“I stopped playing video games, I stopped playing other sports, and I just dove head first into wrestling and it's been my passion ever since I discovered it”. - Kevin Owens

Kevin Owens has only been with WWE since 2014. Yes 2014. The year The Undertaker’s streak ended, The Shield disbanded and Batista wore blue, Owens was making his arrival onto the scene in WWE. The importance of this is staggering; in under four years, Owens has achieved more than some talent achieve in twenty. This is for many reasons that include but aren’t limited to: adaptability, work rate and consistency. To truly address how Owens became WWE’s most reliable talent, we must take a look back at how his WWE run started, how his momentous first few months in NXT and then on WWE’s flagship show, RAW set a successful trail for Owens that has not really (without a few minor hiccups) been departed from. I remember the buzz. The buzz of the debut of independent sensation Kevin Steen at the upcoming Takeover show. Some were concerned; here was a guy that traditionally wouldn’t make it in WWE due to ‘traditional’ perceptions of what talent should look like, but thanks to that attitude dying out, there was finally a place, finally a place where talent, no matter their size, gender, skin colour or wrestling style could work, get over and become worldwide stars. This place was NXT. Owens would debut at NXT Takeover: R-Evolution and he would debut as a babyface defeating the fantastic CJ Parker (Juice Robinson), however, later in the evening following an acclaimed title win for Sami Zayn, Owens would brutally attack Zayn cementing Owens as NXT’s new top heel and a rightful, meaningful nemesis for Zayn to compete against moving forward. Owens NXT run was surprisingly short but nevertheless impactful, in his time on the yellow brand, Owens would have programmes following his title win with the aforementioned Zayn, Neville, Alex Riley (which was tremendous, and showcased Owens’ natural charisma and charm), Finn Balor and a mini-feud with Samoa Joe. However, in May of 2015, Owens would get the call to debut on WWE’s main roster and what would follow would cement Owens as a top tier talent for the rest of his career.