Kevin Owens & Randy Orton WWE Return Major Update

WWE

A major update has emerged regarding the WWE return of Kevin Owens and Randy Orton ahead of this weekend’s SummerSlam 2026 premium live event.

With all eyes on Minneapolis, Minnesota and the two night SummerSlam 2026 event, two of WWE’s biggest stars could be set to return to television “very soon.”

In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer revealed that both Randy Orton and Kevin Owens are on the verge of returning, with the former perhaps making his comeback within the next week.

Orton has been off WWE TV since losing to Cody Rhodes in the main event of WrestleMania 42 Night One.

Owens’ absence on the other hand, has been much longer, with the former WWE Universal Champion undergoing neck surgery in July 2025, after being forced to pull out of a match with Orton at WrestleMania 41.

Melter wrote:

Orton and Owens are both expected to be returning very soon, Orton perhaps in the next week. Owens has dropped weight after a lengthy and frustratingly long recovery from neck surgery.

Orton was one of those guys who claimed he wasn’t injured and just taking the summer off, but in fact he was injured.

He was actually scheduled to beat Rhodes at Mania unless they felt his back was going to not allow it. When they realized that was the case, all kinds of plans were changed.

The door was clearly left open to Rhodes vs. Orton at Mania, so I could see Orton screwing Rhodes or Punk to keep the other out of the WWE title picture because there is no reason for him to return now unless it’s to work with one of those two, and Rhodes being the more likely one would think.

As Meltzer mentioned, Orton’s feud with Cody Rhodes continuing is something WWE indicated would be happening at WrestleMania 42 Night One, as Orton closed that show by Punt Kicking Rhodes and holding up the Undisputed WWE Title.

We will provide further updates on the returns of both Randy Orton and Kevin Owens if any new information emerges.

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• wwe
• KEVIN OWENS
• Randy Orton
• Return

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