Kevin Owens opens up about what matters as WWE contract expires in early 2025

Kevin Owens is heading to Germany, this Saturday, to challenge Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes at Bash in Berlin. The bout has garnered a mixed response from fans, as nobody doubts the quality of wrestling, but criticized the lack of storyline leading up to the title clash.

In May 2024, Owens told Metro that his WWE contract would expire sometime in the beginning of 2025. He has now confirmed the same to Rick Ucchino of Sports Illustrated.

On the July 5 episode of SmackDown, The Prizefighter broke character to let the fans in on a personal update. Owens' mother was recently hospitalized, and he revealed that it was a "surreal" moment and was not intended as a promo.

"It was very surreal. I gotta be honest with you. It was almost two months ago now. Everything since my dad called me that morning and said, you gotta get home, feels like it went by in a flash. I barely remember a lot of it. It's very odd. Even talking about it now, like, man… that actually happened."

The Prizefighter also pointed to the fan adoration, as the WWE Universe has grown very fond of him. His run as a babyface today was an organic transition. Owens added that this connection with the fans is what motivates him to "keep going."

"I'm very lucky to have people respond to me the way they do. Even last week on SmackDown, during the match at one point, I think I hit a stunner on Grayson Waller and I stood up and I just looked at the crowd," Owens said. "I really do think I have a special connection with the audience and it's really something I cherish a lot. It definitely helps me keep going, keep doing this." [H/T: SI]

This past Friday on the blue brand, A-Town Down Under attempted to punch some sense into The American Nightmare, highlighting Kevin Owens' history of backstabbing the latter's friends. However, it appears that the two are on the same page, for now.

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WWE SmackDown segment gave "context" to speculation surrounding Kevin Owens, says veteran

The latest edition of SmackDown featured Cody Rhodes appearing on The Grayson Waller Effect, where the two youngsters, Waller and Austin Theory played a video for the champion, to remind him of his Bash in Berlin challenger's true self.

Dutch Mantell discussed the latest episode of SmackDown on Sportskeeda Wrestling's Smack Talk show. He got to the specific portion of the segment that painted a picture of The Prizefighter's past, noting that it gave context to the recent speculations of him possibly turning on Rhodes.

"How long ago were most of those? Over the last ten years? For me, it filled it in. I got the context. Now I understand it," he said.

Watch the clip above as Dutch Mantell touches upon a bevy of topics from the blue brand. It remains to be seen how Kevin Owens' WWE contract expiration in early 2025 will affect the upcoming title contest in Germany.