Kevin Owens wondered for more than a year whether he’d ever step into a WWE ring again. Now that he’s back, he’s not certain of how long this second chance will last.
Speaking with FACES Magazine, Owens said that he has no idea whether he has one more year left in his career, two, five, or less.
The former Universal Champion underwent neck surgery and, there was real possibility that his in-ring career was already over. KO said that he’s stopped worrying about pinning down an exact timeline.
When you’re coming up in WWE and you feel like you have so much to prove, so much to achieve, and obviously the more successful you are, the more money you’ll make for your family, and for your future… it almost feels like you have all of these responsibilities and there’s so much pressure, but that pressure is gone now.
Owens reflected on how differently he used to carry himself during his rise through WWE, describing years spent feeling like there was always more to prove and more to achieve, with added pressure tied to providing for his family. That mindset, he said, created a weight he doesn’t feel the same way anymore.
Kevin Owens Views Current WWE Run Differently
Being forced out of the ring entirely gave him a new lens on everything he’d already accomplished. Owens acknowledged he built a career full of moments most people never get to experience, but admitted that in the middle of it all, he didn’t always slow down enough to actually appreciate them.
I had this incredible career, I did things I never thought I would do, I did things that a lot of people will never get to do. Through it all, I would lose perspective, and sometimes I wouldn’t take the time to enjoy those moments as much as I should have. I don’t want to do that anymore.
Now, he says every match and every appearance feels like a gift, given how long he genuinely believed another one might never come.
And now, every match I have, every show I’m on now, is a gift, because for a long time, I didn’t think it would happen again.
Trying To Enjoy Every Second Of It
That perspective is shaping how he approaches whatever time he has left. Rather than fixating on a countdown, Owens said his focus now is simply soaking in as much of it as he can, so that whenever it does eventually come to an end, he’s left with plenty of good memories rather than regret over time spent worrying.
So, all I want to do is just enjoy every second I can of it. Because, I don’t know, maybe there’s one more year, two more years, five more years, I really don’t know.
Owens has already made his return count in a big way, coming back at SummerSlam, earning a shot at the Undisputed WWE Championship, and reigniting a rivalry with CM Punk that stretches back nearly two decades. Whatever comes next, Owens made clear he’s treating it as bonus time rather than something owed to him.
Owens and Punk are set to clash for the Undisputed WWE Championship on August 21 edition of SmackDown at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
