WWE has several Superstars dealing with significant injuries at any given time, and that goes from developmental to the main roster. One of the most successful, and well-respected, Superstars of the modern era is currently fighting an injury situation that could be career-ending, and now the main himself is opening up on new details.
Kevin Owens recently spoke with good friend Cody Rhodes for his “What Do You Wanna Talk About?” podcast. He revealed an interesting story on a WWE storyline change that was refused, but also opened up on the injury that has had him out since winning the Unsanctioned Match over Sami Zayn at Elimination Chamber on March 1.
The Prizefighter recalled the recent feud with Rhodes, and his loss to the then-Undisputed Champion in the Ladder Match at the Royal Rumble on February 1. The 41-year-old noted how he’s felt great all this time, despite the injury, until recently when all expected symptoms came on at once.
“Yeah, I don’t know man, it’s been a frustrating process. We’re kind of trying to let… 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. So, we waited… the trauma happened in January. Well, probably it was building up, but January is what made it… you know, what really did it. Then we had this nice and easy Ladder Match where nothing crazy happened, at all, and I kept going for a while, and then in the first week of April is when we had the MRI and they were like, ‘Guess what? You can’t even get hit. Don’t get hit because you might die.’ So, everything took a turn and now it’s been 23 months since then, since my last match,” Owens said.
Kevin Owens continued:
“March 1 was my last match… so March, April, May, it’s been 4 months almost. We’re waiting until mid-July to do the surgery. Hopefully it’s a normal neck fusion, it might not be, we don’t know. So since then I’ve felt fine, my neck’s been fine, I’m not in pain, I have no… really any symptoms of what you would expect somebody with a spinal cord injury to have, but 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 brutal,” Owens said.
Kevin Owens Wants Surgery Not Just To Return To WWE Action But To Be Out Of Pain
Kevin Owens has not wrestled for WWE in 116 days but at this point he’s more anxious to return for health reasons. Speaking to Cody Rhodes on his new podcast, KO elaborated on his ongoing health issues as he looks forward to going under the knife.
After revealing a story about protecting his spot in WWE, The Prizefighter said he can’t wait to undergo spinal cord surgery, mainly for quality of life reasons. Owens noted how he’s had WWE’s Randy Orton and Tyson Kidd offering their unique perspectives, and he’s had another familiar name to lean on: Dr. Jeffrey Dugas of Andrew Sports Medicine in Birmingham, Alabama.
“I’m really… I can’t wait for the surgery, and then to move forward, whatever that looks like, but it’s been very frustrating because I felt great. So, we had two incidents where, basically in the ring my legs kind of fell asleep, and I was like, ‘There’s something wrong.’ We thought it was one thing, which is why we didn’t go right away for the neck because it wasn’t consistent with a neck injury. Looked at everything else and we figured out it’s not that. Let’s go take a look at the neck… and then it was that, but besides those two instances where my legs kind of fell asleep in the ring, I felt great. I’d have doctors call me and I’ve been very fortunate to have Randy Orton, Tyson Kidd, Dr. Jeffrey Dugas… WWE put me in touch with all the best spine surgeons they have,” Owens said.
Kevin Owens continued:
“They’re great, I’ve spoken to all these different surgeons… they give me their opinions and what they would do, all in the hopes that I can get back in the ring and be safe. So, I have all these opinions, but all of them were like, ‘So, you don’t have any symptoms?’ I’m like, ‘No, except for that time my legs fell asleep. I’m fine now, they came back, no pain. Nothing, no discomfort. I’m great.’ The last week, everything hit, so now it’s like a different story. Now I can’t wait to get the surgery, not just because I want to get back in the ring, just because I want to not be in pain,” Owens said.
Owens is hoping to become a 10-time WWE champion when he returns. He currently has one reign with the NXT Championship, Universal Championship, plus the RAW and SmackDown Tag Team Championships, plus two reigns as Intercontinental Champion, and three as United States Champion.