Randy Orton and Kevin Owens are both expected back in WWE soon, and Orton could be first through the door.
The Wrestling Observer reports both are expected to return very soon, with Orton potentially back within the next week. Owens has dropped weight over what the newsletter describes as a lengthy and frustratingly long recovery from neck surgery.
Owens has been out since Elimination Chamber in March 2025. He was pulled from a WrestleMania 41 match with Orton and underwent neck fusion surgery that July.
The Orton Question
The Observer also revisits its own reporting on Orton’s absence. The newsletter says Orton was among those who publicly denied being hurt and framed the time away as a summer off, and that he was in fact injured.
Orton has not been on television since losing to Cody Rhodes in the WrestleMania 42 Night 1 main event. Commentary referenced a back injury during that match, and Rhodes worked the body part. Dave Meltzer reported the injury at the time, and in May Orton replied to a since-deleted post about it.
Lmao just milking it guys, leave me alone I’m trying to enjoy my summer before I come back and take that #15.
Per the Observer, the original plan was for Orton to beat Rhodes at WrestleMania 42 and claim a 15th world title. Once WWE concluded his back would not allow it, the newsletter says plans changed across the board.
Meltzer speculated that Orton only returns now to work with Rhodes or CM Punk, floating the idea of Orton costing one of them to keep the other out of the title picture, with Rhodes the likelier target. That is his read rather than reporting.
Orton’s back history is well documented. He missed more than 18 months after double fusion surgery before returning at Survivor Series in 2023.
