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Kevin Owens Needs Neck Surgery, Confirms He'll Miss WWE WrestleMania 41

Originally posted on Wrestling on SI | By Rick Ucchino | Last updated Apr 4, 2025 10:32 PM ET

Kevin Owens delivered absolutely dreadful news Friday night on SmackDown.

Reports had surfaced early in the day on Friday that Owens' status for WrestleMania 41 was in serious question due to an undisclosed injury.

The former Universal Champion not only confirmed those reports at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, but he revealed that the situation was much more severe than him just missing out on competing at the 'Showcase of the Immortals.'

Say it ain't so...@FightOwensFight has to back out of #WrestleMania due to a neck injury.#SmackDown pic.twitter.com/Drtth3KW2B
— WWE (@WWE) April 5, 2025

Owens said that he had been dealing with a pretty serious neck injury for the past four months, and after getting checked out this week, it was determined that he'll require surgery to correct the issue.

While he's grateful that doctors were able to figure out the problem, Owens said the timing could not be worse. He said it genuinely sucks that he has to miss out on wrestling Randy Orton at WrestleMania 41. He also doesn't know when he'll have the privilege of being in front of the WWE Universe again.

As Kevin left the ring, The Viper made his way down to chat with Nick Aldis. The SmackDown General Manager informed Randy officially that the unfortunate injury news for KO means that he no longer has a match later this month in Las Vegas.