Kevin Owens Wanted One Last Match With John Cena Before His Retirement
Kevin Owens Wanted One Last Match With John Cena Before His Retirement
bibonsinhaTue, August 4, 2026 at 1:27 AM UTC
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Photo credit: WWE
Kevin Owens has revealed that he had hoped to return to WWE in time for one final match with John Cena before he retired from wrestling.
Owens eventually made his return at WWE SummerSlam, where he defeated Gunther, Sami Zayn, and Finn Bálor. The win earned him a future chance to face CM Punk for an opportunity at the Undisputed WWE Championship.
However, Owens revealed that his original comeback plan was much more personal.
Kevin Owens reveals his biggest missed opportunity involving John Cena
Speaking during a post-match interview with WWE NOW, Owens explained that he had one big goal after undergoing neck surgery in July 2025. He wanted to recover quickly enough to return before Cena’s retirement.
“July 18, 2025 was my surgery. Six months after the surgery is the first scan. I started asking them to do a scan at three months because, when I was 20 years old, I had ACL surgery, and most people take nine months to get back from that; it took me three. So, I’m like, ‘This is the same thing. In three months, my bones are fused.’ Because, in my head, I’m like, ‘I’m gonna come back before John Cena retires so that I can wrestle him one more time,'” Owens admitted.
Unfortunately, his recovery did not move as quickly as he had hoped. Owens believed he might be able to make another fast comeback. He asked doctors to do a scan after just three months. However, the results were not what Owens wanted to hear.
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“They humored me and did the scan, and they were like, ‘Yeah, not happening’. They did another scan at four months because I wanted to come back in Montreal in January, and they’re like, ‘We can’t do it,'” Owens said.
Another scan was done after four months. However, he still didn’t earn medical clearance to compete. He continued having scans. Eventually, Owens started wondering if he would ever be able to wrestle again.
“Then, another scan at six months, which is when they were supposed to do it, they were like, ‘It’s still not right’. Then they were ‘We’re not doing a scan for another long while.’ We did another one at nine months; it still wasn’t good. At that point, I was like, ‘Maybe it just won’t happen,'” Owens said.
Things finally started to change in July 2026. After another scan, doctors decided Owens had made enough progress to cautiously return to the ring and see how his body handled it.
Although Owens never got the chance to have one final match with Cena, his return at SummerSlam proved monumental.
Read More: Brie Bella Shares SummerSlam Injury Update: ‘I Broke My Scapula’
The post Kevin Owens Wanted One Last Match With John Cena Before His Retirement appeared first on Wrestlezone.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
