Kevin Steen grew up in Marieville, however when he joined WWE, he changed his wrestling name to Kevin Owens, in homage to the late Canadian wrestler Owen Hart. Moreover, his son is named Owen in honor of Owen Hart.
Money wasn’t really an issue for his parents, Terry and Suzanne, but it wasn’t a luxury either. His mother, knowing well that he was passionate about wrestling, found the Jacques Rougeau Wrestling Academy for him to train. After the family met Mr. Rougeau in Montreal, Kevin was silent in the car. However, several things were racing through his mind. The major obstacle was simply the price, because already his parents were paying for his sister’s figure skating lessons, and he knew deep down that his parents couldn’t afford wrestling lessons for him. He hears his parents talking, but he doesn’t really listen. Then, when they got to the restaurant, slowly and surely, his parents looked him in the eye and told him that if he really wanted to take wrestling classes, they would make sacrifices to pay for his classes. . Today, a precious moment for him is every time he and his Quebec friend of over 20 years Sami Zayn wrestle in Montreal.
The heating at the house was cut off.
Believe me, I didn’t make a lot of money wrestling. My son, Owen, was two months old at the time. We found ourselves in the cold during the winter because we didn’t have enough money to pay our heating bills.
Did you think about stopping wrestling after this event?
Without a doubt! However, my wife, Karina, told me that I should pursue my dream and that we would find a way to make it happen, which we did.
Your father instilled in you your passion for wrestling.
My dad was renting movies, and one day there were only wrestling movies on, and the featured wrestler was Shawn Michaels. My parents didn’t always have the means, but they also paid so that I could see wrestling galas on TV.
Why did Shawn Michaels become your idol?
I had in front of me a wrestler who was no bigger than me, and he had an entire career. From that point on, at the age of 11, I decided I wanted to become a wrestler.
What influence did your parents have when you were growing up?
My father instilled in me my passion for wrestling while my mother found me my first wrestling school, that of Serge Jodoin in Saint-Césaire. The school closed its doors a few weeks later. I continued to train with him in my backyard to improve my different maneuvers.
You were throwing yourself in the grass for seven hours.
It was the only way to erase my fear of falling while allowing me to control my bodily actions to protect myself. My mother asked me one evening how I was coping, and I told her that I was considering quitting, because it was harder than I thought.
You had to overcome the homophobic insults.
Because I wore a swimsuit to wrestle, I had to put up with homophobic insults from my classmates. Today, these same colleagues ask me for autographs or souvenir figurines.
An arson attack burned down your grandparents’ house.
Young people committed arson, not to mention they robbed the house more than once. So, at the age of 13, with my brother, my sister and my parents, we went to live with my grandparents in Saint-Jean-Baptiste-de-Rouville.
It was difficult for you.
We must not forget that I left my friends and I had no means of transport to return to see them. The house was quite far away in a field and cable for TV was not available. This meant I could no longer see the struggle. Everything changed when I got my driving license.
Speaking of driving licenses, tell us about your mother.
First of all, my father and mother drove me to all my activities. Now, my mother was terrified of driving on the streets of Montreal, but that never stopped her from taking me to my classes at the Jacques Rougeau Wrestling Academy.
What were your first jobs?
My first job was in a car wash in Marieville and later in a truck stop gas station in Saint-Hilaire along Route 20.
Your boss allowed you to manage your schedule.
He was more than understanding. I worked nights and he allowed me to take my big television with me, because there were no small televisions at the time, my VCR and my tapes so that I could study the techniques of wrestling for the fights that followed during the week or weekend, in Quebec and the United States, in bars, including Skratch in Laval, and community halls.
You spoke to your future wife for three months before seeing her for the first time.
I was on tour in England and Japan when I met Karina online. Three months later, after many phone calls, I saw her for the first time. Eighteen years later, we are still together and we have two beautiful children, Owen and Élodie.
Your family is your source of motivation and inspiration.
Every day, whether it’s difficult or not, my family is my source of motivation and inspiration. Our financial situation was sometimes precarious, but my wife Karina always found a way to maintain my dream of becoming a wrestler.
