10 Things You Didn't Know About WWE In 2014

7. The Story Behind Kevin Owens' First Shirt

Daniel Bryan
WWE

The signing - and success of - Kevin Owens has broken down certain barriers about various appearance hang-ups that used to be tied to making it in WWE, but the 'Prizefighter' himself almost succumbed to the various pressures when he first arrived.

The former Kevin Steen was prepared to wear the singlet he'd sometimes used in his former role until fellow Performance Center regular Enzo Amore convinced him to embrace the shorts and t-shirt look for his publicity shots.

Having made the call on the hop, Owens was without the perfect look until a further flash of inspiration hit. The attire in the image above finds the future NXT Champion sporting a regular t-shirt turned inside out, with the word "FIGHT" scrawled on it with some of Finn Bálor's body paint from just minutes earlier.

It created an instantly iconic look for the newcomer, with a DIY aesthetic that inspired the much-loved original "KO" shirt he wore on his televised debut.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett