Fightful is reporting that Owens underwent successful neck surgery on Friday, July 18.
The former Universal Champion revealed on the April 4 edition of WWE SmackDown that he needed neck surgery and would miss WrestleMania 41. He later shared that the procedure would not take place until mid-July, as doctors wanted his neck to heal as much as possible beforehand.
Kevin Owens shares neck injury update on Cody Rhodes’ podcast
Last month, Owens was a guest on Cody Rhodes’ So What Do You Wanna Talk About? podcast and described his situation as a “frustrating process.”
“It’s been such a frustrating process,”Owens said. “We’re letting my spinal cord heal as much as we can on its own before we go in for the surgery because how extensive the surgery will be depends on how my spinal cord looks when we go in there.”
“We’re waiting till mid-July to do the surgery,” he later added. “Hopefully, it’s a normal neck fusion. It might not be, we don’t know.”
Owens said he hadn’t experienced any symptoms from the injury until mid-June, when they all hit him at once.
“In the last week, for some reason, the symptoms all came in one shot. Every symptom you’d expect me to have, the pain in the neck, the stuff going down the arms, the legs not really responding, it’s all been happening. So it’s been pretty f–king brutal. I can’t wait for the surgery. And then to move forward, whatever that looks like but it’s been very frustrating.”
I can’t wait for the surgery. And then to move forward, whatever that looks like but it’s been very frustrating.”
Owens’ full appearance on So What Do You Wanna Talk About? is below:
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including an update on Jim Ross, Chad Gable, Dom, Kevin Owens and Pat McAfee, latest on Night of Champions, RAW ratings, a full recap of Dynamite and NXT, plus your Collision recap since Bryan attended the show live! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Timestamps: Start: Health updates on Jim Ross, Chad Gable, Dominik Mysterio, Kevin Owens 5:07: Cody Rhodes says he feels he’s at the end of his run as a babyface, Saudi Arabia update 13:52: Pat McAfee taking time off from WWE Raw announce team 17:07: Real American Freestyle Wrestling’s first show off to a slow start 22:18: Ben Askren update 25:08: Don Fale out of the G1 play-in, Dave’s thoughts on Jun Kasai vs. El Desperado 30:09: Ratings, Sedriques Dumas pulled from UFC show this weekend, Jon Jones update 43:36: AEW Dynamite recap 1:03:32: WWE NXT recap 1:09:45: Bryan’s live AEW Collision spoilers
Kevin Owens addressed his neck injury during the latest episode of Cody Rhodes’ podcast, So What Do You Wanna Talk About?
On the April 4 edition of WWE SmackDown, Owens announced he would miss WrestleMania 41 and needed neck surgery. He posted an update to social media last month stating that he had not had the surgery yet and doctors were still determining the best course of action. During his discussion with Rhodes, Owens said the plan is to let his spine heal on its own as much as possible before surgery.
“It’s been such a frustrating process,” Owens said. “We’re letting my spinal cord heal as much as we can on its own before we go in for the surgery because how extensive the surgery will be depends on how my spinal cord looks when we go in there.”
“We’re waiting till mid-July to do the surgery,” he later added. “Hopefully, it’s a normal neck fusion. It might not be, we don’t know.”
Owens said that he had not been in much pain the last few months, but noted that the last week has been difficult.
“So since then, I felt fine. My neck’s been fine. I’m not in pain. I have no symptoms of what you would expect somebody with spinal cord injury have to have,” he said.
“In the last week, for some reason, the symptoms all came in one shot. Every symptom you’d expect me to have, the pain in the neck, the stuff going down the arms, the legs not really responding, it’s all been happening. So it’s been pretty f–king brutal. I can’t wait for the surgery. And then to move forward, whatever that looks like but it’s been very frustrating.”
Kevin Owens details dune buggy accident with Cathy Kelley and Jamie Noble
In an interview with B4TheBell last November, Cathy Kelley revealed that she and Owens had been involved in a dune buggy accident while in Saudi Arabia. Kelley credits Owens with saving her life.
Owens described the incident to Rhodes:
“If you wanna take a tumble in the desert in a golf cart with people, Jamie Noble, Cathy Kelley, best people you could do it with.”
Owens noted that Kelley entered the dune buggy after him and Noble and did not receive safety instructions about what to do in the event the buggy rolls as they had.
“Going through the dunes, great time, amazing time. And then as we go up a dune, I see the buggy in front of us, almost go. And in my head, I go, ‘Oh, we’re gonna go.’ And as we start going, in my head, I go, Cathy doesn’t know how to keep her f–king hands in. So I just reached around and grabbed her arms and as we’re rolling, I’m holding on to her.”
“I didn’t save her life, I didn’t save her arms, but I tried to make sure she was safe. And then both of us experienced this incredible thing, which is we’re upside down in the golf cart, there’s sand pouring down our face, our ears, everything. And all we hear is Jamie Noble going, ‘My ribs, my ribs, my ribs, my ribs, ahhh…I’m okay.”
Kevin Owens and Cody Rhodes on working with Sami Zayn
Also during the podcast, Owens and Rhodes spoke about how working with Sami Zayn can sometimes be frustrating because he will want to change things last minute. Still, Owens credits Sami with keeping their tag team title run entertaining in the months following WrestleMania 39.
“When we were Tag Team Champions, we had a bit of a sh-t run. I remember before we won the titles, we kept saying we just hope we can live up to the Usos, what the Usos did, and we didn’t. But our role as Tag Team Champions at the time was closing out Raw, and it didn’t matter. Raw is a long show, three hours, make sure they’re awake by the end. And dude, we wrestled Judgment Day about 17 times in a row. We had them rocking every time. And 95 percent of that credit for that goes to Sami.”
Owens and Rhodes later joked that nobody gets more upset about Sami’s process than Damian Priest.
“No one hates that process more than Damian Priest. He will, oh my God, I’ve seen him lose it,” Owens said through laughter. “And then we come back and they’re like, ‘It worked.’”
Matt Riddle has also publicly stated working with Owens and Zayn could be difficult, saying “It’s hard to put a complete sentence together with those guys” during an interview with Going Ringside earlier this year.
Owens’ full appearance on What Do You Wanna Talk About? is available below:
Kevin Owens provided a health update on Sunday afternoon.
Owens announced last month that he would need neck surgery and would miss WrestleMania 41. In a video posted to social media on Sunday, Owens revealed that he hasn’t had surgery yet and is still determining the best course of action.
Owens said:
“We don’t have a surgery date yet, I have not had surgery yet, despite reports on the contrary. We’re still going to try to figure out what the best way to go about it all is, exactly what needs to be done. So we’re going to figure that out still. There was a lot of uncertainty, but hopefully in the next few weeks we get clarity and we do the surgery and then we go from there.”
“I don’t know what’s happening with my neck. So, we’ll figure it out,” he later added.
Watch it.
Or don’t but even if you don’t watch it, go buy this. It’s fantastic!
In the video, Owens noted that Sunday marked the 10-year anniversary of his WWE main roster debut, when he answered John Cena’s U.S. Championship Open Challenge on the May 18, 2015, episode of Raw. Owens was the reigning NXT Champion at the time and went on to defeat Cena two weeks later at Elimination Chamber 2015 in a non-title champion vs. champion match.
Owens continued:
“This morning I was reminded that 10 years ago today I showed up on Raw for the first time to answer John Cena’s Open Challenge. And that night changed my life forever, changed my career.”
“Now 10 years later, I’m not where I want to be because I wish I was in the ring performing, having matches, contributing. That’s not the case, unfortunately, because of this neck injury. But still, I have to say the last 10 years have been just so amazing. So many amazing moments in the ring, out of the ring, so many amazing people that I’ve had the chance to get to know. I’m just so grateful for all of it.”
Owens ended the video by promoting a book by JJ McGee titled Fight Forever: The Ballad of Kevin & Sami, which was published on May 1. Each chapter focuses on a match involving the two longtime friends from Montreal and the story behind it.
“This woman wrote a book about Sami and I’s career, our journey together. And I cannot say enough good things about her as a writer and as a fan,” Owens said of McGee.
“For the last 20 years we would work together and try to do things, little details, little intricacies that we’d throw in and wonder, hopefully somebody catches it. And we kind of never knew if anyone did. Turns out she did.”
“If you’re a fan of Sami and I, you need to get this book. I cannot say it enough. It’s incredible. She works so hard. And I’m so proud of her. I’m so proud of this. I’m so grateful for her doing that because I’ll have this forever.”
Randy Orton is heartbroken that Kevin Owens has to miss their scheduled WrestleMania match.
The two were set to face each other in a grudge match at WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas this weekend, but those plans had to be canceled when Owens revealed earlier this month that he needs to undergo neck surgery and will be out of action for a significant period of time. Orton is still expected to have a match at WrestleMania, though a new opponent for him has not been named yet.
While speaking with Complex, Orton dropped any pretense of storyline issues to express how bad he feels for what Owens is going through.
“If we’re being real here, my heart breaks for Kevin,” Orton said. “I think, first and foremost, I just hate that he’s gotta go through that. Even more than a physical journey he’s gotta go on to let his body heal, it’s a mental journey too. His body’s been through it, and now he’s paying that price, like he said in the ring the other day. We all pay the price at one point or another.”
Orton, who underwent his own surgery in 2022 due to a back injury, told Complex that he’s helped set Owens up to get a second opinion.
Complex wrote:
Orton has set Owens up with a second opinion from a surgeon he worked with previously. At this stage, his advice for Owens is to make the best decision for himself and his family, and to reach out if he needs to talk.
When Orton was battling his back injury, it was feared that his career might be over. But he’s recovered now and is making sure to appreciate every second that he gets to compete in the ring. Orton signed a new five-year contract with WWE in 2024. And despite already being 45 years old, he’d like to sign another five-year deal when this contract comes up.
“I’d love to sign another five-year contract after that,” Orton said. “I know realistically there’s gonna be a day when I gotta stop. But it’s like, I don’t even think about that because I’m having so much f*cking fun right now.”
It’s believed that Orton’s match against his yet-to-be-announced opponent will take place on the card for night two of WrestleMania 41 on Sunday.
AEW Dynasty on 4/6 had an interesting reaction to what seemed to be generally considered a very strong show that went too long.
There was considerable online negativity toward the main event finish, which saw Jon Moxley retain the AEW title over Swerve Strickland in a match that saw involvement from Marina Shafir, Prince Nana, Adam Page, Pac, Wheeler Yuta, Claudio Castagnoli, Samoa Joe, Katsuyori Shibata and the return of the Young Bucks.
Just writing that alone makes it feel like they went overboard, especially for a match that went 31:28. If people were mad because they went overboard I can see it. If they were mad Strickland didn’t win, I can understand that because in theory, when a heel wins by cheating the fans are supposed to be mad. Of course, making fans mad at times leads to bigger business, and at times it doesn’t. I think the idea was to give fans a happening, the return of the Young Bucks, that they would be mad at, but see as news. The show ending felt like the start of the build for Young Bucks vs. Page & Strickland, although that’s likely long down the line like at All In. From television, it looks like either an Anarchy in the Arena or Blood and Guts match with Young Bucks & Death Riders against a babyface team that would include Kenny Omega & Strickland, and possibly Adam Page (but that can’t be made clear until or unless he’s eliminated from the Owen Hart tournament if this is a PPV direction since the Owen Hart Cup finals are on Double or Nothing on 5/25.
The issue also looks at the WWE WrestleMania 41 card changes due to Kevin Owens’ serious neck injury, the latest development with Linda McMahon and the ring boys lawsuit, the Charlotte Flair/Tiffany Stratton promo, and plenty more.
Kevin Owens believes pro wrestling is about creating special moments — whether they happen inside the ring or outside of it.
On social media, there’s been an ongoing debate over whether in-ring wrestling or outside-the-ring storytelling is more important to drawing fans. AJ Styles recently weighed in by saying that moments are what people remember, but he clarified that those moments can happen in the ring during matches.
Owens agreed with that opinion while appearing on the latest episode of Insight with Chris Van Vliet. During his career, Owens has approached every aspect of wrestling with the goal of making his work stand out and having fans remember it.
“As small or as big as the matches might be, I [approach] every match with just this needs to, whoever sees it, it needs to stand out and they need to remember it,” he said. “And that’s really what I approach everything I do and always done in wrestling
“I remember like a few weeks ago, a few months ago, some interview that AJ did where he talked about how wrestling is more about moments than matches… So I’ve actually been saying this, and I’m not saying he took it from me, but I’ve been saying this stuff for 15 years. Matches, people will remember matches, but they’ll remember those matches because of specific moments in the matches. And they’ll remember moments that aren’t in matches, because the moments are memorable. So I really do think AJ is dead on. It’s about creating special moments, whether it’s in a match or outside of a match, leading to a match, whatever.
“So, yeah, that’s it. I just kind of try to make every time I’m in the ring a moment people will remember.”
Owens said he’s always had a genuine connection with the audience. He can’t really explain why, but Owens thinks it’s because fans notice that he is a wrestling fan just like they are. With the moments he’s trying to create, Owens asks whether they’re something he would want to see as a viewer.
The episode of Insight was recorded before it was announced that Owens will need to undergo neck surgery. He was scheduled to face Randy Orton at WrestleMania 41 prior to being forced out of action.
On today’s Wrestling Observer Live, there are some things to preview and review on a busy weekend.
I start off recapping Friday’s WWE SmackDown where the favor Paul Heyman owes to CM Punk was revealed, and a very interesting promo between Tiffany Stratton and Charlotte Flair that got people talking, regardless of whether they went off or stayed on script.
Also, I go into last week’s story regarding AEW viewership numbers on Max and why traditional measurements of viewership, such as Nielsen, don’t work when it comes to streaming numbers.
I also recap Saturday’s AEW Collision and break down tonight’s AEW Dynasty with thoughts on what direction they are going in as they head to All In later this year.
Plus, Kevin Owens’s injury, a four-hour TV block for AEW this summer, and more!
Dave Meltzer and I are back with our Friday episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, talking about all the big news from today’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Here were some of the things we covered:
Injuries to Kevin Owens, Orange Cassidy and Mark Davis
Kevin Owens went into further detail about his neck injury and possible timeline for return during a recent interview.
Appearing on My Mom’s Basement with Robbie Fox, Owens explained that he believes the injury occurred during two routine moments in a match this past January.
“I am telling you—it happened in a regular match,” Owens said. “No hardcore things, nothing. There were two very simple things that I’ve done a million times.”
Owens said he had undergone a full-body MRI in December, mostly out of curiosity, and the results showed no major issues—just wear and tear and some mild to moderate spinal stenosis. WWE doctors reviewed the scan and told him everything looked good for someone with his in-ring mileage.
“I felt great,” he said. “But then in January, I had a match and in the match, two things happened that really jarred my neck. That’s when the issues started.”
He didn’t specify which match the injury occurred in or what the two moments were. “I didn’t land on my head, I didn’t get hurt—nothing felt wrong at the time,” he said.
Owens continued to wrestle through the issues he was dealing with, including in an unsanctioned match against Sami Zayn at Elimination Chamber in March.
He had a follow-up MRI this week that revealed significant damage. WWE medical staff informed him he would not be cleared for WrestleMania 41, where he was scheduled to face Randy Orton.
“Just not getting to wrestle Randy Orton at WrestleMania really sucks,” Owens said. “That’s the part that bugs me the most.”
A timeline for Owens’ return is not currently available. “Most of the people that have gone through similar things—it’s probably six months to eight months to a year,” he said. “So I would assume in that range. But I don’t really know.”
Owens also expressed frustration that news of the injury was leaked before he could make the announcement himself on SmackDown.
His full appearance on My Mom’s Basement is available below:
On SmackDown, GM Nick Aldis introduced Owens, who walked to the ring wearing a Bret Hart jacket. He said that for the last 25 years he has been able to do amazing things and take care of his family, but there is a toll everyone in the locker room had to pay, and it was time for him to pay that toll. He said that he had been dealing with a neck injury for the last four months, and after doctors figured out what it was, he will need surgery as a result.
Owens noted that the timing was unfortunate as he was really looking forward to wrestling Randy Orton at WrestleMania 41. He said he was sorry and he didn’t know when he’d return to in-ring action.
As he was making his exit, Randy Orton came out and briefly met face-to-face with Owens on the apron. Owen then left as Aldis said that with Owens’ injury, Orton no longer had a match at WrestleMania. An irate Orton responded by laying out Aldis with an RKO to end the segment.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Lance Storm is back with a FUN FRIDAY edition of the show talking all of the injuries in pro-wrestling right now, line-ups for the big weekend upcoming, ratings notes and what we can learn from NXT and Dynamite this week, your calls and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
WWE star Kevin Owens is dealing with an injury ahead of WrestleMania 41.
PWNexus reported on Friday that Owens has an undisclosed injury, putting his status for WrestleMania in doubt. A match between Owens and Randy Orton is on the books for WrestleMania. As of this moment, there has been no announcement from WWE regarding Owens’ injury status or if his match against Orton will still be happening.
Dave Meltzer has confirmed that Owens’ injury is significant. The exact nature of the injury has not been confirmed yet.
Owens has not had a match since facing Sami Zayn in an unsanctioned bout at Elimination Chamber in March, but he’s made appearances on SmackDown since then furthering the build to WrestleMania.
After Owens defeated Zayn in that unsanctioned match, there was an angle where Orton — out for vengeance after being taken out by a piledriver from Owens last November — made his return. Orton has promised to punt Owens in the head as a way to get revenge for that piledriver.
WrestleMania is nearly two weeks away with Las Vegas set to host the two-night event on Saturday, April 19 and Sunday, April 20. We’ll see if WWE addresses Owens’ status on tonight’s SmackDown.
A reported injury to Kevin Owens appears to have put his match with Randy Orton at WrestleMania 41 in jeopardy with just 15 days left to go before the event. PWN/PWNexus has reported that KO is set to update fans on the situation during tonight’s episode of SmackDown.
Kevin Owens vs Randy Orton potentially up in the air
The Discord channel for PWN, which has been known to break genuine news in the very recent past posted the following:
“PWN has been told Kevin Owens is dealing with an undisclosed injury with no time table set for a return to action. This puts Owens’ WrestleMania 41 match vs Randy Orton in jeopardy with only 15 days remaining until the show of shows, to the extent that alternative plans for Orton have been discussed but no pivot has been made for Orton as of now” the channel reported.
“Owens’ last match came on March 1st at Elimination Chamber vs Sami Zayn in an Unsanctioned match. Once more information is available, we will update the situation” PWN added.
There has been no official word from WWE or Owens himself regarding the reported injury. There is still a chance that the company could be trying to put out wrong information, but everything right now seems to point to KOMania at WrestleMania 41 potentially being hampered.
