationalize himself. He focused on being a wrestler. Kevin got married and had a child, but concentrated his future in professional wrestling. They spent eight to ten hours together on road trips. Their personalities were opposite but complementary.

Zayn thinks that Kevin "is very aggressive" in the ring. "He has hit me worse than anyone," he says. "I built a tolerance for pain after fighting with Kevin." Meanwhile, Owens states that "I always enjoyed wrestling against him or teaming up with him."

Their team was complete. Their polarizations made them unique and remarkably effective. They were tag team champions twice in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and once in Ring of Honor. But all that ended when Zayn arrived almost two years before his brother in the WWE.

Kevin Owens was happy for his friend but frustrated when he found out that Zayn was signed to the WWE. He was under contract with another company and had no contacts in the WWE. That connection ended up being Sami, who offered him as the 'great wrestler'.

Getting hired by the WWE is a slow process. You have to get the company's attention. Be on their radar to get a tryout. Then convince them. Build references. Then be called in for negotiations.

But Owens made it. He debuted in NXT the same night that Sami Zayn became - after much struggle - the champion of the yellow brand. "There was sadness and anger that night," Sami recalls after being betrayed by his friend.

"I can't say I was conflicted because I feel like what I did needed to be done. What I did wasn't personal. It wasn't because of Sami or anything in our history. It was because Sami just won the title and after waiting as long as I did to get to the WWE and NXT, I refused to wait any longer," says Owens.

Zayn's sadness and wounds turned into rage. "A small part of me also felt like a fool, that I should have seen [the betrayal] coming given our history. We've been friends, enemies, and everything in between."

Kevin Steen, known in the WWE as Kevin Owens, has been in the industry for 14 years. "I've clawed my way here and fought for everything I had." He has two children and a wife whom he wants to take care of as a world champion. He wants to honor the education his parents gave him and show them that it was all worth it.

The First Chapter
Rami Sebei, better known as Sami Zayn in the WWE and El Generico in independent leagues, was also frustrated. He watched injured as Owens debuted first in the big leagues - although he had a match before - surprising the world by cleanly defeating John Cena.

He returned at Royal Rumble 2016 to stay and frustrate Owens' ambition to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Since then, with successes and disasters in the scripting of their story, their first one-on-one match for Payback 2016 was set.

They are brothers and rivals, and as is often the case in legends, novels, wrestling, and life itself, they seem destined to face each other, be friends, get angry, be brothers, hate each other, compete, and support each other over and over again. WWE has a rivalry with the potential to be legendary.

"I still think we are friends. I still consider him a brother," says Owens. "I like to think he still considers me his friend," he says, hoping Sami understands his actions.

Zayn is more skeptical, "Stranger things have happened between Kevin and me. We've been friends and enemies many more times than I can count. It's always one or the other," he says. "I think at the end of the day, when we look at the history between us, I think we are destined to always fight."