Kevin Owens is hopeful that he could be back in the ring within a year, but is making no guarantees about what his future holds.
Owens has been out of action since April, getting pulled from WWE’s active roster of wrestlers due to a neck issue. As he described in an interview earlier this year, he had neck problems for years but finally had to step aside after an MRI revealed the extent of his damage.
Last month, in his first step towards possibly getting back into the ring someday, Owens had a successful neck fusion.
Owens was given a chance to reflect on the surgery last weekend while representing WWE as a grand marshal at the NASCAR Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway in Florida.
During a press scrum in the venue, Owens described how he’s still in a wait-and-see stage following his surgery, and his progress will reveal what the future holds for his wrestling career.
“I needed neck fusion,” Owens explained. “It was very stressful going into it, because we weren’t really sure how severe the fusion was going to be, how many levels, all this stuff. Thankfully, [the fusion] ended up only being one level, which is the best-case scenario for something like this. But, you know, the surgery was successful, I had a great doctor. The thing is, now, we have to see how the bones fuse, and there’s no guarantee that it’s gonna work. Some guys had success, some guys didn’t. Fingers crossed I get to come back to wrestling in the next year. Really don’t know, though. My goal is to come back, hopefully that’s what happens.”
WWE Superstar Kevin Owens (@FightOwensFight) details his neck surgery he had last month, his timetable and next steps in his recovery, and how he has been enjoying his time away from the ring. pic.twitter.com/hT9eUlMAPR
— Scotte Sprinkle (@ScotteSprinkle) August 23, 2025
Owens mentioned that a “silver lining” to his recent time away from the ring has been to spend time with family, but said he’s “jonesing to be back on the road and back to what I love.”
Owens’ neck issue pulled him from a Wrestlemania 41 match against Randy Orton. His last in-ring appearance dates back to Elimination Chamber in March, when he overcame Sami Zayn in an “Unsanctioned” fight inside the Rogers Centre.
