Orton and Mysterio return from suspension

The past several weeks have seen two major returns to WWE television. A few weeks back, Rey Mysterio returned from his 60-day Wellness Policy suspension, in which he was punished for testing positive for a substance that is in violation of the policy. It was reported that the substance in question was an ingredient in a weight loss drug that, according to Mysterio, was prescribed by his doctor. However, Mysterio failed to present a doctor’s note for the prescription and as a result, faced his second suspension with the company, giving him one remaining strike. WWE claimed he had been out with an injury. While this is partially true as he was injured, he failed a random drug test while recuperating from his injury, extending his return date a full two months.

Also returning was “The Viper” Randy Orton, who returned last night on Monday Night RAW, quickly defeating Heath Slater in a squash match. Much like Mysterio, Orton was on his 2nd official suspension (he has actually been suspended several times since joining WWE in 2002) as a result of violating the Wellness Policy. In Orton’s case, it was originally rumored that he had been taking Dianabol, an illegal steroid. However, it was later revealed that the suspension came as a result of elevated levels of testosterone in his system, likely the result of some performance-enhancing substance. Although Orton and several others have denied this, it’s pretty obvious when you look at him from Monday night that he was likely on a performance-enhancing supplement of some kind. Orton was noticeably smaller, less toned and “softer” than before the suspension.

It is rumored that both Orton and Mysterio are in for main event pushes now that they are back, and considering how both have been booked on television thus far, that is more than likely the truth. The main reason being reported is WWE’s lack of main event talent right now and needing both Orton and Mysterio to add supposed depth to the main event scene.

While I understand the reasoning behind this and can agree that WWE’s main event is a little lacking right now, this is the wrong idea, and it sends a bad message to the locker room. During the suspensions of two of WWE’s proven commodities, those in Creative could have easily begun elevating new talents to take those places, especially when you consider Mysterio only has a few good years left. Instead, two guys who can’t stay clean are being shoved back into the main event immediately after returning from suspension.

How do you think the rest of the WWE locker room feels about that? Here they are, working their butts off to get major spots and get noticed, and two guys fresh off suspension just walk back into the locker room and are put right back in their same spots. This gives the impression that, as long as you make money, it really doesn’t matter what you do as WWE is going to push you anyway. How can any of these guys finally get the chance to break through when behavior like the ones Orton and Mysterio have displayed gets them rewarded rather than punished?

WWE should have used both Orton and Mysterio to make examples for the rest of the roster and force them to work their way back to the top. There was a rumor that Paul “Triple H” Levesque was indeed planning on using Orton as an example, however, most rumors (and yes, they are only rumors at this point, so take them for what they’re worth) seem to indicate Orton will be thrown right back into the World title picture, possibly as early as Summerslam.

While Orton and Mysterio definitely have their value, the fact is both are expendable and could be replaced at any time if new talents were allowed to step up and be given the chance to shine. While WWE is beginning to build some talents as bonafide main eventers (Dolph Ziggler, Alberto Del Rio, to name a couple), it’s not enough. Orton and Mysterio only have one more strike available to them before they are fired, and they both should be treated as such. Instead, they are being rewarded for bad behavior while a locker room full of young, hungry talents who are playing by the rules are forced sit idly by and watch their opportunities go up in smoke.