Orton Out, Santino In

Randy Orton suffered an injury on Raw. The WWE is treating it as a concussion from Daniel Bryan. The reality might be the bad landing he took on the first botched RKO on Big Show. Orton is officially out of the Elimination Chamber match this Sunday.

Who is in? Smackdown was taped last night. They had a battle royal for Orton's spot. Santino Marella won. Santino? Yes, Santino. The centerpiece of Smackdown goes out with an injury days before a title match, and they replace him with a comedy character? To be fair, Santino is very over. I doubt a ton of people will buy the PPV just to see what he does. I wouldn't be surprised if the WWE screws him out of the shot, similar to how they did Kofi Kingston that one time. I would be surprised if they had him win the title.

Could they have gone with a better choice. Obviously, yes. Otunga was in the match. You might think I am joking when I say that, but he is being used in a credible way recently. If you are looking for a face to take Orton's spot, you could rush a face turn for Drew McIntyre, who has been in the kind of storyline recently that could have led to a face turn. In all honesty, there weren't a lot of great options. Rumors were swirling that they would replace Orton with Mark Henry, who was taken out of the match due to injury himself and replaced by The Great Khali, who many thought would never return as a regular. They brought back Henry to tease getting back into the match on Smackdown. This all just shows how thin the rosters are. A lot of injuries. There are options more credible than Santino, but I am not going to complain about this choice. He is probably the most over option available.

Randy Orton is injured. Just the other month, he had to take some time off from Smackdown. He came back in time for the Rumble and to finish his feud with Wade Barrett. I don't know how long he will be out. You also have to wonder what will happen if he returns too soon and gets injured again. It is a funny coincidence when you look at it. Edge was centerpiece of Smackdown last year. He had to retire due to a serious injury. Throughout his career, he has been injured numerous times. Orton was sent to Smackdown to be pushed as centerpiece. Orton has had a few injuries himself, but his recent luck is horrible. Looks like he really is following in Edge's path. And this is putting Smackdown in a difficult spot.