Kevin Owens Pens a Wholesome Note for Sami Zayn After His Stunning US Title Win on SmackDown

He might be because the last time he met Zayn in the ring was at the Elimination Chamber PLE. The two of them tore the house down in one of the most brutal WWE matches in recent memory. Despite the unreal resolve displayed by ‘The Master Strategist’, Owens pipped him by the barest of margins and emerged victorious in Toronto.

What’s the latest on Kevin Owens’ recovery after neck fusion surgery?

When Kevin Owens announced in April he wouldn’t be able to compete at WrestleMania 41 due to a banged-up neck, a number of fans presumed that his unsanctioned match with Sami Zayn at the Elimination Chamber was to blame. However, the Quebec-born wrestler clarified in an interview with Robbie Fox that it wasn’t the case, as he’d jarred up his neck in a regular match in January itself.

A month prior to that, Owens went through a full-body MRI, and the results were normal. The former Universal Champion inadvertently messed up his neck while performing a couple of basic wrestling moves, which he’d pulled off with ease almost a billion times over the years. After having wrestled through it, KO went for another MRI in March, and finally the issue got diagnosed.

He underwent a successful fusion surgery on his neck last month and has since embarked on the road to recovery. The 41-year-old was at this week’s NASCAR Coke Zero Sugar 400 event in Daytona and provided a significant update on his recovery. The erstwhile ‘New Face of America’ revealed that his surgery was classified under a Level 1 fusion.

There couldn’t have been a better scenario than it. Speaking of how long it’ll take for him to return to the squared circle, Owens said it’s totally up to how the bones fuse. If that does work out perfectly, he’d be ready to go in 2026. However, it’s not guaranteed by any means, as the healing process is beyond his control. Fightful reported not that long ago that Kevin Owens was likely to miss next year’s WrestleMania at this rate.

While it’d be a bummer for him to miss out on two consecutive WrestleMania(s), that seems to be the only way forward at the moment. Also, Owens’ aforementioned public appearance at a NASCAR event sparked debates on social media regarding Owens undergoing drastic weight loss. In a follow-up post he made on X, ‘The Prizefighter’ urged everyone to calm down and quipped that he’s still fat.