Kemo
12-22-2021, 07:50 PM
Kevin Owen says WWE has a good reason for not sending any tribute videos to ROH Final Battle. According to Owens, they never asked.
Les Anti-Pods de la Lutte’s Patric Laprade and Kevin Raphael spoke with Owens about ROH. When asked why no one from WWE did promos for ROH Final Battle, he replied that ROH didn’t ask WWE. Unlike WWE talent, former ROH wrestlers in All Elite Wrestling and Impact Wrestling sent in videos thanking the promotion during ROH Final Battle.
Laprade transcribed the interview from French to English. He shared the transcription with SEScoops.
“The answer is quite simple: Ring of Honor didn’t ask any wrestlers from WWE to do that, nor contacted anyone at WWE. I knew it was going to be their last show, but I didn’t think to send a video so they could play it at the show. I’ve watched it. I was at a WWE show, and I was watching it on my phone, so it was not something I simply ignored. I’ve read some people on the Internet saying that probably WWE didn’t let us do it, but that’s incorrect. It’s just ROH who didn’t ask us, and I bet that if they had, we could have done it, but that wasn’t the case,” said Owens.
ROH Final Battle took place on December 11. The event marked the end of the current format of the wrestling promotion, as they are looking not to sign talent exclusively. ROH will book independent wrestlers to appear for them per event. However, it is unclear how they will book talent for events or ROH TV episodes. ROH also plans not to do any shows until April 2022.
After explaining why he didn’t send a tribute video to ROH, he shared why the promotion helped his career. While he appreciates his time in ROH, he’s unsure if he needed ROH to get into WWE. He also credits his time in Pro Wrestling Guerilla for growing his popularity.
“It’s funny cause I often ask myself that same question. Of course, it gave me a very important platform in the United States. But at the end of the day, William Regal saw me at a PWG show. And even before I started full-time with ROH in 2007, I had a good name on the indies because of PWG. So sometimes I wonder if things would have not become what they became with ROH if I would have made it to WWE anyway. Maybe, maybe not, I don’t know,” said Owens. He also admits that he once thought he’d stay with ROH for his entire career.
While he’s unsure if ROH helped his popularity, he does credit ROH for helping change his priorities. “…However, with time, my priorities changed a little, my family’s priorities changed a little, and that’s when WWE became my goal again. So ROH was a big influence and a huge part of my career, but I often wonder if ROH would have not been part of my career if I would have made it to WWE anyway. A huge part of me thinks so. That said, I have plenty of good and fun memories with ROH, and I’m very happy to have been apart of ROH for all those years,” said Owens.
ROH is planning not to do any shows until April 2022. For ROH fans, the hope is that the promotion will have a successful fresh start.
Les Anti-Pods de la Lutte’s Patric Laprade and Kevin Raphael spoke with Owens about ROH. When asked why no one from WWE did promos for ROH Final Battle, he replied that ROH didn’t ask WWE. Unlike WWE talent, former ROH wrestlers in All Elite Wrestling and Impact Wrestling sent in videos thanking the promotion during ROH Final Battle.
Laprade transcribed the interview from French to English. He shared the transcription with SEScoops.
“The answer is quite simple: Ring of Honor didn’t ask any wrestlers from WWE to do that, nor contacted anyone at WWE. I knew it was going to be their last show, but I didn’t think to send a video so they could play it at the show. I’ve watched it. I was at a WWE show, and I was watching it on my phone, so it was not something I simply ignored. I’ve read some people on the Internet saying that probably WWE didn’t let us do it, but that’s incorrect. It’s just ROH who didn’t ask us, and I bet that if they had, we could have done it, but that wasn’t the case,” said Owens.
ROH Final Battle took place on December 11. The event marked the end of the current format of the wrestling promotion, as they are looking not to sign talent exclusively. ROH will book independent wrestlers to appear for them per event. However, it is unclear how they will book talent for events or ROH TV episodes. ROH also plans not to do any shows until April 2022.
After explaining why he didn’t send a tribute video to ROH, he shared why the promotion helped his career. While he appreciates his time in ROH, he’s unsure if he needed ROH to get into WWE. He also credits his time in Pro Wrestling Guerilla for growing his popularity.
“It’s funny cause I often ask myself that same question. Of course, it gave me a very important platform in the United States. But at the end of the day, William Regal saw me at a PWG show. And even before I started full-time with ROH in 2007, I had a good name on the indies because of PWG. So sometimes I wonder if things would have not become what they became with ROH if I would have made it to WWE anyway. Maybe, maybe not, I don’t know,” said Owens. He also admits that he once thought he’d stay with ROH for his entire career.
While he’s unsure if ROH helped his popularity, he does credit ROH for helping change his priorities. “…However, with time, my priorities changed a little, my family’s priorities changed a little, and that’s when WWE became my goal again. So ROH was a big influence and a huge part of my career, but I often wonder if ROH would have not been part of my career if I would have made it to WWE anyway. A huge part of me thinks so. That said, I have plenty of good and fun memories with ROH, and I’m very happy to have been apart of ROH for all those years,” said Owens.
ROH is planning not to do any shows until April 2022. For ROH fans, the hope is that the promotion will have a successful fresh start.