WWE Superstar Randy Orton has been out of action since late last year due to a bad shoulder injury. Orion, of course, already has hypermobile shoulders, which means a shoulder issue for The Viper is not always terrible as he will always have them. However, it may take him longer to heal up from a severe injury to the area. Ever since his last injury, Orton has done his best to make sure he doesn’t commit the same mistakes he did before.

He now has his own bus where he rides to each event, and he also ices his shoulders and hurt areas after each show as well. This seemed to help the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion. However, 2015 was a year of injuries for WWE Superstars, and 2016 has started off badly for talent as well. Due to seemingly sheer force of nature, people were hurt and Orton happened to be part of the list.

The rumor is that Orton hurt his shoulder taking out the trash at home, but most believe he was hurt in a match and things worsened at home for him. Regardless of how he hurt it, the thought was that we would see Randy Orton make his return to WWE later this month or early next month. He has been out since around October, and this would mark 8 months without seeing him compete with the WWE.

image via WWE

According to Ringside News, however, Orton will miss another two months. That means we may not see The Viper until possibly July. Due to Orton’s shoulder condition that already exists, there is a chance it is causing his recovery to take longer. However, it was a weird issue for WWE when it came to shoulder issues. Cesaro, John Cena, Sami Zayn, and Hideo Itami all had shoulder injuries that took place last year or early this year. Orton was part of this list.

John Cena ended up having a lot more issues than just a normal shoulder injury, but he is expected back around June. Itami was hurt last summer, but had complications which has caused his recovery to take longer. Cesaro and Zayn have already returned from their injuries, which leaves only Orton as the remaining main roster guy who was hurt last year and has yet to return to action.

This could be WWE being cautious with Randy Orton though. Most believe he is fine and many saw him during WrestleMania week where he looked okay. However, WWE had so many guys go down with shoulder injuries that hurrying someone back that does not need to be hurried back would be a bad idea. Orton has also stated that he would like a shorter schedule where he works full time for a number of months and takes an off-season of sorts for himself the rest of the time.

image via WWE

Something like eight months on, four months off could do wonders for someone like Orton who has been with WWE for well over a decade. He is still a valuable part of WWE and having him overworked would be bad. With someone who has a history of shoulder issues, having Randy Orton work a shorter schedule could only extend his career with WWE. He could very well be around another decade with something like that.

As for his return, nothing is planned, storyline-wise, for him. It seems obvious Randy Orton will be part of WWE SummerSlam, so WWE may hold off until the night after WWE Battleground if they want to make sure he’s fine. We’ll have to wait and see what they decide. For now, we do know he won’t be back as soon as originally hoped.

[Image via WWE]