Posted on 8/03/126 by Colin Vassallo
Kevin Owens returned to SummerSlam last night and got
himself a WWE title shot after winning a number one
contender’s fatal four-way match.
Owens, who has been out of action since March 2025, was a
surprise addition by Smackdown General Manager Nick Aldis,
who first also added Gunther to the originally announced
Sami Zayn vs Finn Balor match.
It was Owens who ended up winning the match, pinning his
frenemy Sami Zayn following a Stunner.
The crowd popped huge when Owens’ theme song kicked in and
Owens took his time soaking in the atmosphere before
marching down the ramp.
In the SummerSlam post-show, Owens said he only got cleared
a couple of weeks ago and there were times where he said he
never thought it would happen.
“There was a moment I thought it wasn’t gonna happen, and I
definitely did not make peace with it. I was not ready,”
Owens told the panel. “Getting this taken away from you when
you’re not ready is hard. But I had such a great group of
people around me to support me through it through it.”
Owens credited Dr. Adam Kanter, his surgeon, for making it
all happen, saying he will forever be indebted to him.
“Randy Orton is actually the one who put me in touch with
him. WWE has an amazing medical staff, we have amazing
surgeons who we work with all the time, right?” Owens
continued. “But Randy had worked with Kanter. Adam Kanter
was the one who did Randy’s back surgery and saved his
career and he recommended that I talk to Adam Kanter as
well, get several opinions on how to handle this neck
surgery.”
He said he decided to go with Dr. Kanter because if Randy
Orton trusted him, there there was no reason for him not to
and there’s not a lot of people in wrestling he respects
more than Orton.
Owens’ last match prior to yesterday was on March 1, 2025,
defeating Sami Zayn in an Unsanctioned match at the
Elimination Chamber in Toronto.