Kevin Owens wasn’t a big fan of his Universal title run

Kevin Owens’ WWE career has been pretty remarkable. Upon his debut in NXT he immediately entered that brand’s title scene, then entered the main roster via a feud with none other than John Cena. In a little more than two years as a Raw and SmackDown Superstar, he’s held the United States, Intercontinental and Universal championships.

Still, for all that, a lot of fans have felt there’s something missing for the Canadian, especially considering the six months he held the Red Brand’s top prize. Among those who wasn’t crazy with his cowardly heel run with that belt? Owens himself.

As he told Edge and Christian on the latest episode of E&C’s Pod of Awesomeness:

“I thought that was it, like, alright, I'm the Universal champion. So clearly, this was just gonna solidify me as the top guy that I've always wanted to be, but I don't think it really did. It didn't turn out to be what I was hoping - like it didn't turn out to be this thing that would make me a top guy like I felt like it would...”

That wasn’t the only thing viewers found lacking in KO’s recent history. After moving to SmackDown, what looked like a dream feud with AJ Styles failed to really catch fire. Owens wasn’t feeling that program either. But he does think he’s turned the corner with his recent story with Shane McMahon:

“Then the whole storyline with Jericho helped me get near where I needed to go, but then I felt like I kind of hit a little, I kind of plateaued in a way. You know, you [Edge] said you enjoyed the series of matches with AJ, and I'm glad you did and I'm hopeful a lot of people did as well, but I don't know if I did. I don't know if I can say that I did, to be honest. I don't know if I was putting out my best stuff at the time and then, you know, once that ended and I transitioned into the thing with Shane, I did feel like 'oh man, working with Shane is a big deal'. And Vince, throwing himself into the mix, I knew - that's as big as it gets. Not that many people get to do that with Vince, especially nowadays. If you look in the last 5 - 6 years there hasn't been that many people who got to, you know, physically assault in the way that I did. So obviously I knew that was a big deal and I did think maybe this is what I've been waiting for and so far it feels like that was it. I feel like things have been taken to a new level for me since that happened and I'm gonna try to run with it as good as I can.”

Is this it? With both McMahons putting him over in the last month, and his buddy Sami Zayn by his side, is Kevin finally a WWE top guy?

We’re about to find out. Let us know what you think below.