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.

Mercedes’ George Russell took his second win of the season with victory from pole position at the Austrian Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen recovered from a crash in the final part of qualifying to finish second at Red Bull’s home race, with championship leader Kimi Antonelli in third.

Russell’s win moves him back up to second in the drivers’ standings, 40 points behind team-mate Antonelli.

BBC F1 correspondent Andrew Benson answers your latest questions before this weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

I think a pole position under a yellow flag sets a dangerous precedent, because it’s clear that from now on, everyone will continue to push hard after a small slow down, or else their lap will be cancelled. I’d be curious to hear your opinion – Lorenzo

George Russell’s pole position at the Austrian Grand Prix, the foundation for his victory on Sunday, came about in controversial circumstances.

According to the rules, Russell did nothing wrong.

Marshals trackside initially waved a single yellow flag when Max Verstappen crashed at Turn Nine.

Kimi Antonelli mis-read the light board as a double yellow, and backed out of his lap – the correct response for what he thought to be the case. Under a double yellow, drivers have to “slow down and be prepared to stop”.

But under a single yellow, a driver does not have to abandon their lap. They only have to not set a fastest time in the relevant section of the track.

Russell complied with this, but the rest of his lap was fast enough to put him on pole anyway.

The concern here is less the specifics of these rules, but whether the correct flag was shown in the circumstances.

The answer to that has to be no.

Verstappen crashed at the fastest corner on the track, which is taken at close to 140mph.

Turn Nine is notoriously challenging, with its downhill entry, and an exit kerb that’s easy to over-run.

Both Verstappen and Antonelli questioned the decision to show only a single yellow at the time, when Verstappen’s car was in the barrier at this corner as other drivers were seeking to set what would be their fastest laps of the weekend.

Verstappen described it as “quite crazy”.

Antonelli said: “There was a car in the wall in a fast corner. I don’t know why it didn’t go double-yellow straight away, because it’s a super-quick corner, and if you go off at the same time, it can end up very badly. That was a bit confusing.

“For sure it’s something that needs to be reviewed, especially when it happens in a high-speed corner.

“If it’s a slow-speed [corner], single yellow can be OK but fast corners should be double yellow straight away.”

To underline the point, within 20 seconds, race control upgraded the flag to a double yellow, but everyone had completed their laps by then.

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.