Why Has Randy Orton Been Off WWE TV?

Randy Orton has not competed inside of a WWE ring since he failed to qualify for the Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match back in June. In his absence, Riddle has continued to try and keep their friendship alive, first by trying to earn Orton a spot in the Ladder Match (he failed), then by channeling his moves (particularly the RKO) in matches. This week’s Raw saw Riddle wind up on the receiving end of a two-on-one attack from AJ Styles and Omos, prompting the fans in Kansas City to start chanting for “The Viper” to make the save.

So where has the former world champion been? Fightful Select reported last week that he was placed on the disabled/inactive list, though the exact reason was not given. That report had his return expected for the Aug. 2 episode of Raw, and new local advertising from the Allstate Arena in Chicago seemingly confirmed it. Orton is listed to take part in a six-man tag match alongside Riddle and Drew McIntyre, taking on Bobby Lashley, Styles and Omos in a dark match.

Riddle recently spoke about the unexpected success of RKBro in an interview with Alex McCarthy of TalkSport. It turns out Orton was a fan of the idea from the start.

“He was like ‘Hey, this RKBro thing you mentioned, it actually sounds pretty cool,’” Riddle said. “And I was like [speechless expression]. Nobody else thought it was cool, the only people who really thought it was cool was Randy and me. So then we pitched it and I don’t think it was supposed to have legs or last that long, but kind of like with me and Pete Dunne as the Broserweights, people saw our chemistry together in backstage segments, they know we can both go in the ring for days and here we are.”

“Vince [McMahon] loves it,” he added. “Bruce [Prichard] loves it. Everybody at the office loves it. The boys love it. They love it so much, they’re starting to hate it [laughs]. That’s how much they love it. … It was a team that nobody knew they wanted and now they need it.”