Wednesday, September 2, 2026

Kevin Owens Opens Up About His 24-Year Bond With Sami Zayn

Kevin Owens
Kevin Owens | WWE

WWE veteran Kevin Owens discussed various topics, including his relationship with Sami Zayn, in an interview with the Toronto Sun.

Owens said, “You know, he and I have had such a crazy history together. But really, the last 23, 24 years of our careers have been linked to one another for better, for worse. We went everywhere together, people brought us together everywhere. And then he went to WWE, I followed suit a few years [later]. I got to the main roster, he followed suit really soon after. And we’ve constantly been neck and neck. We’ve been partners, we’ve been enemies, we’ve been partners, we’ve been enemies. But through it all, the one thing that remains constant is that we really are more like brothers than friends. And I’ve said this so many times, you don’t get to choose your family. You’re born into a family and this is the family you have. Me and Sami didn’t have a choice. It’s not like we met and we’re like, ‘Oh man, this guy’s’ — We’re not the same. Like, we’re very different people, but we got booked together everywhere. We had to spend 10, 12 hours in a car together driving to shows, 10, 12 hours back. We struggled together, We saw each other succeed. We’ve been through it all together. And there was no other choice but to create this bond that now we have. And no matter if we’re trying to kill each other, trying to win tag team titles together, it’s always going to be there.

On Zayn becoming the Undisputed WWE Champion:

“For him to win that title after working so hard for it for so long. And you know, there were times where we didn’t think it would happen for him. And to see him actually get to do it was so special. The only thing is, I wish I could have been there in person. Which, obviously I wasn’t but I made sure that following, like a few days later I went to Raw just to be able to see him in person with the title. And yeah, it’s very special to see somebody that you shared so much with on the road and throughout your whole career and then beyond that, you know? Like, we both saw each other get married, have kids, it’s just — we’ve been through our life together at this point. So to see him achieve the biggest dream he ever had in wrestling was incredible.”

You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.

(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)