Unlike Samoa Joe, AJ Styles and Austin Aries, Kevin Owens may not have been able to retain his last name from his Ring of Honor days, but keeping "Kevin" was just enough. Besides, the Owens surname has significance and he's basically the same competitor he was before he ventured over to WWE. With Hideo Itami and Finn Balor joining NXT in the fall of 2014, Owens was the last piece of the puzzle. Vignettes hyping his impending debut revealed he was set to arrive at NXT TakeOver: R Evolution, though in what capacity was uncertain. Fans figured he would get involved in the NXT Championship match between Sami Zayn and Neville and/or attack his former friend, and while that was ultimately what happened, fans were still surprised by it. Owens debuted as a fan favorite in the night's opening match, quickly squashing CJ Parker. It was logical to assume that was WWE's way of getting his appearance out of the way so the crowd wasn't chanting for him during the main event. He resurfaced afterward to congratulate Zayn on his monumental title victory, but as the logo popped up in the lower-left part of the screen to signify the event had ended, Owens slammed Sami's head back on the steel ramp before hitting him with a powerbomb on the ring apron. It was a thing of beauty. Nothing could top the Match of the Year candidate fans witnessed between Zayn and Neville and the emotional championship win... except for that.
Since 2008, Graham has been a diehard pro wrestling fan and, in 2010, he combined his passions for WWE and writing when he joined Bleacher Report. Equipped with a master's in journalism, Graham has contributed to WhatCulture, FanSided's Daily DDT, Sports Betting Dime, and GateHouse Media. Along the way, he has conducted interviews with wrestling superstars like Chris Jericho, Edge, Goldberg, Christian, Diamond Dallas Page, Jim Ross, Adam Cole, Tessa Blanchard, Ryback, and Nick Aldis among others.
