There’s a lot of people who are assuming that Randy Orton — who has been off of WWE television for several months now — will be back before WrestleMania next month. There’s been a lot of speculation that Orton will return either at the Fast Lane pay-per-view this Sunday, or the following night’s RAW . Well, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer has reported that WWE may hold off Orton’s return until after WrestleMania , as WWE is considering having Seth Rollins — who was originally scheduled to take on Orton at WrestleMania — face off with Dolph Ziggler.
“They’ve pulled [Randy Orton] from all TV’s. So, I don’t know what the story is. He was supposed to start at TV a couple of weeks ago — he’s ready, he’s worked all of the house shows. But for whatever reason, they’ve decided to hold off his return, and I’m thinking that since he’s not going to work [at Fast Lane ] they figure there’s no point in bringing him back now, and maybe they’re going to bring him back after WrestleMania , or they’ll have him do a run-in at WrestleMania .
The original plan was for Orton to be on TV weeks ago, and then he was pulled and he’s not advertised on any TV’s at all up through WrestleMania . So, maybe they’ll setup a big surprise return on TV after Fast Lane , or even at Fast Lane .”
Meltzer also noted that Orton was originally supposed to return on the post- Royal Rumble RAW that was snowed out. Orton himself has told fans at appearances that expects to be back on WWE TV at some point in the near future, and it’s extremely unlikely that he’ll want to miss WrestleMania .
If Orton doesn’t return and face Seth Rollins, the other proposed match for WrestleMania is Seth Rollins teaming up with J&J security [Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury] to take on Dolph Ziggler, Erick Rowan, and Ryback. It’s also possible that Rollins could team up with Big Show and Kane instead of J&J, but WWE is thinking about doing a Big Show vs. Kane match at WrestleMania .
WWE already has two major superstars in The Undertaker and Sheamus, who are set to return after Fast Lane , so it’s possible that WWE wants to wait to bring Orton back until after WrestleMania so they can avoid him being lost in the shuffle. But even though Orton has been pulled from all of his appearances leading up until WrestleMania , people are still expecting him to make his return very soon.
[Image via WWE ]
