WWE News: Did Randy Orton’s Back Injury Cost Him A Shot At The WWE World Heavyweight Title?
WWE Hell in a Cell is now over, and the night was not without it’s controversy. Fans loved many of the matches, but the two matches many were looking forward to before the event were Seth Rollins/Dean Ambrose and John Cena/Randy Orton, both inside the Hell in a Cell. Many didn’t like the finish to Ambrose/Rollins, despite the match literally doing everything we hoped it would. Meanwhile the ending of Cena/Orton also brought negative reactions.
The match winner would get a shot at the WWE World Heavyweight Title that Brock Lesnar currently holds.
Most thought that after Cena won, it was just WWE shoving a match down people’s throats that we have already seen twice in the past year…a Brock Lesnar/John Cena match, once again for the WWE World Heavyweight Title. However, that may have not been the original plan.
Randy Orton aggravated a disc injury on RAW this past week. He has been working hurt, but no one really knew until last Monday when he reportedly told a WWE doctor at ringside that his back was messed up during the main event. He mentioned a ruptured disc, which is never a good injury for anyone, much less a pro-wrestler. Orton has not had a real, one-on-one World Title match in some time.
This could have been WWE’s way of protecting him up until he felt better. However, they did not factor him re-injuring himself or making his problem worse. WWE looked to give him that one-on-one rematch that he was “promised” next month, at least that was what we all thought originally.
WWE has to keep Orton active due to Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan being out. WWE needs star-power right now. Now that Bray Wyatt is back, they could give Orton less time in the ring due to having another top heel on the roster. Bray is also a big enough star to give more time to on the road and on TV.
Orton had been working well enough that no insider knew of his injury before last Monday, which is probably why WWE may have originally planned Orton winning at Hell in a Cell, as Orton was showing no signs of an issue. The problem is, he’d have to work Hell in a Cell and THEN face Brock Lesnar a month later while hurt. Originally, Orton was not even believed to be hurt so this match wasn’t a big deal to see.
This type of gauntlet couldn’t work for Orton. Not only would he be subjecting his already hurt body to a Hell in a Cell match, but then he’d have to go in and work with Brock “freakin” Lesnar after that. Lesnar is known for being rough in the ring and is well known for working very stiff. This is why many like his matches, because he tries to make it real. The issue is, a lot of what he does is not protected and WWE has to be careful with who they give him. After he almost killed The Undertaker at WrestleMania, he doesn’t have a lot of people on the roster who want to work with him while hurt.
While John Cena is working hurt all the time, many believe he is just banged up with no serious injury to know of. Meanwhile Orton has a ruptured disc and working with Lesnar would not help that at all. It would be more dangerous than WWE would want most likely. So it could be that WWE originally planned for Orton to face Lesnar at Survivor Series but ended up changing plans due to Orton’s injury. This is why we see Cena/Lesnar 3 so early.
It was reported that this match was supposed to take place at the Royal Rumble, which WWE could still always do. However, having a number one contender for near three months and no champion on television in that time wouldn’t make sense.
Most believe that Orton could heal up enough to face Lesnar at the Rumble. So basically, he and Cena would switch spots.
While WWE could have always planned for Cena to win at Hell in a Cell, that seems doubtful. WWE would like to market Cena/Lesnar at the Rumble, as it would sell a bit more for a build up to Wrestleamania. With the drop of Elimination Chamber, WWE needs to sell people on at least one big PPV before WrestleMania. Cena is the better draw for the Rumble, but Orton can draw well due to the interest in what he and Lesnar could do.
It appears like Orton will get that shot. This would also allow Cena to set up something for WrestleMania 31 within the Rumble match. This would work out better all the way around, however there is still a lot of risk putting a top guy like Orton with a Brock Lesnar. It seems WWE would rather let that potential match rest for a few months in favor of a less intense series of matches with Seth Rollins for now.
[IMG Credits: WWE.com]
