Kevin Owens Addresses Personal CM Punk WWE Feud, Reason Title Match Is Happening On SmackDown In Toronto

WWE

Kevin Owens has addressed his ongoing WWE feud with CM Punk ahead of their in-ring meeting on this Friday’s SmackDown (August 21).

Despite having history dating back to the mid 2000s, this Friday’s episode of SmackDown will see CM Punk and Kevin Owens do battle for the very first time in their careers.

While Punk’s Undisputed WWE Championship is on the line, the title has taken somewhat of a backseat in the build to the match, with the personal issues between Punk and Owens instead taking center stage.

The past two weeks of SmackDown have seen ‘The Best in the World’ and ‘The Prizefighter’ go at it on the microphone, with references made to a backstage incident between the two in Ring of Honor, Owens having several “friends” who don’t like Punk and Owens’ physique – the latter of which has drawn criticism from some former WWE names.

Speaking with FACES Magazine ahead of their match in Toronto, Owens confirmed he’s not had to manufacture any of his animosity towards Punk in their feud, as the pair simply don’t get along:

“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.”

While Owens, on paper, is the sentimental favorite for Friday’s match given his Canadian roots, he admitted he’s not completely sure he’ll have true “home field advantage” given Punk’s popularity with the WWE fanbase:

“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.”

Rather than home advantage, Owens revealed the actual two-fold reason he picked Toronto for the match:

“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’ last, and only world title triumph in WWE came on August 29, 2016 – almost 10 years exactly on from his match with Punk this Friday.

Becoming only the second WWE Universal Champion after inaugural champion Finn Balor was forced to relinquish the title due to injury, Owens defeated Big Cass, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins in a four-way with some assistance from Triple H, who presented Owens with the title after his big win.

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• Smackdown
• wwe
• KEVIN OWENS
• cm punk

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