Kevin Owens has been away from the ring for several months.

The last time any pro wrestling fan saw him inside the squared circle was weeks before WrestleMania 41 when he announced to the world he needed neck surgery that would keep him out of action for several months.

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WWE Superstars Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens watch the third period of Game Three between the Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals during the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec. (Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

Owens has been seen sparingly since then. He’s featured on “WWE LFG” as a coach and recently made an appearance on the pre-show for NXT The Great American Bash.

Fox News Digital asked one of Owens’ best friends, Sami Zayn, about him in a recent interview prior to Night of Champions. Zayn said that Owens being in a spot where he could return to the ring just takes time.

“I don’t want to speak out of school sharing his medical stuff,” Zayn said. “The procedure that he had just takes time. He’s going to do his due diligence – do rehab exercises and all that. But it really is a matter of time when you’re talking about fusions and those kinds of procedures, you just need time to get to where it needs to be.”

Zayn added that any of WWE’s top shows – “Monday Night Raw” or “Friday Night SmackDown” – would see a significant boost in quality from Owens’ presence.

Kevin Owens wrestles Sami Zayn during the WWE Elimination Chamber at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada, on March 1, 2025. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)

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“I’m hoping more than anybody, I would think, that he comes back soon. I think the fans have really been … I get asked about him a lot. So, it’s clear how beloved he is and how missed he is,” he said. “It goes without saying he’s an extremely valuable talent. He’s a one-of-one talent that leaves a gaping hole when you don’t have him on your roster.

“And I just think how better our show would be with him on it whether it’s SmackDown or Raw because of what he brings to the table. So, I think when he comes (back) I think it’s really gonna add just so much depth and dimension and excitement and quality programming to whatever show he lands on. It goes without saying.”

Zayn and Owens have been mainstays in WWE since they each joined WWE.

Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn celebrate after defeating The Usos for the Undisputed WWE tag team championship during WrestleMania Goes Hollywood at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., on April 1, 2023. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

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The duo have been tag team champions twice, including beating The Usos for the titles at WrestleMania 39.

Neymar Jr. / Image: Instagram@Neymarjr

Brazil survived a major scare to book their place in the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16, defeating Japan 2-1 in a dramatic Round of 32 clash at the NRG Stadium in Houston on Monday, June 29. Despite the victory, one notable absentee from the action was Neymar Jr. The Brazil superstar remained on the bench throughout the contest, prompting questions about why head coach Carlo Ancelotti chose not to introduce him.Explaining his decision after the match, Ancelotti revealed that he had planned to use Neymar only if the game headed towards extra time.“I talked to Ney (Neymar). If we didn’t draw, he’d come on at 60 minutes. Since we drew, I was preserving him for the 30 minutes of extra time,” Ancelotti told the host broadcaster.With Brazil finding the winner in stoppage time, the extra period was never required, meaning Neymar remained an unused substitute despite being fit enough to feature. Ancelotti later confirmed that the veteran forward had been part of his contingency plan but was ultimately not needed.Brazil will now turn their attention to the Round of 16, where they will face the winners of the Norway vs Ivory Coast clash at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on July 3.Coming to the match, Gabriel Martinelli scored a dramatic 95th-minute winner as Brazil mounted a thrilling second-half comeback to defeat Japan 2-1, Japan stunned the five-time world champions in the first half when Kaishu Sano intercepted a loose ball deep inside his own half. Sano embarked on a brilliant 40-yard solo sprint before drilling a fierce strike past Alisson to make it 1-0.Ancelotti also praised Japan for pushing Brazil throughout the contest and said his team would need to improve despite advancing to the knockout stage.“Japan made us suffer for ninety-five minutes. They deserved our respect, not exaggerated celebrations. Brazil are through, but we know we must improve. Tonight we celebrate the qualification, but tomorrow we go back to work because the World Cup only gets more difficult from here,” he said.

Finally, Uli Stielike has company. For 44 years, an outstanding player for Borussia Monchengladbach, Real Madrid and his country stood alone as the only German man to miss a penalty in a World Cup shootout. Then three came in a flurry: Kai Havertz with a tame attempt, Nick Woltemade with a still tamer one and Jonathan Tah with his wild, skied effort the most crucial of the three before Jose Canale confirmed their fate.

The old stereotypes of Germany football, the Turniermannschaft with their menacing inexorableness, are being destroyed. An exit to Paraguay did not feel very German; but now a staple of the business end of tournaments have failed to make the last 16 of a third successive World Cup. Germany’s last victory in a knockout tie remains the 2014 final.

Since then, they have lost, either over 90 minutes or on penalties, to Mexico, South Korea, Japan, Ecuador and Paraguay, each a result that would have seemed unGerman. There had been pessimism about this week from some in the German footballing world: but in anticipation of a last-16 defeat to France in Philadelphia. Instead, it is Paraguay who head to Pennsylvania. German are off home.

For Julian Nagelsmann, while he said he would “love” to continue in the job, it is presumably to face unemployment. He has been stalked by Jurgen Klopp at this tournament, the spectre of a possible successor coming from the charismatic former Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool manager, following his country on punditry duties.

The eventual verdict may be that Nagelsmann has flattered to deceive as the Bundestrainer. Germany have made spectacular starts to two tournaments under him, walloping Scotland 5-1 and Curacao 7-1 but then tailed off. A quarter-final appearance in Euro 2024 could have been a platform for progress. Now Nagelsmann, like Joachim Low and Hansi Flick before him, has become a manager with serious feats on his CV to struggle in a World Cup.

In the United States, Germany were unconvincing against the more obdurate opponents they faced. They just beat Cote d’Ivoire, lost to Ecuador in a game the German players, if not the manager, admitted the South Americans wanted more, and dominated possession and chances against Paraguay, yet looked uninspired in scoring a solitary goal in 120 minutes. A second, from Jonathan Tah, was perhaps wrongly chalked off but Nagelsmann’s Germany had sufficient shortcomings that they cannot simply plead misfortune.

The manager’s decision to bring Manuel Neuer out of international retirement backfired; he looked his 40 years, especially against Ecuador. Nagelsmann’s strange faith in Leroy Sane was not rewarded, either. Eight years ago, when the winger had blistering speed, Low ought to have taken him to the World Cup. Two wrongs don’t make a right. Nagelsmann started Sane in every game, and he scored a second-minute goal against Ecuador. But against Paraguay, Sane was awful, losing the ball 23 times and completing none of his seven dribbles.

Meanwhile, Jamal Musiala was benched; Nagelsmann’s decision-making was questioned earlier in the tournament when he kept Deniz Undav out of the starting 11 when the striker’s first two cameos produced three goals and two assists in 56 minutes.

Perhaps he was right to begin with, though. Undav was ineffective as a starter against Paraguay, while deploying him from the beginning cost Germany their super-sub. Where Nagelsmann merited sympathy, arguably, was that Germany lost Lennart Karl and Serge Gnabry to injuries before the tournament. Situations at club level may have counted against Nagelsmann, too: Florian Wirtz’s debut season at Liverpool did not go to plan and Woltemade’s first at Newcastle got worse. Without Karl and Gnabry, though, Nagelsmann struggled for a formula; Germany’s goal tally looked healthy, but only due to facing Curacao.

Step back from individual issues and there can be wider problems. One theory is that a focus on possession, some of it influenced by the former Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola, has taken away from traditional German strengths. The current generation have the technique but perhaps not the presence or the remorselessness of their predecessors. There is a host of contenders for the No 10 role but, since Miroslav Klose, there has been no archetypal German centre-forward for any length of time. Without the Germans of stereotype, the fear factor may be going.

Certainly the last three World Cups have suggested Germany can be drowned by a rising tide in the global game: the 15th, 25th or 35th best sides in the world are rather better than they were.

But Germany still expect to win such games. “Shock is probably a fine word,” said Havertz after Paraguay eliminated them. It was a surprise and yet, the longer Germany failed to get a second goal against Paraguay, there was a growing sense that this would be the day their unblemished record in World Cup penalty shootouts ended. The team who used to outlast everyone else became the first of the real big guns to go. And, strange as it sounds to those with memories of the era of German inevitability, maybe that is part of their identity now.

Man Utd’s fixtures for next season were recently confirmed, and Michael Carrick’s side have been handed a favourable start to the campaign.

The worst was feared when Manuel Ugarte was carried off the pitch on a stretcher during Uruguay’s clash with Spain at the World Cup.

Ugarte looked distraught, pulling his shirt over his head as the stretcher left the pitch. On Sunday, Manchester United confirmed he had suffered a knee ligament injury, and that an assessment of the injury was ongoing.

The club did not confirm whether ⁠Ugarte injured his anterior cruciate or medial collateral ligament, but he described his injury as “the most serious injury a footballer can face” on social media, suggesting it is his ACL.

Ugarte wrote: “Suffering the most serious injury a footballer can face in one of the most important matches in my country’s history, and seeing it end this way without being able to stay on the pitch and support my teammates until the final whistle, is something that will stay with me for the rest of my life.

“Hitting rock bottom will make me stronger in every sense, and I truly believe that’s the case here. Without a doubt, when life wants you to stop, it finds a way to let you know. It’s up to me to take the positives from this. Success in life is about starting again every time you fall.

“I’m incredibly grateful to Uruguay and United for being there for me from the moment it happened. A huge thank you as well to my family, my friends, and everyone who has sent me messages of support during this time.”

A torn ACL is a far more serious injury than an MCL tear. Ugarte could miss around 10 months of action due to the injury, which essentially rules him out for the majority of the 2026/27 season.

The injury is made worse by the crossroads Ugarte had reached. He was counting down the days until the World Cup, relishing the chance to represent Uruguay after receiving limited minutes at United, but a dream opportunity to play on the biggest stage has ended as a nightmare.

Ugarte was pencilled in for an exit from Old Trafford this summer. He needed a fresh start, a clean slate abroad after a difficult spell in England, but the injury denies him the chance to transfer to another club.

The injury could have an impact on United’s transfer plans this summer. The Reds have agreed a deal for Ederson and are pushing to make another midfield signing, but a replacement would also be sought if Ugarte was sold.

United can’t sell Ugarte due to his injury, but they are going to be a body light in midfield with the Uruguayan sidelined, meaning a third signing will still be needed.

At this stage, it looks like Kobbie Mainoo, a new signing, Ederson, Mason Mount, and Tyler Fletcher will be the midfield options, so a further addition makes sense ahead of a 60-game-plus season.

Fletcher’s breakthrough into the first team last season was timely. The talented academy graduate has the quality to contribute to the squad next season, but bringing in another senior midfielder would add much-needed cover.

United could look to sign a cheap third midfielder, someone with Premier League experience who wouldn’t break the bank, perhaps a player entering the winter of their career.

The signing would be a means to an end. They would be near the bottom of the midfield pecking order, but finding a player with that profile, a good character who would be willing to accept that sort of role, isn’t easy.

That’s without mentioning that United have to be careful with their budget in the transfer market. A third midfield signing could be signed as cheaply as possible, but at the end of the day, a permanent deal would still cost a fee.

The Reds may feel they need to focus on other areas of the squad. That could lead club chiefs to consider the loan market for a midfield signing, although players available for loan tend to be available for a reason.

United have done so in the past with mixed success. Odion Ighalo was a reasonable success, Marcel Sabitzer was decent, and the less said about Wout Weghorst’s stint the better. Sofyan Amrabat offered very little aside from a stellar display in the 2024 FA Cup final, while Sergio Reguilon was a pointless signing.

Relying on the loan market is far from ideal, but United might have to consider a temporary signing.

Man Utd may need another signing in midfield and Chelsea might have pointed the way with an unexpected move for another Premier League player.

While Manchester United are waiting to find out the full extent of Manuel Ugarte’s knee ligament injury, it looks certain that Michael Carrick will be without him for the majority of next season as he looks to reshape his midfield.

Ugarte could have been sold this summer to fund a third midfield arrival, but that option is now off the table and United might have to head back to the drawing board in the centre of the pitch.

They continue to work on a deal for Mateus Fernandes, but if they reach an agreement with West Ham, who will need to lower their £85million asking price first, they will still be heading into next season with a young, relatively inexperienced midfield.

It could be that Fernandes partners Kobbie Mainoo, but that would put together two 21-year-olds in the centre of the pitch. United have agreed a deal to sign Ederson, who turns 27 next month, but he hasn’t played in the Premier League before.

Beyond that, Mason Mount played in a deeper role towards the end of last season, but has had injury issues during his Old Trafford career, while 19-year-old Tyler Fletcher is probably next cab off the rank from the academy.

Given those options, United will almost certainly feel they need a third midfielder for a season that sees them competing on four fronts and looks more likely to feature 60 games than the 40 they have just played. The question is how they go about that.

They will receive around £6.4million in compensation from FIFA for Ugarte’s injury, as it occurred during the World Cup, but that won’t go far. United could look for a loan move as a short-term option, but the players available for that kind of deal would be limited.

Perhaps there is a solution within the Premier League. Chelsea have had an £8million bid for Granit Xhaka rejected by Sunderland, with the 33-year-old reportedly keen to reunite with his former Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso.

Xhaka enjoyed a sensational season with the Black Cats and remains an excellent Premier League midfielder. He could slot into one of those two deep roles in United’s midfield and bring leadership to what could be a young group of midfielders.

He was Sunderland’s captain last season and played in all but four of their Premier League games, helping to drive the club to an unexpected seventh-place finish. When he was fit, he played almost every minute for the club.

Alonso is keen to have Xhaka with him again after praising his leadership at Leverkusen, and that is an area United might need to look at this summer, with Casemiro’s departure leaving a void in that department, especially in the middle of the pitch.

A deal for Xhaka might not excite supporters, but it could make an awful lot of sense now that United must do without Ugarte, who can’t play for the club, but can’t be sold either.

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