Backstage Update on Randy Orton’s Status Following “Backlash”

It was previously reported that Randy Orton was unable to compete at “Backlash” due to not being cleared by WWE medical personnel. However, as seen at the pay-per-view, Orton made an appearance at the end of Bray Wyatt’s impromptu match with Kane, and hit “The Eater of Worlds” with an RKO. This led to Kane using a chokeslam on Wyatt, thus picking up the victory.

According to a report from PWInsider, the decision to pull Orton from the card was something that had been discussed by WWE officials over the past 7-10 days. Kane had been ready to compete against Wyatt all week, should they had to remove “The Viper” from the show. This was not a last-minute decision.

At this point, the situation with Orton appears to be related to a concussion. He has not been able to pass the company’s medical testing, which prevents him from taking bumps. Although he did hit an RKO at “Backlash,” he was not physically involved in the match in any other way.

Orton was injured during the finish of his match with Brock Lesnar at “SummerSlam.” This came when Lesnar unleashed a violent fury of shots to the head at the conclusion of their match, causing Orton to bleed profusely all over the mat. The referee stopped the contest, and awarded Lesnar the victory by TKO.

There is still concern within the company that Orton’s injury will put his rematch with Lesnar at a Live Event on September 24 in serious jeopardy of taking place.

It should be noted that Orton was not on the road with the “Smackdown Live” team this past week, leading up to the “Backlash” event.

Editor’s Note:

Unfortunately, I believe that this incident will bring up previous discussions that took place at the end of “SummerSlam” with regards to Lesnar’s actions in the ring, and how he conducts himself as a performer. He has potentially given long term damage to one of WWE’s top performers, and perhaps personally injured him in a long term way. It will be interesting to see the medical results of this incident. We all hope that Orton competes again in a WWE ring sooner rather than later.

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