KEY POINTS

  • The WWE Live event took place in Hersey, Pennsylvania
  • Randy Orton suffered a severe knee injury Sunday night
  • The incident reportedly was not scripted by the WWE Company

When the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Raw tour made a pit stop in Hersey, Pennsylvania, on Sunday night, two former champions, Randy Orton and AJ Styles went one on one.

However, an injury to Orton forced the match to stop only minutes after the WWE live event had started. While there was no information on how serious his apparent knee injury was, it looked pretty bad as Orton could not finish the fight. Several fans from the audience took to social media to report the incident.

Orton, who needed help to return to the backstage, had been working with AJ Styles on a program for a while now that was supposedly a lead-up to their fight at the Royal Rumble in January. According to news reports, the incident was not scripted by the WWE Company and Orton suffered a severe injury for real.

Injuries at house shows are anyway not new anymore. One of the superstars who had injured himself at a WWE live event was Royal Rumble’s current champion, Seth Rollins, who also had suffered a serious knee injury. Apart from these two, there have been several WWE Superstars who have been hurt at non-televised events.

Since Orton’s current situation is not known yet, his appearance at the final Raw of the decade, scheduled to take place at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut, on Monday, is doubtful now.

WWE
The WWE logo hangs on a wall at a media conference announcing the all-star lineup of WWE WrestleMania XIX at ESPN Zone in Times Square in New York City, March 18, 2003. Mark Mainz/Getty Images

The worst for the WWE Company could happen if Orton is forced to be out of action for a long period of time and that would require a major shift in the storyline. If Orton does go out for a while, it will mean, AJ Styles will have to be moved on to another feud as early as Monday.

The 39-year-old Orton has been one of the nost consistent performers at WWE’s promotion events for close to two decades now. Even though he is not associated with any main event angle at present, his presence at WWE Raw will certainly be missed, if he misses a lot of action due to the knee injury at all.

In another news from the WWE, a tag team is likely to split with one of the superstars from the team in line for a singles push.

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