In what has been a rough holiday for members of the WWE roster, another star has been slammed by the injury bug.
Randy Orton joins Alberto Del Rio as the latest addition to the injured list, after Tuesday night's "SmackDown!" tapings in Indianapolis. Orton was involved in a Falls Count Anywhere match with Wade Barrett, a match that had been highly anticipated for this week's broadcast.
Early reports coming from the event speculate that the former World Heayvweight Champion has suffered some form of back injury, possibly involving one or more discs in his back. As of 11:45pm CST on Tuesday, there has been no word as to how long Orton would be expected to be out of action. For now, Orton will be replaced by former WWE Champion Sheamus for upcoming WWE live events where Orton was scheduled to face Barrett in a series of streetfight matches.
Orton would join several WWE stars currently on the shelf with injuries or working through noted ailments. The aforementioned Alberto Del Rio is currently on the sideline due to a tear of his groin muscle, that will keep him out close to six weeks. The same groin tear is also keeping former World Heavyweight Champion and Texas native Mark Henry on the shelf. Henry lost the World Title to Big Show recently at the "TLC: Tables, Ladders, & Chairs" pay per view, before Show lost it to Money In The Bank winner Daniel Bryan only moments later.
Beth Phoenix tweeted a pair of pictures of her face following a recent match with Alicia Fox. The first pic showed significant swelling around her right eye, and the second one showed the bruising that followed.
Former WWE Champion The Miz suffered some sort of an injury to his shoulder during this week's edition of "Monday Night Raw," as he was attacked by the returning R-Truth. Miz was thrown into the ring steps by his former partner, who was returning after being gone for the last month. Reports are indicating that the shoulder is only bruised, and he shouldn't be forced to miss any significant ring time, if at all.
It's certainly a bad time to be flirting with the injury bug. With the new year approaching in just a matter of days, the annual "Royal Rumble" pay per view is also on the horizon. And you know all of the WWE stars will want to be healthy in time to compete in that event.
Orton's injury could easily be the most devastating of the current injury report. As WWE will definitely want to take every precaution with one of their top-tier stars. As more information becomes available about the injury, you can find it here.
In the meantime and on behalf of everyone at Examiner, we would like to wish all of you a very safe and Happy New Year!
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