16 Thing We Learned From Kevin Owens On Talk Is Jericho

11. The Tryout

Owens said that the tryout is very hard and physically demanding, as they're looking to test not only your wrestling ability but your resiliency and your heart, to see if you want it as bad as you say you do. The tryout itself was three days but he and the other Ring of Honor guys only did two days due to an agreement between WWE and RoH so they wouldn't miss a scheduled show. They went through a bunch of ring drills, did some working out and promos. Owens talks about how - to no one's surprise - he'd never really spent a lot of time in the gym, at least not with any real proficiency.

"I've worked out...for the last, whatever, fifteen years. But not five times a week, religiously, you know what I mean? I guess I never looked into enough to know really what I'm doing. I know that if I lift these heavy things eventually muscles would appear. So I would kind of do that."

Prior to the tryout Owens had attended a friend's wrestling camp for a month to prepare for the grueling conditioning that he would be put through. He adds that he thinks a lot of people expected him to quit because of his size and preconceived notions of his work ethic, Alex Wright was there as a guest trainer and Kevin says he may have been the absolute last person he expected to encounter there, saying that Das Wunderkind was intent on giving him tips on proper breathing techniques. He says the match went okay, but the on-the-spot promo he had to cut afterward is what sold them on him.