Kevin Owens on Scripted Promos, Turning Face, “Face of America” Phrase

USA Today’s Argus Leader held a recent interview with Kevin Owens discussing if his promos are very scripted, face turn in the future, and toning down his “Face of America” gimmick.

On the topic of scripted promos, Owens stated his promos are not as scripted as others in the WWE due to having some creative input for them. He mentioned some in the WWE get more creative freedom based on trust while others are more comfortable with writers scripting their entire promos.

“I’m sure other performers get different guidelines, and I think it’s a day-by-day scenario of who gets to have more freedom than other people. We always get help with our interviews from our writers, but you learn to find ways to get your own credits instead of using somebody else’s words. Some people are good at it, and other people aren’t as good. But the people who are good at it usually get more leeway of how to speak and what to say because the fact they can carry an interview. I always know where I’m going, and I know what they want me to deliver. But I do get to put my own spin on it most of the time.”

On the topic of a possible face turn in the future, Owens stated he doubts it will happen any time soon but believes he could make it be successful. He does believe it would be a challenge for him due to being more used as a heel in the WWE.

“I don’t really know as far as any ideas or plans that anybody would have for that. I think I can make anything work. If I can get people to boo me, then I can get people to cheer for me if I want. I’d be up for the challenge.”

Later in the interview, Owens revealed he has been toning down his “Face of America” gimmick due to other anti-American heels on Smackdown’s roster. He stated Smackdown having more anti-American heel gimmicks made it easier for him to transition back towards himself as the focus of his heel heat rather than needing to talk bad about America.

“I’m moving away from that now by choice because there’s so many people on SmackDown right now talking about America. Whether it’s Jinder Mahal or Rusev, I don’t like being like other people. When I started the Face of America, there was nobody on SmackDown doing that kind of stuff, and now there’s too many of us. I’m going to go back to being Kevin Owens, and that’s always worked out pretty good for me.”