WWE Rumors: Randy Orton 'Nowhere Close' to Returning from Surgery for Back Injury

Future WWE Hall of Famer Randy Orton reportedly isn't nearing an in-ring return from the back injury that has kept him out of action for nearly a year.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t WrestlingInc's Marco Rovere), Orton is "nowhere close" to getting back in the ring after undergoing fusion surgery.

The 43-year-old Orton has not wrestled in a match or appeared on WWE programming since the May 20, 2022, episode of SmackDown when he and Matt Riddle dropped the Raw Tag Team Championships to The Usos in a title unification match.

After RK-Bro lost, The Usos viciously attacked them and put Orton through the announce table, which was WWE's way of writing him off television.

There had been speculation about Orton possibly being on the verge of a return after PWInsider.com's Mike Johnson (h/t Cageside Seats) reported he was expected to be in Los Angeles for WrestleMania.

Orton did not appear at WrestleMania or any of the other WWE shows during the week, which put a damper on the excitement within the WWE fanbase regarding his potential return.

Few Superstars in WWE history have accomplished more than Orton, who is a 14-time world champion over a 20-plus-year WWE career.

The Viper is usually at his best as a heel, but he was arguably more popular than ever as a babyface before getting injured. Teaming with Riddle brought out a different side of his character, and the WWE Universe ate it up.

After missing a few months of action in his own right, Riddle returned on Monday night's episode of Raw to attack The Miz, and he then saved Sami Zayn from a two-on-one beatdown by Jey Uso and Solo Sikoa on SmackDown.

It is unclear if WWE has plans to pair Orton and Riddle up again when Orton does return, but having The Apex Predator back in any role would be huge for the product.

WWE has a stacked male roster headlined by Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins, Gunther, Edge, Drew McIntyre, Sheamus and a host of others, but Orton's eventual return would undoubtedly add a ton of star power and intrigue to WWE's weekly shows.

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