It turns out that the injury that took Randy Orton off WWE TV following the Usos unifying the WWE Tag Titles is a legitimate one.
Orton has been off WWE for around a month now and we were told he had a back injury by the WWE. Many fans assumed this injury was a work to sell the rivalry between Randy Orton and Roman Reigns.
Fightful Select now reports that WWE believe Randy Orton to be out of action until 2023.
Orton has been dealing with a back injury for quite some time, to the point he actually had work done to improve his condition before the tag team title unification match, though we aren’t sure of the extent of the “work” that was done. We’re told that things have gotten progressively worse, and WWE fears that Orton will be forced to undergo a surgery. WWE sources that we spoke to said that if that happens, Orton would likely be out of action the rest of 2022. Thus far the exact injury is unknown. Fightful has told that Randy Orton isn’t factored into creative plans for WWE at the moment, after being slated for a huge role this summer. Orton appeared on a recent internal injury report for the company, and has been off WWE television since his title loss to the Usos on May 20. His former tag team partner Riddle has been moved into a title program with Roman Reigns, that we’re told was pitched for Orton. As of last month, Orton had been pitched and heavily figured in to Summerslam plans, which are now in question, to say the least.
Fightful Select
Prior to the injury, Randy Orton was on the run of his career as he looked to be having a lot of fun with his tag team partner Riddle. Whenever Orton does return, it will be surely to a chorus of cheers from fans. Riddle for now will challenge Roman Reigns for the WWE world titles on SmackDown this week.
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