Kasey Owens has been one of the standout performers in the UK independent scene for over a decade now, travelling the world to hone her craft and develop as she continues to grow her name, performing for the likes of ICW and PROGRESS Wrestling.
Working against some of the very best wrestlers around the globe from Io Shirai to Toni Storm, Kasey Owens recently was recognised by WWE as she got the call to work for NXT UK in a match against Jinny and it’s fair to say that the future is very bright for her.
Kasey Owens recently spoke exclusively with Matthew Wilkinson at the first ever Broken Ring Wrestling event in Bradford, England, where she spoke about her career, her recent opportunity with NXT UK and much more.
Right now the British wrestling scene is one of the most talked about in the world, with some of the very best promotions and talent having worked tirelessly to get it to this point.
“It’s very much a big family and it’s not just over the recent years, it has been a good 10-12 year process to get to this point where everybody has different promotions to work for. It’s been an accumulation of a lot of years and a lot of blood, sweat, and tears from a lot of people and if it wasn’t for the likes of ICW, World Of Sport, you probably wouldn’t see a lot of us.”
Kasey Owens also spoke about who she has learned the most from during her career so far, giving huge credit to NXT UK Superstar, Kay Lee Ray.
“Hands down, Kay Lee Ray. I was lucky enough to meet her through Fierce Females and then I moved to Glasgow and I lived with here and through that, I learned so much and every time I get in the ring with her it’s just a learning experience. We’ve been wrestling the same amount of time but because she has had that platform, she is lightyears ahead of everybody else and that’s why she can call herself the best in the world because she is.
“She is going to make that division her own, full stop. Wherever she goes, she is the star. I love Toni Storm, and I love Piper Niven and all the rest of them but there is nobody bigger than Kay Lee Ray.”
The women’s wrestling scene in Scotland has seen some incredible talent such as WWE’s Nikki Cross, Piper Niven, and the previously mentioned, Kay Lee Ray amongst many others. Kasey spoke about the women’s scene in Scotland and how it is like nothing else.
“Anybody that I have talked to about women’s wrestling, especially in Scotland, there is something different there. There is something that sets them apart, I am not saying the women in England aren’t as good, but they are just made of a different material up in Scotland. I think the fact that they don’t see it as women’s wrestling, they just see it as just wrestling, like they train a lot with the guys and there aren’t any female only classes. I was training with the guys, everything we are doing is the same thing so why make it ‘easier’ for the girls by putting on a female only class?”
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From there the conversation moved on to the always controversial topic of intergender wrestling, and Kasey Owens gave her take on whether or not it should take place in wrestling.
“To me, realistically, intergender wrestling when done right can be amazing and can have a great story but I think a lot of people can be seen to be jumping on the bandwagon and being like “Let’s stick on an intergender match because that’s what everyone else is doing.” To me, it needs the right story and the right platform to do it and it needs to be the right people. I couldn’t go in with Big T Justice, because to me realistically in a fight, he could give me one punch and I’d be knocked out. Sure you can play the whole cruiserweight against it, but I’m not a cruiserweight, I’m less than that. To me, it depends on the person and the platform and if they can tell the story right. We do get people which will say “No, that’s promoting abuse,” so it’s a very double-edged sword.”
This coming weekend will see the women take over as Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, and Ronda Rousey headline WrestleMania 35, with the first ever women’s main event in the history of WrestleMania. Kasey Owens spoke about what the match means to women’s wrestling giving props to Rousey for her amazing progression.
“It’s unbelievable and the fact that it has Becky Lynch in it is also a big thing because she was one of my inspirations for me back home in Ireland. A lot of people can say everyone is jumping on the bandwagon, but these girls have worked hard for it, from that punch from Nia Jax she took, to me, there is no bigger star at the minute, in WWE than Becky Lynch. The fact she has Charlotte in there with her and Ronda Rousey, who is also a big name, she has worked her ass off. I don’t think anybody has progressed as quickly and as far, she had no pro-wrestling background, she deserves it as well. With the way everything is going now, are we reaching the glass ceiling? No, we’ve smashed it.”
Of course, it isn’t just WWE breaking new ground with women’s wrestling as AEW is also pushing its women’s division strong out of the gate, and Kasey discussed the positives to having competition in wrestling.
“It’s a great thing, for me at the end of the day, WWE is going to be the big goal. But to have AEW to be there and provide competition, that is always a good thing. The Attitude Era had WCW, ECW and all the rest of it, and that was good because everyone had somewhere to go and a choice to make, so I think rather than always going the family-friendly with WWE, I think AEW will go for more ‘smart crowds,’ competition is always going to help in the long run.”
Kasey Owens recently got the opportunity to make her WWE debut during the NXT UK tapings and appeared on the show in a match with Jinny. Owens spoke about getting the opportunity to work for her dream company, as well as the advice and feedback she got backstage afterwards.
“It was unreal, it was the week before I got the email and I was like YES! I literally turned around to my boss and just went, “I’m not going to be here next week!” It was an opportunity to go and everything else fell by the wayside. Hopefully, it comes to fruition a little bit more. I got a little bit emotional after it because I was like, “I’ve just had a match for the company I want to work for, and Shawn Michaels was watching! Like Holy F**k!” It was a huge privilege for me.
“Kay Lee Ray was there and all the guys were really helpful. Brookside is always one that I go to because he is very honest with his critique and he was the agent for the match with Jinny. Shawn was really happy with the match and so was Matt. If I’m getting good feedback from them, then I must be doing something right.”
Owens has been involved in wrestling for over a decade now, having gone one on one with some of the very best female talents, and she revealed the number one lesson that she has learned during her career.
“Be humble. The moment you think you know everything in this business, you might as well quit. The moment you stop learning, that’s it. If we all thought we knew everything the women’s division wouldn’t be what it is now. Always push boundaries, always try harder, go to the gym as much as possible, take care of yourself, and have fun.”
Having travelled the world and wrestled a variety of styles in front of many different audiences, Kasey has managed to develop her in-ring style, and she talked about which she prefers.
“I wouldn’t say I prefer, I will wrestle any style. I was trained very much British style but I adopted more of a Japanese style like fast paced stuff, but over the years I have found out, I don’t like running, but if and when I need to I will. To me it’s more storytelling, you can do a million flips but if you can’t get the crowd drawn in, you might as well have done nothing.”
Finally, Owens talked about who her dream opponents would be:
“Eddie Guerrero. I know I could work an amazing intergender match with him. Alive, Becky Lynch. I ticked a bunch off my bucket list but Becky Lynch is someone who got away, so yeah, I want Becky Lynch.”
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