{"id":257433,"date":"2026-08-12T19:45:43","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T19:45:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/12\/wwe-officially-announces-former-world-champions-return-after-20-months\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T19:45:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T19:45:43","slug":"wwe-officially-announces-former-world-champions-return-after-20-months","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/12\/wwe-officially-announces-former-world-champions-return-after-20-months\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE Officially Announces Former World Champion&#8217;s Return After 20 months"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"5203817\" data-slug-id=\"2821571\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<img data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/cmc-predictor\/v2\/cross-icon.png?w=40\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" alt=\"close\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The WWE roster has received a huge boost following SummerSlam, with prominent names such as Kevin Owens and Randy Orton making their returns. The Prizefighter has now been announced for an upcoming live event, marking his first house show appearance in nearly 20 months.<\/p>\n<p>Owens was on the sidelines for over a year due to a neck injury. The Prizefighter was slated to face Randy Orton at WrestleMania 41, but he could not compete at the event due to health issues. The former Universal Champion finally returned to action at SummerSlam, where he was added to the #1 contender match for the Undisputed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/wwe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">WWE<\/a> Championship. Owens defeated Gunther, Sami Zayn, and Finn Balor in a Fatal Four-Way match and will face CM Punk for the title next week on SmackDown.<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p><template id=\"template__newsletter-inline-banner-form-combo-widget\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<p><img id=\"subscribe-img\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\nThanks for the submission!\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>It seems like the company wants Kevin Owens to overcome the ring rust ahead of the CM Punk match, as The Prizefighter is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wwe.com\/event\/wwe-summer-tour-7#show-more-superstars\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">advertised<\/a> for the upcoming house show in Manchester, New Hampshire. However, his opponent is not yet revealed.<\/p>\n<p>This will be Owens&#8217; first match on the live circuit in nearly 20 months. He last competed on the house show on 30 December 2024.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>Kevin Owens was present on WWE SmackDown<\/h2>\n<p>While <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/kevin-owens\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Kevin Owens<\/a> will be returning to the live circuit for the first time in 20 months on Thursday, The Prizefighter has already made his mark on SmackDown. Owens was present on the blue brand this past Friday, where he had a verbal showdown with CM Punk. The two men will face off for the Undisputed WWE Championship on August 21 SmackDown in Toronto.<\/p>\n<p>It was recently reported that Kevin Owens and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/cm-punk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">CM Punk<\/a> do not get along well in real-life, with their issues going back to the time The Prizefighter was in NXT. However, it seems like the two men have decided to put aside their differences to give fans the feud they have been waiting for ever since The Best in the World returned to the global juggernaut.<\/p>\n<p>While Punk recently won the Undisputed WWE Championship, there are chances that he could drop the title to Kevin Owens, given that SmackDown will take place in Toronto, Canada.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\" title=\"like article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\" title=\"dislike article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\nThank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bottom-tagline bottom\" data-tab=\"bottom\">\n<p>Get all the hottest wrestling news FIRST by clicking <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=sportskeeda.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\" class=\"bottom_tagline_link\" data-tab=\"bottom\">here<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tag-cloud\">\n<div class=\"tags-text\">\n<div class=\"scrollable-content-holder  article-padding\">\n<p class=\"article-p  \">Quick Links<\/p>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerLeft\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Left \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img style=\"background: none;\" data-lazy=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-left.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button><\/p>\n<nav id=\"pnProductNav\" class=\"pn-ProductNav\">\n<\/nav>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerRight\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Right \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img style=\"background: none;\" data-lazy=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-right.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<p>More from Sportskeeda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by Vivek Sharma<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/wwe\/news-wwe-officially-announces-former-world-champion-s-return-after-20-months\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The WWE roster has received a huge boost following SummerSlam, with prominent names such as Kevin Owens and Randy Orton making their returns. The Prizefighter has now been announced for an upcoming live event, marking his first house show appearance in nearly 20 months. Owens was on the sidelines for over a year due to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":257434,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6806],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-257433","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gossip"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257433\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/257434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}