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Moments like this are exactly why I wanted Sami to win this title so much! All of his previous reigns he was a chickenshit heel--a great chickenshit heel!--but I yearned to see him defend the title like this, bold and valiant and defiant (I'm very happy).

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I always love wrestlers unable to hide their delight at being linked to their soulmate-rival, like Carmelo Hayes' immediate luminous smile at the Smackdown audience starting to chant "whoop that trick" at him.

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Kevin has a theory about why the Canadian Lynx doesn't understand his French. {x}

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After Sami saves Kevin at Hell in a Cell in 2017, Kevin announces to the fans that they are now all officially in “Kevin’s Heaven,” and invites Sami out to talk about his change in attitude. It’s a fascinating promo because while Kevin is clearly overjoyed that Sami has thrown in his lot with him, there are hints that Sami’s glee is… less heartfelt.

Wrestling stories, because they (of necessity) often intersect with other unfolding storylines, can end up developing a lot of details and sidetracks that obscure a particular arc. And while I hesitate to call Daniel Bryan’s return to wrestling a “sidetrack,” it was a fun challenge in this chapter to streamline the events down and focus on what happens specifically to Kevin and Sami’s relationship from October 2017 to about June 2018, and the ways in which “Kevin’s Heaven” slowly becomes something closer to Hell for him.

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DDT Pro, 2011, Falls Count Anywhere: Sanshiro Takagi uses some cigarette-based offense against El Generico (commentary earnestly explains that "cigarette smoke is very bad for your lungs!")

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Kevin Owens versus the Bloodline, how it started (2020)/How it's going (2024).

Kevin got involved with the Bloodline WAY before Sami did, he was a thorn in Roman's side for months in 2020-2021, and it all started with a careless quip in catering...

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I wax a little sardonic about Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis’s feud with Sami in Chapter 25, “Hell (in a Cell)”. All three did the best they could—and admittedly, the couple had a banger of an entrance song, listen to this and curse Def Rebel one more time:

But let’s just say it was not the most compelling of feuds.

In the long run, this time did end up feeding into his character’s development, since his losses are what eventually goaded him into turning heel. I have no idea if that was deliberate or not—the trials of writing about wrestling stories is that sometimes it’s hard to tell what (if anything) was deliberate. Not on Kevin and Sami’s part! Anything they do I assume was mindful and meaningful, as much as possible.

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Kevin has some suggestions for the Bloodline's new digs.

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Kevin takes a moment to clear the table of some unnecessary merch before heading out to the ring.

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The Intercontinental champion comes home to Montreal!

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This match was a blast--this double german suplex by Kevin Owens was one of many fun moments!

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El Generico spent so little time as a heel (about two months out of a ten-year career) that it's a shock to come across a match where he's heeling it up, like this 2006 IWS match against Max Boyer where he adds a dastardly eye rake.

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El Generico with some arm-drag-based offense in 2007 against Kevin Steen.

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Heyman always knows how to add to a moment, and the way he goes from stunned paralysis to a burst of screaming horror as he realizes the Bloodline is imploding is just... *chef's kiss*

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Any town that loves tigers is a favorite of the Zoo Enthusiast!

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The way Bayley lights up at Naomi's arrival... 😍

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One of the things I'm enjoying while writing Fight Forever is taking the time to think about where Sami and Kevin cross paths when they're NOT feuding, and what that means. Like at the beginning and end of Kevin's Universal title reign, from Chapter 24, "This is Ours."

(I've got slightly longer thoughts up on my Substack!)