WWE veteran Kevin Owens made his highly anticipated return to the company at WWE SummerSlam Night Two this past Sunday night. In the opening match, he won the #1 contendership for the Undisputed WWE Championship by defeating Sami Zayn, GUNTHER, and Finn Bálor in a Fatal 4-Way Match.
Owens also appeared on the WWE SummerSlam Night Two post-show, where he discussed various topics, including the fans’ excitement about his return.
Owens said, “Thank you, I really appreciate it. [crowd chants ‘Thank You Kevin!] I really appreciate that a lot. And yes, it was a rough road, honestly. It really, really was. But none of that matters, because now I’m here.”
On if there was a moment when he thought he wouldn’t return and when he was finally cleared to do so:
“I mean, there was a moment when I thought it wasn’t gonna happen. And I definitely did not make peace with it, because I was not ready. And you know [Big E], getting this taken away from you when you’re not ready is hard. But I had such a great group to support me while I went through it. You know, my wife, my kids, my parents that got me through all this. My friends, the WWE medical staff, even you. I would take to you a lot. But I was never okay with it. But honestly — and thankfully, up until a month ago, I was like, ‘This may be it.’ We kept doing scans, it kept not showing exactly what we were looking for as far as the healing process from the surgery. And then I was like, ‘I dunno, maybe it’s not going to happen.’ And then a few weeks ago, we did a scan and they were like, ‘We finally saw what we needed to see. You can get back in the ring.’ And from there, here I am.”
On the reaction to his return:
“Funny enough, it’s hard when you’re in that moment to even hear that reaction. Because the music’s playing, you’re emotional, and the way the sound travels in stadiums is different than arenas. And in that moment, I could see people seem to be very happy. But I remember thinking, ‘This is what Stone Cold meant at Wrestlemania 38,’ when we spoke about the match we had several weeks later when he was telling me, ‘I couldn’t hear the crowd. I didn’t know if the crowd was happy to see me.’ Which in my head, I was like, ‘You’re a psychopath.’ But now I get it, I’m like, ‘Oh, okay. I see what he meant.’”
You can check out Owens’ comments in the video below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
