Randy Orton Returns at SummerSlam, Kevin Owens “Very Close” to WWE Comeback After Neck Surgery

Randy Orton is officially back, and Kevin Owens might not be far behind. Orton made his surprise return at WWE SummerSlam Night 1 on August 1 in Minneapolis, blasting Cody Rhodes with an RKO in the closing stretch of the Undisputed WWE Championship main event and setting up CM Punk’s game-to-sleep pinfall win. It capped months of speculation about “The Viper’s” health and reignited buzz that Owens, still working his way back from neck fusion surgery, could be the next big surprise on WWE programming.

Orton had not appeared on WWE television since losing to Rhodes at WrestleMania 42, a defeat that ended with Orton punting Rhodes and holding the title belt aloft — a visual WWE clearly intended as unfinished business. In the weeks that followed, Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s Dave Meltzer reported Orton was dealing with a “significant” back injury, one he has battled for years and that once nearly ended his career. Orton publicly downplayed the report at the time, joking on social media that he was “just milking it” and enjoying his summer. Meltzer maintained the injury was real and was the reason WWE scrapped plans for Orton to leave WrestleMania as champion.

The Long Road Back for Kevin Owens

While Orton’s return is now confirmed, Owens remains the more anticipated non-appearance of SummerSlam weekend. The former Universal Champion has been out of action since withdrawing from a scheduled WrestleMania 41 rematch with Orton in April 2025, later confirming he needed neck fusion surgery. Owens underwent the procedure that July, revealing doctors found only a single-level fusion was required — the best-case outcome for that type of surgery — but he has repeatedly declined to guarantee a return given the unpredictable nature of spinal fusion recovery. “We have to see how the bones fuse, and there’s no guarantee that it’s gonna work,” Owens said last year. “Fingers crossed I get to come back to wrestling.”

Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Owens has “dropped weight after a lengthy and frustratingly long recovery,” a detail widely read as a sign he has ramped up in-ring training. Fightful Select reported Owens had been training at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando in the days before SummerSlam, and PWInsider Elite indicated backstage belief that Owens is “very close” to a return, with SmackDown viewed as the likely landing spot. Owens was in Minneapolis for SummerSlam weekend for scheduled meet-and-greet appearances, fueling further speculation, though it remained unconfirmed whether he would appear on either night of the show itself.

What It Means for the Title Picture

The timing lines up with one of WWE’s hottest storylines. Punk’s victory over Rhodes on Night 1 sets up a new challenger to be decided Night 2, with Finn Balor facing Sami Zayn for the right to face Punk next. Orton’s involvement, RKO’ing Rhodes to help Punk retain, plants him firmly in the middle of that mix, and Meltzer noted before SummerSlam that there was little reason for Orton to resurface unless it connected to Punk or Rhodes specifically. Whether Owens factors into the same picture or opens a fresh program of his own, his eventual return adds another established main-event name back into a roster that has been thin on veteran star power at the top while Orton and Owens recovered.

For bettors and fans tracking WWE’s championship futures market, moments like these tend to shift odds quickly once a surprise appearance changes the perceived favorite for an upcoming title match. Fans looking to follow how the odds move as Owens’ status becomes official can check the futures boards for the latest lines on WWE’s next premium live event. Night 2 of SummerSlam, headlined by the Balor-Zayn number-one contender’s match, will offer the next real test of how quickly WWE plans to fold both returning stars back into the main event.