— Randy Orton has been sidelined since mid May while dealing with a back injury and it appears WWE is preparing for a worse case scenario where he won’t be back for a while. Fightfulselect.com reports that Orton’s back has gotten “progressively worse” despite work/rehab being done on it and WWE fears that he may ultimately need to undergo surgery. If that happens, Orton would likely be sidelined for the rest of the year.

— While initially rumored to be Roman Reigns’ SummerSlam opponent, the report adds that because of the uncertainty surrounding his back injury, WWE has left Orton out of creative plans at the moment, putting his “huge role” for summer on hold. While there is no definite word on if surgery will be required, WWE has made alternative creative plans should Orton remain sidelined through the summer. At the time of this report, neither WWE nor Orton has made any statement or comment on his status.