Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn have been the WWE Tag Team Champions for 98 days and counting.

That run, which famously began following the main event of Night 1 of WrestleMania 39, has seen the PWG-developed duo defend their straps on four separate occasions, beating The Usos, again, on SmackDown, The Bloodline – Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa – at Night of Champions, Imperium – Gunther and Ludwig Kaiser – on RAW and most recently Pretty Deadin at the O2 Arena on the night before Money in the Bank.

And yet, in the humble opinion of KO, he feels as though his tag team is just getting started, as the duo aspire to go on a run that lives up to the one before it by Jimmy and Jey, as he explained alongside Zayn in a joint appearance on Inside The Ropes.

“One of the things that I was concerned about before winning them was that, when we did get them, I want to live up to The Usos’ title reign,” Owens said via Wrestle Zone. “They did a lot for these titles, they worked very hard to get to them to the point where they could main-event WrestleMania, and a lot of credit goes to them for that. So honestly, I don’t feel like we’ve really, so far in our run, I don’t think we’re anywhere near that.”

“I really want to work very hard to, once we’re all said and done with these titles and somebody else takes them from us, I want our run to be talked about in the same vein as The Usos’, so that’s a challenge in itself because they did really incredible. Those guys, if anything, now, finally they’re getting their flowers. But they’ve been, in my opinion, underappreciated for a long time, so that was a big concern to me. I want to live up to the work they’ve done, and we’re obviously working our heart out to try to make sure that happens. So I guess that’s the one concern for us, and that part of it is to make sure these titles stay at the forefront of the stories and keep being as important as they’ve been the last few months.”

Averaging a little over one title defense every 24.5 days through their run thus far, which is slightly above The Usos' clip of one title defense every 28.27 days, Owens and Zayn are far from skirting would-be challengers, with the duo taking on would-be challengers anytime another team “wants the smoke” to paraphrase future foes the Street Profits. While a record-breaking 622-day reign may not be in the cards for the current champs, that doesn't mean their reign can't be historically significant, as, after having heels reign over the roster for literally years, KO and Zayn are a breath of fresh air for the WWE Universe.

Kevin Owens reflects on his previous experience wrestling in England.

Sitting down for a special interview with Mark Andrews on My Love Letter to Wrestling around Money in the Bank alongside Sami Zayn, Bianca Belair, Ridge Holland, and Shayna Baszler, Kevin Owens was asked about his previous experiences wrestling in England from his pre-WWE indie days.

Unsurprisingly, Owens did recall his time wrestling in England two decades ago and credits – read: blames – his current tag team partner for getting him to the UK.

“I remember wrestling in Orpington where, because this guy [Sami Zayn] actually….the crowd's there just, very tiny building whatever, four or 500 people maybe,” Owens said via WrestlignNews. “But it's so loud and so much fun to be in front of, to perform in front of. So obviously when we come here, the 2002 whatever, it's, you know, it's multiplication by a lot, but uh, it's always the same kind of energy. But yeah, I mean my first time was in 2006, and it's always been great. It's always a treat to come here. It seems like they appreciate it more. Yeah, I know maybe the US fans might, you know, that might take an exception to that, but it's just the way it is.”

For fans who aren't uber-hardcore English wrestling historians, Owens actually worked his first match in England at the Orpington Halls in Orpington, Kent, England, in February of 2006, when he secured a win over El Generico during PWG's European Vacation. While KO has wrestled more matches for various English promotions before signing up with WWE, famously losing his PWG World Tag Team Titles to the team of Davey Richards and Super Dragon on PWG European Vacation II, that match clearly stuck with the “Prize Fighter” and has remained a favorite moment in his career over 17 years later.