2 weeks Ago By Ryan Skone
After announcing that he would need neck surgery last night on SmackDown , Kevin Owens had a confrontation with a fan that seemed to be unplanned. Speculation had mounted over the last few days over the status of Kevin Owens, with multiple reports suggesting that he was carrying an injury heading into WrestleMania 41. Last night, The Prizefighter announced that he will be out indefinitely because of a neck injury that he has been dealing with for months, and that he will miss out on his WrestleMania 41 dream match against Randy Orton .
Owens said: "The reality is, for the last four months or so, I've been dealing with a pretty serious neck injury. I have to go get neck surgery." Reports suggest that the injury is legitimate, and that currently there is no timeframe for his return, with Owens needing neck fusion surgery before returning to the ring.
However, Erik, one half of the World Tag Team Champions, recently took a year-long hiatus because of a similar operation before returning in October 2024, so that does give us a brief idea of how long it could take for Owens to recover and return to WWE television. WrestleMania 41 matches confirmed so far (as of 05/04/25) Match Stipulation Cody Rhodes (c) vs John Cena Singles match for the Undisputed Championship Roman Reigns vs CM Punk vs Seth Rollins Triple threat match Tiffany Stratton (c) vs Charlotte Flair Singles match for the Women's Championship Gunther (c) vs Jey Uso Singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship Iyo Sky (c) vs Rhea Ripley Singles match for the Women's World Championship AJ Styles vs Logan Paul Singles match LA Knight (c) vs Jacob Fatu Singles match for the United States Championship Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez (c) vs Gauntlet match winner Tag team match for Women's Tag Team Championship Jade Cargill vs Naomi Singles match Kevin Owens' Altercation With Fan During SmackDown After making his announcement, Owens made his way up the ramp for the final time in at least a few months, having just crossed paths with his planned WrestleMania opponent, when a fan seemed to say something to KO which led to him walking up to the fan and getting into a verbal exchange before then going backstage. Since the incident, fans have been speculating on what could have been said by the audience member to provoke such a reaction from Owens.
According to a user on X, the fan said: "You're still s***", which led to Owens approaching the fan and responding: "Who said that? Was it you, yeah? Shut the f*** up." After the heated incident, which has not been edited out of the Netflix version of the show, the camera immediately cut to a confused-looking Randy Orton and Nick Aldis in the ring for an awkward minute before their promo, suggesting that the altercation was entirely unplanned. The fan reaction has been entirely supportive towards Kevin Owens since the incident last night, with one X user saying: "That fan is a f****** loser for whatever happened here.
" We hope that Kevin Owens' surgery is successful, and he makes a speedy and healthy recovery. Roman Reigns is being applauded on social media for his sell of CM Punk's finishing move, the GTS..
