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WWE star Kevin Owens dons Canucks jersey, inspires 'Bruce, there it is!' chants

WWE star Kevin Owens brought the Vancouver crowd to its feet when he entered the ring wearing a Canucks jersey, courtesy of big fan Bruce Boudreau. (Reuters)
WWE star Kevin Owens brought the Vancouver crowd to its feet when he entered the ring wearing a Canucks jersey, courtesy of big fan Bruce Boudreau. (Reuters)

Wearing a sports jersey is an easy way for professional wrestlers to get a reaction from a crowd – whether it is cheers or a showering of boos – but for Kevin Owens it means a little more than an easy pop.

The WWE was live in Vancouver this weekend for their Saturday Night’s Main Event show at the Pacific Coliseum and Owens donned a Canucks jersey for his in-ring appearance with Austin Theory. It wasn’t just any regular jersey bought earlier that morning from the team shop, but a gift from a special fan.

As Owens explained to Theory and the crowd, the jersey was a gift from Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau. After just the mention of his name to the crowd, cheers and a smattering of “Bruce” rang through the arena, eventually evolving into a full “Bruce, there it is” chorus – repeating a slogan popularized when the coach took over the bench in the middle of last season.

Owens dove further into the backstory behind the coach and wrestler’s relationship. Boudreau has repeatedly mentioned that he is a huge wrestling fan during his time in Vancouver, and said that his favourite current wrestler is Owens.

That callout transpired into the wrestler surprising Boudreau during a broadcast at the NHL Draft earlier this year in his hometown of Montreal.

The way that Boudreau turns back the clock and gets starstruck by Owens like a 10-year-old megafan is just incredibly heartwarming and hilarious. With the initial shock turning into just flustered amazement and an unending grin, you can tell that it was probably more exciting for Boudreau to give Owens the jersey later on, than it was for the wrestler to receive it.

The Canucks begin their regular season on Oct. 12 against the Oilers, in what should be an exciting year for a team trying to make the jump into the playoffs. Maybe we’ll see Owens appear at Rogers Arena at least once this season. They are not his hometown Canadiens, but he can at least support his buddy behind the bench.

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