Kevin Owens spent years sharing locker rooms, roads and memories with Benjamin Satterley, but his admiration for the man wrestling fans knew as PAC and Neville started almost immediately. Owens says one match in England was enough to convince him that he was looking at a wrestler operating on a completely different level.
During WWE’s emotional tribute video for PAC, Owens recalled meeting Satterley in the United Kingdom back in 2006. Owens was already established on the independent scene, while PAC was nervous before they stepped into the ring together. Once the match was over, Owens didn’t keep his reaction to himself.
“I told him, hey, you’re like the best wrestler I’ve ever seen and ever worked with. And from that moment on, he was pretty much my favorite wrestler.”
Owens explained that it wasn’t simply PAC’s high-flying ability that impressed him. In his eyes, Satterley could do practically everything better than everyone around him.
“As a performer, there’s nothing at all that he couldn’t do better than anyone else. He could fly, he could brawl, he could do technical wrestling just better than anyone, truly. He could move better than anybody.”
What made PAC even more unusual was that he never carried himself like somebody who believed his own hype.
“You would have never heard him ever imply for even one second that he was the best wrestler in the world, because that just is not who he was.”
The comments come after PAC passed away at 40 years old, sending shockwaves throughout wrestling. WWE later opened RAW with a memorial graphic for Satterley as wrestlers from multiple generations shared their own memories. Owens also admitted there is one thing about PAC’s death that continues to eat at him: he isn’t sure whether Satterley ever fully understood just how much he meant to him. That regret left Owens with a message that went way beyond wrestling.
“The one thing that I’m haunted by, selfishly, that I don’t know if he knew how much I admired him and loved him.”
“If there’s anything to take away from this, it’s to make sure that you tell the people you love how important they are to you when you can.”
PAC already had a reputation as one of the most gifted performers of his generation, but hearing Owens describe him as the best wrestler he had ever seen says plenty about how other wrestlers viewed his talent. The fact that Owens remembers the person even more than the wrestler makes the tribute hit that much harder.
What do you make of Kevin Owens calling PAC the best wrestler he ever worked with, and where do you rank Neville/PAC among the best performers of his generation? Let us know your thoughts and feedback in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
