AEW announced in September that they had signed a deal with Martha Hart to honour the legacy of Owen Hart. This included a spot in the AEW Video Game and a tournament in honour of the Canadian star. The Owen Hart Cup, as the tournament will be named, will have it’s details announced at AEW Winter is Coming, and for my money there should on be one winner. Kevin Owens, AKA Kevin Steen.
Kevin Steen to AEW
Fans have long since theorised that Kevin Owens, real name Kevin Steen, will be the next big signing for AEW. Sean Ross Sapp, or SRS, from Fightful Select, reported that Owen’s contract with WWE runs out on the 31st January 2021, and he could be next on the list of wrestlers deciding not to renew their deals.
While nobody has commented on whether his contract will be extended or not, Owens has not been overly silent on the matter, if not slightly cryptic. In September, he tweeted out a series of numbers, which turned out to be co-ordinated. Fans soon figured out these were the co-ordinates for Mount Rushmore, a mountain in the United States with four former president’s faces carved into them.
While this may seem like nothing to, it is actually significant. Prior to leaving for WWE in 2014, Owens wrestled as Kevin Steen in PWG with the Young Bucks and Adam Cole. Despite the Bucks and Cole being a part of the Elite now, back then they joined Kevin Steen as part of the team “Mount Rushmore”. These co-ordinates could be a tease for a return to the team, with the other three members currently signed to AEW.
All of these speculations came about around the time of All Out 2021, where Bryan Danielson and Adam Cole made their AEW debuts. It was one of the best AEW shows in history, and had the entire wrestling world talking about it. Owens may have seen it and decided then and there that AEW was the place to be.
The Owen Hart Cup
As one of the best Canadian wrestlers in the world, Kevin Steen would be easy choice to win the Owen Hart cup. Assuming AEW do not produce any limits on who can enter, such as making it a cruiserweight tournament for example, then Kevin Steen would be a top pick to compete in the tournament.
Steen is a noted fan of the “King of Harts”. He picked the name “Owens” as his last name in the WWE due to his admiration for the late Owen Hart, and even named his son Owen Steen after the great man.
The recent mass exodus of talent will have done nothing to dissuade Owens from looking further afield for his employment. Despite WWE being his dream, and having his son seeing him face John Cena being the reason he went to WWE, the release of top talents have meant that job security is basically zero.
One former talent even claimed that after Bray Wyatt’s release earlier this year, they felt that nobody was safe from the chopping block. This may factor into Steen’s decision to leave WWE and sign for AEW.
Jericho Feud
In addition, his career progression has seemingly stagnated in recent years. In 2016 he was the World Champion and entering Wrestlemania in a world title feud with Chris Jericho. It was an eight month story between the pair which was set to culminate with the match for the Universal Championship in the main event of Wrestlemania.
However, he lost the belt to Goldberg at that Royal Rumble in a quick match, and their match was relegated to the second match of the show. Jericho showed much disdain for this decision, lamenting Vince’s decision as it was the best story on the show, in his interview with Stone Cold Steve Austin on the WWE Network.
Why Kevin Steen should win the Owen Hart Cup
A big win right off the bat for Kevin Steen in AEW would show the world he means business. For too long in WWE he has been denied the top spot, despite being one of the best and most popular wrestlers on the show. It would be a commitment by Tony Khan to show that one of the best wrestlers in the world can be given a spot at the Head of the Table even if they are not the chosen one by management.
It would immediately show fans that he is a huge deal. AEW have never failed to elevate their and show fans they are main event talent, but a big win from the off would immediately catapult him into the main event. Owens/Steen has shown that he is one of the worlds best wrestlers and needs to be treated as such.
