15-Month WWE Absence Changed My Mindset

Kevin Owens is approaching his WWE career with a different perspective after spending 15 months sidelined due to injury.

Owens has experienced plenty of major moments during his WWE run, including facing Steve Austin in the main event of WrestleMania 38. But while Owens made an effort to appreciate some of those accomplishments, he admits that he was often focused on whatever came next.

After a neck injury threatened to end his career, Owens’ priorities changed. During his recovery from surgery, he wasn’t thinking about championships or potential opponents. His goal was simply to wrestle again.

“Obviously the last 10, 11 years in WWE, I had this incredible career and I got so many special moments, so many special matches, so many special memories,” Owens said to FACES Magazine.

. “The last year and a half, I really didn’t picture any specific moment, like being in the ring with this guy, or winning a title or anything like that. It was really just about getting back in the ring at all and making sure I enjoy the time I have left.”

Now that he’s back, Owens wants to make sure he appreciates however much time he has remaining in the ring.

“It was just this feeling where, if I go back, the one thing I’ll do more than anything is just make sure I get [to] enjoy the ride,” he continued. “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 believes his career has already exceeded anything he could have imagined. Looking back, though, he wishes he had taken more time to appreciate some of those experiences while they were happening.

Owens added, “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. 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.”

Owens’ comments to FACES Magazine come ahead of a major match this Friday night, as he will challenge CM Punk for the Undisputed WWE Championship on SmackDown in Toronto.

When WWE had Owens announce its upcoming tour dates back in May, he admitted that he believed there was “almost zero chance” he would actually be cleared to compete on those shows.