WWE has a backup plan for Roman Reigns at SummerSlam with Randy Orton injured

Reports state that WWE fears that Randy Orton will need to undergo surgery for his back injury and will be out of action until 2023.

WWE announced that Orton was hurt last month, but many fans thought that this was merely a storyline injury to allow him to take some time off.

That isn’t the case, and a new report has claimed that his injury is so serious he could be out of action for the remainder of the injury.

What makes this news even more difficult for WWE is that Orton was set to challenge Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at SummerSlam.

The match hadn’t been confirmed, but had been built to on TV, and reports slated that was what WWE was going to do for the big show on July 30.

The match obviously won’t be happening now, with WWE tasked with coming up with another idea for what will likely be Reigns’ first title defence on pay-per-view.

However, if Dave Meltzer is to be believed, then WWE already has a backup plan in plans with regards to Reigns’ direction for the event.

In the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Meltzer explains that WWE has a plan for Reigns at the show, but explains that it will not see him defend his title against Riddle, Randy’s tag team partner.

“There is a backup plan for Reigns but we were told at press time the plan was not Riddle.”

Of course, the plan could still be for Randy to face Reigns, but that would need Orton to undergo a miraculous recovery and avoid surgery, which at this stage, seems highly unlikely.

As of right now, there’s no word on what WWE’s plans are, but it has been speculated that Bobby Lashley could be picked to go for the title and challenge Reigns.

For more on what the future holds for Randy Orton and Roman Reigns, make sure you stay tuned