Is Randy Orton still in WWE?
Randy Orton hasn't been seen on WWE television since June 21st when he failed to qualify for the Men's Money in the Bank ladder match on RAW. It's been over a month now, and there has been a lot of speculation about Randy Orton's whereabouts and whether he is still in WWE.
The answer is yes, Randy Orton is still WWE. He signed a 5-year contract with WWE in November 2019, which means that he'll be with the company for 3 more years at the very least.
Randy Orton returned to RAW on the 9th August edition of the show. As for where Orton was, that was kept under wraps.
Last year, whenever any WWE superstar would quietly disappear, it was assumed that they had COVID-19 and that it was kept a secret from the public. Only a few names within the company were open about it.
Even the reason behind Keith Lee's sudden disappearance from February to July 2021 wasn't disclosed to anyone, although if it was just COVID-19, it's unlikely his hiatus would have lasted for nearly half a year.
Randy Orton's interesting 2021 run
Randy Orton's WWE run in 2021 has been a tale of two stories. For the first four months, it was a feud with Alexa Bliss and an underwhelming conclusion to his rivalry with Bray Wyatt, who wrestled his last match against Randy Orton at WrestleMania 37.
Post-WrestleMania, things have been more entertaining from a fan perspective. Randy Orton's odd-pairing tag team with Riddle (known as RK-Bro) has been a big hit so far, although their momentum has stalled with Randy Orton's absence in WWE for over a month.
It should be interesting to see how things play out with Riddle now that Randy Orton is back. It has the makings of an entertaining, long-term storyline