Kevin Owens on His Mindset Change For WWE Return, His Reason Why He Chose Toronto For Place For His Undisputed WWE Title Match Against CM Punk, & “Some People You’re Not Compatible With, CM Punk Is One Of Them”

FACES Magazine held a recent interview with Kevin Owens. One of the topics discussed included Owens’ thoughts about his mindset change for his recent return to WWE from a neck injury and surgery.

“Obviously the last 10, 11 years in WWE, I had this incredible career and I got so many special moments, so many special matches, so many special memories. The last year and a half, I really didn’t picture any specific moment, like being in the ring with this guy, or winning a title or anything like that. It was really just about getting back in the ring at all and making sure I enjoy the time I have left.

It was just this feeling where, if I go back, the one thing I’ll do more than anything is just make sure I get [to] enjoy the ride. When you’re coming up in WWE and you feel like you have so much to prove, so much to achieve, and obviously the more successful you are, the more money you’ll make for your family, and for your future… it almost feels like you have all of these responsibilities and there’s so much pressure, but that pressure is gone now.

I had this incredible career, I did things I never thought I would do, I did things that a lot of people will never get to do. Through it all, I would lose perspective, and sometimes I wouldn’t take the time to enjoy those moments as much as I should have. I don’t want to do that anymore. And now, every match I have, every show I’m on now, is a gift, because for a long time, I didn’t think it would happen again.

Owens also gave his thoughts about his reason for his decision on wanting his Undisputed WWE Championship match against CM Punk to take place at this Friday’s WWE SmackDown show in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

“I don’t know if it’s so much home field advantage, honestly, because he’s obviously extremely popular, and the crowd might be split, the crowd might be more on his side, I really don’t know. I’m Canadian, yes, and Toronto’s always been incredible for me, but, you know, he’s a very, very popular guy.

The reason I picked Toronto for the match was because not only is it an amazing crowd, but that’s where I had my last match, where I, what I thought would be my last match. And I remember thinking, if it is my last match, I really couldn’t have asked for a better place to have it, and a better opponent to do it with.

So now, to get to come back and have a show so soon in Toronto, and in such a major match, is great. Also, my parents will get to be there, my family will get to be there and that wouldn’t have been the case if the match happened somewhere else, because my mom, through her health issues over the last several years, her ability to fly and go to shows that are far away, it’s just not the case anymore. But Toronto, it’s a manageable drive from Montreal. So, my parents will be able to be there, and there was awhile where I didn’t know if my parents would ever get to see me in the ring again. And now, they’re going to get to see it, and it’s a big match, and it’s potentially a match where I could win the Undisputed World Title in front of them, which, when I won the Universal Title, my wife, my kids, my parents, they were all watching on TV, but they weren’t there live. So, if I was able to do that with them live, after everything we’ve been through, it would just make everything so much, just so much better.“

Owens also gave his thoughts about if he has had to manufacture animosity for Punk for their current feud for the Undisputed WWE Championship.

“No. You know, some people, you’re just not compatible with, and he’s one of them. I’m sure he’d happily say the same, like, we don’t gel.”