Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods made a really dumb mistake on Tuesday, April 16. But they’re in good company. Babyface wrestlers have been letting Kevin Owens (né Steen) get close to them for years! And it always works out the same way.
At least masked luchador El Generico was the first, so he wasn’t SUPER dumb. Although Kev wasn’t exactly a nice guy when they started their partnership, so he wasn’t SUPER smart, either.
That led to one of Ring of Honor’s greatest feuds ever, which included a Ladder War and a Fight Without Honor. It also formed the basis for this moment from Steen’s first televised appearance as a WWE Superstar. And the guy who got attacked by the newly christened Kevin Owens at NXT TakeOver: R Evolution damn well should have known better:
From there, it was off to the main roster. Even before his official call-up, John Cena tried to offer some “veteran advice” to the Canadian. He got kicked in the stomach for trying to be nice (well... condescending, but sporting). Then, when his alliance with Chris Jericho wasn’t doing much for KO anymore? This happened...
Which, of course, brings us to last night (April 23), and the inevitable betrayal of Kofi by Big O...
Don’t say your brother didn’t try to warn you.
* NOT PICTURED: Steen also attacked his former mentor Steve Corino in ROH when Corino tried to “get clean” with the help of Jimmy Jacobs while Kevin was out with an injury, but I couldn’t find a clip of that anywhere. The feud also got weird because the fans turned Steen face, especially when Jim Cornette got involved as an authority figure, and... anyway. You can see a clip of the set-up for Kevin Steen vs. Steve Corino at Final Battle 2011 here.