WWE News: Kevin Owens Puts Career On The Line, Challenges Shane McMahon To Match At ‘SummerSlam’
With WWE’s SummerSlam pay-per-view just three weeks away, Kevin Owens continued to capitalize on his red-hot babyface turn as he cut a video where he challenged Shane McMahon to a match at this year’s edition of the annual event. It won’t be any ordinary match, however, as Owens promised to leave WWE if he loses to the 49-year-old on-screen authority figure.
As quoted by Wrestling Inc., Owens made his challenge in a video originally shared by WWE’s YouTube channel, where, in less than a minute and 30 seconds, he expressed his disgust with his erstwhile rival, both as a fellow human being and as a businessman. The former Universal Champion called McMahon a “rotting piece of garbage” and predicted that as the most visible person on SmackDown Live, Shane will likely take the opportunity to insert himself in one of SummerSlam’s matches.
“Well, when you do that, why don’t you put yourself in a match at SummerSlam against me?” Owens continued.
“You know, because SmackDown Live has been a one-man show for far too long now and Tuesday nights have become nothing more than a vehicle for you to come out and tell everybody how great you are, and inflate your own giant ego, and for you to belittle everyone around you.”
After stressing once again that Shane McMahon makes him “sick,” Kevin Owens concluded his challenge by laying down his terms for the potential match at SummerSlam — McMahon, as an authority figure, can make the match official, and if he ends up beating Owens, he’ll willingly quit WWE and leave the company he’s worked for since 2014.
You better believe @FightOwensFight is in the building… #ExtremeRules pic.twitter.com/6eE3MNfgwW
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) July 14, 2019
For most of the month, Owens has enjoyed one of the better pushes in his WWE career, with his character revamped into that of an anti-authority babyface not unlike “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, complete with the use of the latter’s finishing move, the Stone Cold Stunner. As noted by Comic Book, Owens established his new character on the July 9 episode of SmackDown Live, where he cut a “worked-shoot” promo that centered on how no one wants to see McMahon dominate WWE television as the company’s top villain.
Although career-threatening matches like the one Owens challenged McMahon to are oftentimes booked in order to explain a departing wrestler’s absence going forward, all signs point to “KO” remaining a WWE superstar for several more years to come. Per Bleacher Report, Owens confirmed last year that he had just signed a five-year contract extension with WWE and “[does] not intend to go anywhere [else]” as far as his wrestling career is concerned.
