Kevin Owens' Incredibly Weird WWE Return Confirmed (WWE News)
This was NOT how most fans thought they'd see Kevin Owens return to WWE.
Kevin Owens is still on the shelf recuperating from serious neck surgery. He's been benched since last year, and was even forced to miss a planned bout vs. Randy Orton at WrestleMania 41 due to his injuries. Thankfully, recent reports suggest that KO is recovering well, but there's still no word on exactly when he'll be back on TV regularly.
However, Kev's WWE return has now been confirmed. Well, sort of!
The company announced during this week's episode of NXT that he'll join 'Busted Open Radio' host Dave LaGreca as a special guest during a pre-show before the developmental brand's Great American Bash on 28 June. He'll also stay put as part of a watch-along party throughout the Bash.
Matches on hand for NXT GAB include Tony D'Angelo vs. Naraku for the NXT Title, Lola Vice vs. Kendal Grey for the NXT Women's Title, and Myles Borne vs. Tavion Heights for the brand's North American strap. KO will be in the house to check out all 3 of those, as well as all of the other bouts packed onto the card.
It's probably fair to say that this isn't how most fans would've viewed Kevin's WWE comeback. It isn't really a return, but more of a special appearance to keep him busy in the interim, but still. Owens has also appeared as a coach on faux-reality show LFG.
He was mentioned during promos between old pal Sami Zayn and Cody Rhodes on SmackDown recently. Again though, nobody really knows for sure when KO will be able to wrestle again.