Heartbreaking update on Kevin Owens’ WWE return after neck injury bombshell ahead of WrestleMania 41
It's quite possible that Kevin Owens might be out for over an year after letting the fans know that he's been dealing with a neck injury.
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Kevin Owens [via- WWE]
After recently shocking the WWE Universe by announcing that he’d be undergoing neck surgery, everyone is wondering when Kevin Owens will be back. An erroneous claim was making the rounds on the internet that he did get the surgery done on April 7. However, as per Fightful Select, it’s not true, nor is there a known date for that.
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful noted in his report that those spoken to in WWE don’t believe that The Prizefighter would make a return this year. In fact, in worrying signs, the possibility of Kevin missing WrestleMania 42 in New Orleans was also broached internally. As of now, there’s no timeframe for the Canuck’s in-ring comeback.
Owens alluded to the same ambiguity during the live promo he cut on SmackDown last Friday. Before he publicly revealed that he’s injured, the fans started speculating that Owens might’ve badly messed up his neck in the ladder match he had with Cody Rhodes at Royal Rumble.
Kevin Owens isn’t expected back in 2025, and according to those spoken to, it's quite possible he misses WrestleMania next year.
— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) April 11, 2025
(via @FightfulSelect) pic.twitter.com/TJd2IoKJqB
If one revisits the match ending, The American Nightmare delivered a brutal Alabama Slam onto the ladder. The landing, as expected, was gnarly and was believed to have taken a toll on The Prizefighter’s neck. However, Owens recently quashed the rumors in an interview he did with Robbie Fox.
The 40-year-old revealed that his neck was jarred in a regular match in January, which he chose not to disclose. The Quebec-born wrestler also expressed disappointment at the news of his injury getting leaked online before he could directly address it on TV.
What impact has Kevin Owens’ injury made on Randy Orton?
If he were able to compete, Kevin Owens would’ve gone on to battle Randy Orton at The Grandest Stage of Them All. But since that’s no longer in the cards, The Viper needs a new opponent. After getting hit with an RKO last week, Nick Aldis kicked off this week’s SmackDown, saying that he was asked by the management to maintain a professional conduct.
The General Manager called Orton out and told Randy that he needed to show him some respect. The Apex Predator said that he does respect the former NWA Champion, but he wouldn’t apologize to Aldis’ wife, Mickie James, for his actions if Nick denied him a WrestleMania match. They were soon interrupted by Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga, and the trash talking resulted in a 2-on-1 beatdown of Orton.
LA Knight made the save, and a tag team match was made official as the main event. The babyfaces eventually won, with The Megastar pinning Tonga. However, Solo and Orton had disappeared to the back as they were trading some haymakers. Since the former Tribal Chief wasn’t the one to eat the pinfall loss and was kind of protected at the end, he might end up being The Viper’s opponent next weekend.
The fans are already seething at the prospect when there were a litany of better options available. Also, with WrestleMania 41 being Orton’s twentieth WrestleMania appearance, his fanbase was hopeful of The Legend Killer squaring off with someone whom the audience can get behind instead of Sikoa, who’s been outshined in his role by his previous enforcer, Jacob Fatu.
Sami Zayn match might be the storybook ending for Kevin Owens
If by any chance, God forbid, Kevin Owens doesn’t make a comeback to wrestling with him turning 41 next month, he might never regret it. Because the last time he wrestled was in Canada, his home country. On top of that, the former Universal Champion went toe-to-toe with his real-life best friend, Sami Zayn.
They tore the house down at Elimination Chamber in an unsanctioned match. It was uncomfortable to watch at times but a feast for those who crave hardcore wrestling. Owens and Zayn received widespread acclaim for putting their bodies on the line, going through tables, barbed wire-wrapped chairs, and what not.
At the time, many fans were hoping it to be the WrestleMania match. However, in hindsight, they would be grateful to have it preponed, with Kevin recently identifying a career-threatening neck injury. Zayn, on the other hand, has been absent since the PLE.
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