Kevin Owens is the current WWE United States Champion. (WWE.com)
Kevin Owens is the WWE’s United States Champion, having recently gained his title back in a match against Chris Jericho. Like a lot of WWE superstars, Owens has several visually distinctive tattoos, so what is the meaning behind each one? Why did he get them?
The tattoo that everyone first notices on Kevin Owens is the bull on his right arm. This is similar to the tattoo that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has on his right arm, but Kevin Owens did not get this tattoo as a tribute to The Rock.
Kevin Owens has a bull tattooed on his arm. (WWE.com)
“That’s what everyone immediately assumes,” Owens said in an episode of WWE.com’s Superstar Ink. “…It’s not a tribute to The Rock. That’s not what I was thinking.”
Instead, Owens says that he got the tattoo because his birthday is May 7th, making him a Taurus. Also, Owens explained that his wife has said that he reminds her of a bull in general.
“My wife always said [that’s] exactly who I am,” Owens said on Superstar Ink. “Stereotypes of that animal – she’s like, ‘That’s you.'”
Owens says that he found the basic design of the bull online and then added the nose ring, not realizing at the time that The Rock’s tattoo also has a nose ring on it; it was not intentional that the tattoo is reminiscent of Dwayne Johnson’s.
The first tattoo Kevin Owens ever got is a very minor one, though; it’s just the letter “K” on his leg, which is meant to be a tribute to his wife, Karina.
Kevin Owens has a “K” tattooed on his leg. (WWE.com)
“When I met my wife – her name’s Karina – she changed everything I knew about life because I couldn’t imagine meeting someone who would make me feel that way,” Owens told WWE.com. “So a month after we met, we went to get a tattoo, and it was very small, I just got this little ‘K’ and then she got a ‘K’ on her pelvis for ‘Kevin.””
Later, Owens got another tattoo on his arm that says “Karina,” his wife’s name.
Kevin Owens has a tattoo of his wife’s name. (WWE.com)
In addition, on his other arm, he has “Owen” and “Elodie” tattooed; these are the names of his two children.
Kevin Owens has the names of his two children tattooed on his arm. (WWE.com)
On that same arm above his children’s names, Owens has the word “LIVE.” Owens says that he and his good friend and mentor, professional wrestler Steve Corino, decided to get this tattoo together.
“At one point we were going through some things in each of out personal lives, we were just going through some rough stuff, and we decided to get a tattoo that says ‘Live,’ just as a bond with each other – we’d have the same tattoo,” Owens explained.
Owens says that it was Corino’s idea to put the “E” backwards. That way, the word could be read either as “LIVE” or “EVIL,” which was appropriate considering both of them often play heel characters.
Kevin Owens has the word “LIVE” tattooed on his arm. (WWE.com)
“It’s almost like a social experiment because when people see it, some people will see ‘LIVE’ right away and then notice,” Owens said on Superstar Ink.
Finally, on his knuckles, Kevin Owens has the letters “MSPR.” These are the initials of his grandparents, Melvin Steen and Pierre Benoit. Owens says that they were both big fans of professional wrestling, but unfortunately, they both died before Owens made it in the WWE.
Kevin Owens has the letters “MSPR” tattooed on his knuckles. (WWE.com)
“If I have one regret, it’s that I didn’t get to make it to the WWE before they passed away, because it would have made them so proud, so I decided to go the extra mile and have their initials tattooed on my knuckles so that they’re always with me,” Owens said.