Fight Forever: The Viewer's Guide to Hybrid Shoot's New Book

Plus My Favorite "Steenerico" Match

One of the joys of reading the new book Fight Forever: The Ballad of Kevin and Sami is the second-hand pleasure of watching two lifelong friends succeed together in an industry built to tear people apart.

The sad truth about professional wrestling is that even the best of the best mostly fail to climb that proverbial ladder and grab that theoretical brass ring. The odds of making it in the big time, as wrestling has contracted around the world, are extraordinarily slim.

That’s what makes the success of Steenerico, ably chronicled by JJ McGee, so beautifully implausible. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn were battling for a handful of spots, not just amongst themselves, but against every standout wrestler of their generation. That they made it together, walking hand-in-hand from the grimy independent scene right into the main event of WrestleMania, is nothing short of remarkable.

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While most fans will remember fondly their various WWE soap operas, shenanigans and drama playing out in front of tens of thousands in an arena and millions more on television, my memory of the duo will always be grounded firmly in Roxbury, Massachusetts, 500 fans watching in awe as four men attempted what looked like continuous attempted murder in one of the damndest wrestling matches of all time.

Back then Owens and Zayn were known as Kevin Steen and El Generico respectively, up-and-coming young strivers looking to make their mark on a business that wasn’t then especially friendly to talents that looked like them (i.e. normal people and not fitness models or gargantuans). That meant, to get attention from both industry insiders and hardcore fans, you had to be willing to take things to levels beyond what was comfortable, escalating your art to the point you simply couldn’t be ignored.

In Ring of Honor, there were no better partners if your mission was to create mischief than the Briscoe Brothers, Delaware based chicken farmers who doubled as fearless professional wrestlers. Both were outlandishly gifted. Both had several screws loose. If you were a wrestler looking for attention, they were the perfect duo to help you find it.

The teams spent much of 2007 married together, engaging in a series of frightening escalations, a regular match turning into a street fight which became a cage match and, finally, culminating with a ladder war, one of the most extreme matches in the history of a promotion built with the bones of the recently dead ECW.

As great as the ladder war was, it’s the street fight that sticks in my memory, a bout so gnarly and violent that you can find yourself completely lost in it, forgetting for a time that you’re watching simulated violence and not four meth dealers fighting for a corner. If you’ve only seen the corporate version of this kind of match, often just a regular old wrestling match with a table spot or a very carefully delivered chairshot thrown in, you’re not visualizing what happens in this bout.

A taste of the action

This is a match of wild passion and extremes, four men who clearly never considered saying no to any idea, no matter how violent or dangerous. It looks, quite often, like a fight—and I say that as someone immersed in professional prize fighting for much of my adult life. It’s wild and unhinged, crazed men desperate to standout on a card, like every ROH card, packed to bursting with the best independent wrestling in the world at the time. The production is perfect for the premise, cutting haphazardly from flare up to flare up in the most endearing ADHD fashion imaginable, the announcers getting up and leaving the match to speak for itself.

Every inch of territory here is fought over like Holy Ground, nothing conceded or given. They lay everything in like they want to book four adjoining hospital rooms and spend the rest of the night with nurses checking their vitals and worried doctors talking in whispers about possible dire outcomes.

Over the last 30 years as a hardcore wrestling fan, I’ve seen performers from around the world push limits. I’m inured to it, comfortable watching really dumb, irresponsible things and their unfortunate aftermaths—and this match left even me a little on edge, wishing they’d tone it down just 15 percent, if not for their sakes, for mine.

Jay Briscoe takes an absolutely insane head first bump.

The first half of the match, especially, is PRO WRESTLING~! performed in all caps as Joseph Monticello writes, complete with the DEAN tilde. It’s a long series of bad ideas executed by the best young wrestlers in the world. I fell a little in love with all of them that night. I hope you enjoy it just as much as I did.

The Briscoes vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico Boston Street Fight Fucks

Highest recommendation.

This, of course, is just a footnote in the journey of Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. Fight Forever has the broader picture and it’s one that’s absolutely worth your time. More than the tale of these two men, it’s the story of an industry during a time of brutal monopoly control and how a pair of artists must navigate it if they want to succeed. It’s the story of two men desperate both to make it in the big time and to stick—but to do it without losing their souls.

What follows are more than 100 links to many of the moments and matches featured in the book, a visual aid for those who didn’t follow in real time or who need a refresher.

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Chapter 2

03/15/2003: “Holy shit!” - El Generico vs. Kid Kamikaze, highlight with Kevin in the crowd applauding - IWS

09/20/2003: “Mr. Wrestling” - Kevin Steen vs. eXceSs 69 - IWS

10/18/2003: “They always knew where they were going” - Kevin Steen vs. El Generico vs. PCO - IWS

Chapter 3

11/15/2003: “Please don’t go” - Kevin Steen vs. El Generico - IWS

Chapter 4

09/11/2004: “Please come back”- Kevin Steen vs. El Generico vs. Sexxxy Eddy vs. Excess69 (highlights) - CZW

Chapter 5

11/13/2004: “Show these SoCal motherfuckers what you guys can do” - Kevin Steen vs. El Generico (highlights) - PWG

02/19/2005: A finishing move and a win - Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. All Money Is Legal - Chikara

Chapter 6

09/17/2005: “It’s not about you and I” - Aftermath of Kevin Steen vs. Damian - IWS

Chapter 7

02/19/2006: “An evil stand-up comedian” - Kevin Steen vs. El Generico - PWG

Chapter 8

02/17/2007: “Let’s go out there and fucking kill it” - The Briscoe Brothers vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico - ROH

09/15/2007: “Man up” - The Briscoe Brothers vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico, Ladder War - ROH

Chapter 9

09/19/2008: “Such a real emotion” - Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. Age of the Fall, tag team title match - ROH

Chapter 10

04/10/2009: “Broken men” - Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. The American Wolves, no DQ title match - ROH

09/26/2009: “Please don’t die” - Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. The American Wolves, Ladder War 2 - ROH

Chapter 11

06/12/2009: “These reckless scamps” - Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. The Young Bucks - ROH

12/19/2009: “I hate your fucking guts” - Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. The Young Bucks - ROH

12/19/2009: “I love this apple, I love you, I love life” - Kevin and Colt Cabana backstage after Final Battle - ROH

Chapter 12

01/20/2010: “Generico’s been real down lately”/”See the blood over here?” - El Generico & Colt Cabana promo, followed by Kevin Steen promo - ROH

02/13/2010: “Kevin, please look at me” - Kevin Steen vs. Colt Cabana - ROH

06/10/2010: “From friends to enemies” - Hype video for the first half of the feud - ROH

06/10/2010: “Steen! Now!” - Kevin Steen vs. El Generico (and intermission brawl after) - ROH

Chapter 13

07/2010: “I’m gonna rain a hell on this place” - Kevin Steen and Tyler Black promos - ROH

07/24/2010: “Oh, when he saw the blood…” - Kevin Steen vs. Tyler Black - ROH

10/05/2010: “The end of love” - Final Battle 2010 hype video - ROH

12/18/2010: “Unsanctioned Fight Without Honor” - Kevin Steen vs. El Generico - ROH

Chapter 14:

05/27/2011: “This is what’s going to keep me alive” - Kevin Steen & Akira Tozawa vs. El Generico & Ricochet (highlights) - PWG

06/26/2011: “My name is Kevin Steen…” End of Kevin Steen promo - ROH

08/20/2011: “You are El Generico”- Kevin Steen vs El Generico - PWG

10/22/2011: “We certainly hope nobody dies!” - Kevin Steen vs El Generico, Steen Wolf - PWG

Chapter 15

03/30/2012: “I am Jesus, thank you!” - Kevin Steen vs. El Generico - ROH

12/16/2012: “This ends now” - Kevin Steen vs El Generico - ROH

Chapter 16

09/02/2012: “Help, Steen, help!” - El Generico & Rick Knox & Kevin Steen vs. The Young Bucks & Brian Cage (highlights) - PWG

01/12/2013: “Let’s kill these motherfuckers!” - Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. The Briscoe Brothers / Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. Adam Cole & Kyle O’Reilly / Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. The Young Bucks (highlights) - PWG

Chapter 17

07/11/2013: Demanding respect - Sami Zayn vs. Cesaro, 2 out of 3 falls - NXT

03/2014: “Old friend, I’m coming for you” - Kevin Steen’s WWE tryout and tryout promo - NXT

Chapter 18

12/12/2014: A palm strike to the face - Kevin Owens vs. CJ Parker - NXT

12/12/2014: Redemption - Sami Zayn vs. Adrian Neville (ending with Kevin joining the celebration and then turning on Sami) - NXT

Chapter 19

01/28/2015: “He is not the prize” - Kevin and Sami’s first promo together - NXT

02/07/2015: “I wasn’t gonna wait in the back of the line” - Rival hype video - NXT

02/11/2015: “Rival” - Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn - NXT

Chapter 20

05/04/2015: Underdog - Sami Zayn vs John Cena (highlights) - WWE

05/18/2015: “Some veteran advice” - Kevin Owens confronts John Cena - WWE

05/20/2015: “No contest” - Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn (starting from the :35 minute mark) - NXT

Chapter 21

01/14/2016: “Pumpkin-headed piece of garbage” - Kevin shows up in Milwaukee to taunt Sami - NXT

01/24/2016: “Go back to NXT!” - Sami appears at the Royal Rumble - WWE

03/07/2016: “Your past is back to haunt you!” - Sami saves Neville from Kevin - WWE

03/07/2016: “That story is never over” - Sami comments on his arrival on the main roster - WWE

03/16/2016: “You deserve something very, very special” - Shinsuke Nakamura challenges Sami - NXT

Chapter 22

04/01/2016: Fire and water woven together - Shinsuke Nakamura vs Sami Zayn (highlights) - NXT

05/01/2016: Payback - Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens - WWE

Chapter 23

05/16/2016: Reluctant tag team - Cesaro & The Miz vs. Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens (highlights) - WWE

05/22/2016: Fatal Four Way - The Miz vs. Cesaro vs. Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens - WWE

06/07/2016: “This is a tag match, you idiots!” - Cesaro & Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens & Alberto Del Rio (highlights) - WWE

06/27/2016: “The Highlight Reel” - Chris Jericho interviews Kevin and Sami - WWE

07/24/2016: “Stay down!” - Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens (highlights) - WWE

Chapter 24

08/29/2016: A sharp left turn - Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins vs. Big Cass (highlights) - WWE

08/29/2016: “This is ours” - Kevin and Sami backstage after the Universal title win - WWE

09/05/2016: One bookend - Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn, Kevin’s first defense as Universal champion (highlights) - WWE

02/14/2017: “How come my name’s on this?” - Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho, The Festival of Friendship - WWE

02/20/2017: The other bookend - Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn, Kevin’s last defense as Universal champion - WWE

03/26/2017: “I give you respect” - Sami Zayn addresses Kevin Owens after his Universal title loss - WWE

Chapter 25

04/11/2017: “This cannot be happening!” - Kevin and Sami get traded to Smackdown - WWE

09/26/2017: “I will do it the right way!” - Sami confronts Kevin just before Hell in a Cell - WWE

09/26/2017: “I have Kevin tonight” - Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens (highlights) - WWE

08/10/2017: Hell in a Cell - The ending of Kevin Owens vs. Shane McMahon - WWE

Chapter 26

10/10/2017: “All the way to mediocrity” - Sami and Kevin’s first promo after Sami’s heel turn:

10/17/2017: “They never did it for me” - Kevin and Sami are confronted by Daniel Bryan - WWE

12/17/2017: “We’re the good guys!” - Typical backstage goofing from Kevin and Sami as heels - WWE

12/17/2017: “Shane McMahon just screwed Sami Zayn!” - Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn versus Shinsuke Nakamura & AJ Styles - WWE

02/20/2018: “I will lie down for you in the middle of the ring” - Sami promises to let Kevin pin him at Fastlane - WWE

03/11/2018: “Paying back my friend after all he’s done for me” - Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin vs. John Cena Sami tries to trick Kevin at Fastlane (the link is cued to that moment) - WWE

03/20/2018: “You’re fired” - Kevin and Sami attack Bryan - WWE

04/29/2018: “I need this, okay?” - Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn - WWE

Chapter 27

Sami’s caustic returning promos:

• 04/08/2019: “You judge everything except yourselves” - WWE

• 04/22/2019: “You can all go to hell” - WWE

• 04/29/2019: “Quitting WWE would be amazing” - WWE

• 05/27/2019: “I’m a very tender lover” - WWE

06/24/2019: “You should really cover him” - Sami Zayn vs. Kofi Kingston - WWE

06/25/2019: No finesse, no moves - The New Day & Heavy Machinery vs. Daniel Bryan, Eric Rowan, Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn - WWE

08/19/2019: “Get that camera out of my face” - Sami Zayn vs. Cedric Alexander aftermath - WWE

03/08/2020: The Great Liberator - Braun Strowman vs. Sami Zayn & Shinsuke Nakamura & Cesaro - WWE

04/04/2020: “How’s this for a WrestleMania moment?”- Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins - WWE

04/04/2020: “You did this to yourself” - Sami Zayn vs. Daniel Bryan Part 1 and Part 2 - WWE

08/20/2020: “I don’t know if it was really worth it” - The KO Show with Liv Morgan and Ruby Riott - WWE

Chapter 28:

03/26/2021: “You and me. One on one” - Kevin challenges Sami to a WrestleMania match - WWE

03/27/2021: “A more righteous path” - Kevin on Talking Smack, about bringing the old Sami back - WWE

04/03/2021: “I need everything to be perfect” - Kevin attacks Sami at his “premiere” - WWE

04/11/2021: “This is because of you” - Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn - WWE

04/11/2021: “Time is a construct” - Sami Zayn is stunned after WrestleMania - WWE

04/16/2021: “Every week, every month, every year if I have to” - Kevin still wants to stun Sami back to reality - WWE

06/11/2021: “I have a hard time expressing those feelings” - Kevin and Big E talk about their feelings - WWE

07/02/2021: “How did we get here?” - Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn, Last Man Standing - WWE (highlights):

Chapter 29

02/03/2022: “Put down the cattle prod!” - Sami crashes the Jackass premiere - WWE

04/02/2022: “I’m looking for a fight” - Kevin Owens vs. Steve Austin - WWE

04/03/2021: Wee Slam - Sami Zayn vs. Johnny Knoxville - WWE

Chapter 30

04/22/2022: “The respect that I am owed” - Sami tries to make a deal with Roman Reigns - WWE

05/27/2022: “The Bloodline couldn’t care less about you” - The KO Show with Sami Zayn - WWE

08/19/2022: “You should be talking to me!” - Sami and Roman hit it off backstage in Montreal - WWE

08/29/2022: “What chair? What chair?” - Kevin Owens vs. Jey Uso - WWE

09/23/2022: “You ain’t gonna wear a Bloodline shirt ever again!” - Bloodline segment - WWE

11/26/2022: The Honorary Uce - Drew McIntyre, Kevin Owens & The Brawling Brutes vs. The Bloodline, WarGames finale - WWE

Chapter 31

11/29/2022: “I’m just done” - Kevin Owens and Bloodline segment - WWE

01/06/2023: “Do you think you’re me?” - Bloodline segment - WWE

01/23/2023: Tribal Court - Bloodline segment - WWE

01/28/2023: “I care about you, I love you, I gave you everything” - Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns and aftermath - WWE

Chapter 32

02/18/2023: “I’m getting weirdly emotional” - Sami Zayn vs. Roman Reigns (with run-in by Kevin) - WWE

02/20/2023: “If we do it together” - Sami asks Kevin for his help - WWE

03/20/2023: “I love you, okay?” - Kevin and Sami finally get on the same page - WWE

04/01/2023: The Main Event of WrestleMania - Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs. the Usos - WWE