Kevin Owens returned to SummerSlam last night and got himself a WWE title shot after winning a number one contender’s fatal four-way match.

Owens, who has been out of action since March 2025, was a surprise addition by Smackdown General Manager Nick Aldis, who first also added Gunther to the originally announced Sami Zayn vs Finn Balor match.

It was Owens who ended up winning the match, pinning his frenemy Sami Zayn following a Stunner.

The crowd popped huge when Owens’ theme song kicked in and Owens took his time soaking in the atmosphere before marching down the ramp.

In the SummerSlam post-show, Owens said he only got cleared a couple of weeks ago and there were times where he said he never thought it would happen.

“There was a moment I thought it wasn’t gonna happen, and I definitely did not make peace with it. I was not ready,” Owens told the panel. “Getting this taken away from you when you’re not ready is hard. But I had such a great group of people around me to support me through it through it.”

Owens credited Dr. Adam Kanter, his surgeon, for making it all happen, saying he will forever be indebted to him.

“Randy Orton is actually the one who put me in touch with him. WWE has an amazing medical staff, we have amazing surgeons who we work with all the time, right?” Owens continued. “But Randy had worked with Kanter. Adam Kanter was the one who did Randy’s back surgery and saved his career and he recommended that I talk to Adam Kanter as well, get several opinions on how to handle this neck surgery.”

He said he decided to go with Dr. Kanter because if Randy Orton trusted him, there there was no reason for him not to and there’s not a lot of people in wrestling he respects more than Orton.

Owens’ last match prior to yesterday was on March 1, 2025, defeating Sami Zayn in an Unsanctioned match at the Elimination Chamber in Toronto.