Kevin Owens made it clear on Friday’s SmackDown that his issues with CM Punk go far deeper than the Undisputed WWE Championship. During the show in Boston, Massachusetts, the challenger reached back nearly 20 years to lay out a personal falling-out with Punk.
Owens recalled his time wrestling as Kevin Steen in Ring of Honor, when Punk was already one of the promotion’s top names and carried significant pull in the locker room.
“20 years ago, me and Phil wrestled for the same independent promotion. He was a big top guy, and I was trying to make a name for myself. On that night, you chose to berate me, insult me, and scream at me in a locker room full of my peers. And it’s not all of that.”
The incident Owens referenced later became known as the “T-shirt incident.” Steen had wanted to ditch his singlet and start wrestling in a t-shirt. Punk ripped into him over the decision, and after Steen fired back with a sarcastic comment, Punk humiliated him in front of several ROH roster members.
Owens had already stated publicly in 2024 that the two weren’t friends, barely spoke, and had no relationship outside of work.
On Friday night, Owens went even further. He called Punk a fraud, said he only came back to WWE because he’d blown his opportunities everywhere else, and admitted he regrets not punching Punk in that locker room two decades ago.
WWE is now using a longstanding, public issue between the two as the foundation of the rivalry. Owens earned his title shot at SummerSlam by defeating Sami Zayn, Gunther, and Finn Bálor in a Fatal 4-Way Match.