page_title: Kevin Owens
section_title: Teaming and feuding with El Generico (2007–2010)
hierarchical_section_title: Kevin Owens / Professional wrestling career / Ring of Honor / Teaming and feuding with El Generico (2007–2010)
caption_attribution_description: English: Professional wrestler Kevin Steen in 2011.
context_page_description: Kevin Steen is a Canadian professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Kevin Owens.
  Steen began his career in 2000, at the age of 16. Prior to joining WWE in late 2014, from 2007, Steen wrestled under his birth name for Ring of Honor, where he held the ROH World Championship and ROH World Tag Team Championship. Steen also wrestled extensively on the independent circuit for 14 years, most notably in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, where he held the PWG World Championship a record three times, as well as the PWG World Tag Team Championship on three occasions.
  Steen also competed for International Wrestling Syndicate, where he held three times the IWS World Heavyweight Championship, All American Wrestling, where he held the AAW Heavyweight Championship; and Combat Zone Wrestling, where he held the CZW Iron Man Championship. He wrestled under the Kevin Owens name in WWE's developmental branch NXT, where he was a one-time NXT Champion, before debuting on the main roster in May 2015. He has since held the Universal Championship once, the Intercontinental Championship twice, and the United States Championship three times.
context_section_description: On February 17, 2007, Steen returned to Ring of Honor, teaming with El Generico in a losing effort to the Briscoe Brothers. On April 14, Mark Briscoe returned in the middle of a match between Steen and Generico and his brother Jay and Erick Stevens. Mark was attacked by the duo, however, and was pinned by Steen after a package piledriver. On May 11, Steen (as a heel) and Generico (as a face) defeated Jason Blade and Eddie Edwards. At Respect is Earned, Steen and El Generico defeated The Irish Airborne (Jake and Dave Crist), Pelle Primeau and Mitch Franklin, and Jimmy Rave and Adam Pearce in a Tag Team Scramble dark match. That same night, Steen and El Generico brawled with the Briscoe Brothers, ending with Mark Briscoe suffering a mild concussion from a steel chair shot. At Driven, the Briscoe Brothers defeated Steen and El Generico to retain the ROH World Tag Team Championship. Steen and Generico then suffered three consecutive losses to the Briscoes at Caged Rage in a Steel Cage match, Manhattan Mayhem II in a two out of three falls match, and Man Up in a ladder match. Their only tag team win over the Briscoes was at Death Before Dishonor V Night 1 in a non-title Boston Street Fight.
  On June 6, 2008, Steen and Generico participated in a one night tournament to crown new ROH World Tag Team Champions. They defeated Go Shiozaki and ROH World Champion Nigel McGuiness in the first round and Chris Hero and Adam Pearce in the second round before losing to Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black in the finals. On June 27 in Dayton, Ohio, Steen and Generico defeated The Age of the Fall's Tyler Black and Joey Matthews when Steen pinned Matthews following the package piledriver. The next day in Chicago Ridge, Illinois, Steen and Generico were defeated by AOTF members Black and Necro Butcher when Butcher pinned Steen following a roll up and a chair shot to the face from Black. On July 25, Steen faced off against ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness in a title match for the company's debut show in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, but Steen lost the match. At a pay-per-view taping in Boston on September 19, Steen and Generico beat The Age of the Fall to finally win the ROH World Tag Team Championship. This also fulfilled Steen's promise of winning a title in ROH before the November 21 Dayton show. They lost the championship to The American Wolves (Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards) at a television taping on April 10, 2009.
  On December 19, 2009, at Final Battle 2009, ROH's first live pay-per-view, after a loss to The Young Bucks, Steen turned heel by attacking his tag team partner El Generico. Steen then found a new partner in Steve Corino. At the following pay-per-view, The Big Bang!, Generico and Cabana defeated Steen and Corino via disqualification, when Steen used a chair on his former partner. On June 19 at Death Before Dishonor VIII, Steen defeated El Generico in a singles match. On September 11 at Glory By Honor IX Generico and Cabana defeated Steen and Corino in a Double Chain match, when Cabana forced Corino to tap out. After the match Steen attacked El Generico and unmasked him. On December 18 at Final Battle 2010 Steen and Generico ended their year–long feud in an unsanctioned Fight Without Honor, where Steen put his ROH career on the line against Generico's mask. However, Steen did not like the idea, because he would lose money if he lost, but in the end he agreed to the match, because he thought ROH would use Generico as a top wrestler after the feud. In the end El Generico won the match and thus forced Steen out of ROH. The feud was voted by Wrestler Observer Newsletter as the Best Feud of the year.
  Prior to the outcome, on November 4, 2010, Kevin Steen's contract agreement with Ring of Honor ended due to financial budget concerns, which ultimately played a role within the stipulations of the match. Steen wrote most of the El Generico rivalry storyline himself, though he claims that his poor relationship with new booker Jim Cornette, who had little interest in either Steen or Generico, resulted in a great deal of frustration for him. Durin
caption: Steen at a GCW event in December 2011
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