Kevin Owens Praises Tanea Brooks Following His WWE SummerSlam Return
Kevin Owens used the SummerSlam post-show to highlight the ALS battle of former AEW star Tanea Brooks, also known as Rebel.
At night’s SummerSlam night two in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Kevin Owens made his WWE return, ending a 17-month absence following neck surgery. SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis added both GUNTHER and Owens to what had been advertised as a singles match between Sami Zayn and Finn Balor, turning it into a four-way for the number one contendership to the Undisputed WWE Championship. Owens countered a Helluva Kick attempt and hit the Stunner on Zayn for the pin, setting up a future challenge to CM Punk. In the aftermath of his victory, “The Prizefighter” opted to raise further awareness of Tanea Brooks’ ongoing battle with ALS.
Speaking on the SummerSlam post-show, Owens took a moment to talk about Tanea Brooks, who revealed a terminal ALS diagnosis in May of this year, noting that some things are bigger than wrestling and praising her as an inspiration.
“There’s somebody called Tanea Brooks, who’s known to wrestling fans as Rebel. She has not wrestled here, but some things are bigger than wrestling. She’s currently battling ALS, and the way she’s doing it is so incredible. I looked at her and what she was going through, and the way she powered through it, and it was truly inspirational.”
-Kevin Owens
Brooks spent several years with TNA, where she was part of The Menagerie and later The Dollhouse, before signing with AEW in 2019 and becoming best known for her association with Britt Baker. Her lone appearance for WWE came on the January 23, 2019, episode of NXT, teaming with Amber Nova in a loss to Io Shirai and Kairi Sane.
ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a progressive condition that attacks the nerve cells controlling muscle movement, and research into treatments is ongoing. Since going public with her diagnosis, Tanea Brooks has become an ambassador for I Am ALS and has used her platform to raise awareness and push for research funding. She posts as @rebeltanea on Instagram and X, where she answers questions about living with the condition in a video series called “Tanea’s Tidbits”.
The wrestling industry has rallied around her in the months since. Her AEW colleagues revived the ice bucket challenge in her honour, with company president Tony Khan taking part himself, and you can read more about that here. TNA aired a tribute video on the July 30 episode of Impact, with commentators Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt addressing viewers as highlights from her TNA run played.
All Elite Wrestling has also announced a special edition of Dynamite for September 9 in Athens, Georgia, titled Rebel Heart. The show is dedicated to Brooks and held in partnership with I AM ALS and Team Gleason to raise money and awareness for ALS research. You can read more about that show here.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on the support for Tanea Brooks’ during her ALS battle as soon as we hear more.
