The WWE has been without the legendary WWE superstar, Randy Orton, for close to a year now. Worse still, there isn't any indication he's coming back anytime soon. At least, not outside of the rumor mill. But, something tells us that the recent ramblings have some truth behind them.
According to the most recent reports, specifically from PWInsider via Ringside News, the WWE is already planning for Orton to be at WrestleMania 39.
Before being written off television to give him time to recover from a serious back injury, Orton was in the middle of a rare babyface run (for him, at least) as he and Matt Riddle, who were collectively known as the RK-Bro, were a huge draw as the Raw Tag Team Champions.
It'll be interesting to see what Triple H has planned for his former protege. Triple H wasn't in charge of the WWE when RK-Bro was at its peak. Is Orton reuniting with Riddle, who's also been off television since December for failing the WWE's wellness policy? Or is Triple H letting Orton go back to his heel roots?
A common and very plausible theory is for the WWE to bring Orton back at WrestleMania 39 to set up a feud between him and Cody Rhodes at the first post-WrestleMania Monday Night RAW episode.
Assuming that Rhodes becomes the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion and Roman Reigns takes an extended break (it would be nice to see Triple H fit Randy Orton behind that as well), there are very few in the WWE who could legitimately act as a believable heel to The American Nightmare, the man who snapped the nearly 1,000-day streak of the Tribal Chief.
Also, it wasn't so long ago when Orton served as the foil to the rising Rhodes many years ago.
Besides, there's a lot of history between these two multi-generational wrestlers as well. Orton helped train Rhodes in 2006, way before he signed with the WWE. Orton even mentored Rhodes as the ringleader of The Legacy. The three-man stable had a relatively good run in the late 2000s, eventually culminating in a triple-threat match at WrestleMania 26 between Ted DiBiase Jr, Rhodes, and Orton.
WrestleMania 26 might feel like a long time ago and it is, but there's plenty of footage for new audiences to check out and get themselves up to speed.
Also, can't you see the sense of irony in The Legend Killer being "killed" in the ring by his protege, which isn't unlike how he took out the Cerebral Assassin way back then?
From the potential promos to the rich history between these two stars, Triple H is probably salivating at the chance to start this storyline as soon as possible. We'll find out more if Orton will be at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on April 1-2 when WrestleMania 39 starts.
