Credit: WWE.com
Kevin Steen recently spoke about signing
with WWE and more. Here are the highlights…
On What Led to His Signing: William Regal came
to a wrestling show I was taking part in California almost a year ago exactly, I
believe it was Aug. 31 of last year, and it was for PWG, Pro Wrestling
Guerrilla. The match I had that night, I think did a lot. I had never met
William Regal before; I didn’t know him at all. I had great respect for him
already; he’s actually been one of my favorite wrestlers for quite some time. To
have him watch my match and take the time to tell me what he thought and give me
advice was already great, but then a couple days later, I was contacted to see
if I wanted to be part of a tryout camp. Just to have somebody like William
Regal have enough esteem for me to go as far as to actually recommend me for a
tryout meant a lot. Then I went to the tryout camp and I got through it, and
what made me stand out were the promos, where we basically had to sell ourselves
verbally. That’s always been one of my strong suits — the way I talk and what I
say. I make it count, and I think that went pretty far in getting me to where I
am now.
On When he Starts With NXT: No, I start Aug.
25, in a couple weeks. I’m really looking forward to it. I had the chance to go
there just last week and got to see how everything works and meet everybody
there, and it was really good, so I’m looking forward to being there full
time.
On The WWE Performance Center: I remember a
year ago when I would read all the NXT guys commenting on Twitter about how
amazing the Performance Center was — not only the way it works but the actual
building itself. When I went there in March for the tryout camp, I could see
what they were talking about. There are seven rings and there’s a conditioning
room and it’s just a dream for somebody who does what we do to have a chance to
develop themselves in that environment. And then the coaches who are there,
their names speak for themselves as far as how well they can help somebody build
and develop himself to become a WWE Superstar. I think everybody who’s there is
very lucky to be there and that’s why pretty much everybody in independent
wrestling wants to get there. So I feel very lucky to have the chance to be in
that environment.
On Signing With WWE: From the moment I started
wrestling, my goal was to get to WWE. Some guys have plans laid out where they
want to go to Japan, go to Europe, go here, go there, and then they feel to go
to WWE. I always felt like WWE was where I belong. Not even since I started
wrestling, but since I was a kid. When I was 11 years old and I saw my first WWE
show, that’s where I wanted to go. Obviously, you can’t start at the top, so I
made my way, for years, to that moment, but I didn’t necessarily think I had to
go to Japan, Europe or Australia. I was just fortunate to get all those chances
and they were all great experiences, things I would never take back. It was
never something I necessarily felt I had to do, though I’m very happy I got to
do it.
