Was leaking details of Randy Orton's injury the nail in the coffin for 37-year-old WWE star? Analyzing possibility

Randy Orton's injury has kept him out of action from WWE for over a year. Although he hasn't appeared in any capacity at the Stamford-based promotion, a recent report indicates his situation might have resulted in a role change for his former partner.

Fans last saw Randy Orton on the May 20, 2022, episode of WWE SmackDown. He and Matt Riddle could not defend the RAW Tag Team Championships against The Usos. The former champions were then subjected to a post-match attack by The Bloodline. Since then, it has only been The Original Bro in solo action until he was surprisingly released from the company, and reports indicate it might be due to his partner's injury.

Wrestling Observer Newsletter recently reported that Riddle gained heat after he mentioned Randy Orton's injury during a RAW promo. Dave Meltzer wrote that although the injured Superstar was praised, it wasn't in the script given to him.

"[Matt] Riddle also had heat with management at one point right after that for going off the script and putting over [Randy] Orton on a live television interview when talking about how much pain Orton was in during the latter stages of their team and before the injury angle was shot. While praised for the promo going behind the scenes and being real, it was not what was scripted for him,"

With this in mind, it should be noted that this was not the "nail in the coffin" or the determining reason for Matt's release. If anything, it was only one of the reasons for his eventual departure.

Was Matt Riddle supposed to reunite with Randy Orton after returning from injury?

RK-Bro was an unexpected duo but a massive hit with fans

The Viper was recently spotted at WWE's Performance Center, which made fans hopeful for a return soon. Some were hoping for an RK-Bro reunion, but that was never on the cards.

According to Ringside News, there were never any plans for Orton's return to be connected to Riddle, and no plans of RK-Bro reuniting were set in place. This was certainly an interesting move for the company since the duo were well-loved by fans.

What is Matt Riddle up to now?

The King of Bros was released from WWE on September 22, 2023, and according to his recent posts, he is formulating a new marijuana strain. It remains to be seen if he plans to return inside the wrestling ring or an MMA cage.

It would be interesting to see how Randy Orton will return to WWE once he is cleared from his injury.

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What do you think is next for The Original Bro? Sound off in the comments section below.