When Randy Orton faked a career-threatening injury to fool former WWE Champion 

Randy Orton, a third-generation wrestler, has been with WWE since 2000. He was familiar with the trade because of Bob Orton and Bob Orton Jr., and never hesitated to use his knowledge to climb to the top of the industry.

One of the WWE Superstars who was a victim of The Viper’s wiles was AJ Styles. Even the WWE Universe popped when they realized the stunt Randy Orton pulled off.

On the December 30, 2019, edition of WWE RAW, The Viper arrived at the arena on crutches and talked about a busted knee and how it would affect his career at least until WrestleMania.

AJ Styles came out to the ring and claimed he would gladly end Orton’s career at The Show of Shows by injuring the knee further and even demeaned Orton by kicking away one of the crutches.

Just when The Phenomenal One was about to walk away, Orton threw away his other crutch and executed an RKO on Styles. To show how great his act was, Orton stomped on the ring with his “injured” leg to prove it was all fake!

The crowd and WWE announcers couldn’t believe what they witnessed, and went berserk with excitement!

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Randy Orton has been out of WWE since May 2022 because of a real injury

It’s been over a year since Randy Orton was seen on WWE TV. His last match was against The Usos on WWE SmackDown in May 2022. The Viper was taken off television after losing the RAW TAg Team Titles to Jimmy and Jey.

Reportedly, he was suffering through a back injury that required surgery and significant recovery time. While the injury sparked rumors that Randy Orton wouldn’t return to the ring anymore, that may not be true at all.

WWE Legend Kurt Angle spoke about The Viper's back injury on his podcast, The Kurt Angle Show, and revealed that he had recovered and he should be back pretty soon!

“Doing good man. He recovered from his back surgery. He’s, I think he’s gonna come back pretty damn soon. He’s doing much better, yes.”

While the Legend Killer has reportedly been medically cleared, neither he nor WWE has teased a WWE return yet. Fans have speculated about several occasions on which he can return, with the road to SummerSlam 2023 being the most popular choice. Prior to this, fans had predicted a return to the squared circle during the Money in the Bank Ladder Match.