WWE’s WrestleMania 37 Plans Reportedly Involve Randy Orton as WWE Champion

Randy Orton walked out of Hell in a Cell on Sunday night as the new WWE Champion. And based on the latest reports from Dave Meltzer via Wrestling Observer Radio, WWE is planning on keeping the title on “The Viper” until at least WrestleMania 37. According to Meltzer, Orton is penciled in to face Edge in the finale of their trilogy next March with the company’s top prize on the line. Edge won their first encounter in a Last Man Standing match at WrestleMania 36, then suffered a torn tricep in their “Greatest Match of All Time” rematch at Backlash.

“I certainly was given the impression tonight that Orton and Edge is the direction right now for [the WWE] championship,” Meltzer said.

The timetable on Edge’s injury return makes it possible for him to wrestle at WrestleMania 37, though he did say in a recent interview with Busted Open Radio that the recovery process wasn’t happening as quickly as he hoped.

“I don’t know. It’s a learning process because I’m going to be 47 next month, so I didn’t know how I heal from injuries, surgeries [and] things like that. It’s a slow process. I’m not going to lie. The triceps is a different thing. I got back from an Achilles in six months, but I was 35 doing that, so at 10 plus years, I don’t know,” he said. It’s a different thing. You don’t realize how much your triceps is involved in almost everything you do in terms of arm movement.

“So, I don’t know yet. I know it’s a lot slower than I thought it was going to be because I just have this mentality of, ‘Right. No big deal. Surgery, PT and we grind through it, we break down the scar tissue and off we go.’ So, I don’t know if it’s the injury itself [or] if it’s I’m a little older, I don’t know what it is, but it’s not as fast as I would’ve liked,” he continued.

It’s also worth noting that Edge will be 47 by the time WrestleMania roles around, while Orton will be days away from turning 41. The report also made no mention of Drew McIntyre, who won the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 36 and held it for more than 200 days.