Fans have been speculating about what will come next for Randy Orton following his loss to Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 42.
One thing fans shouldn’t expect from Orton is his imminent retirement.
During an interview with The Schmo at Culture Kings Las Vegas before his bloody match with Rhodes, Orton revealed he still has four years left on his current WWE contract. Even after that, Orton anticipates taking a path forged by a certain WWE Hall of Famer with wrestling in special
matches at WrestleMania.
“I do have four years left on my contract and maybe when that’s over, I’ll get The Undertaker schedule and pop around for WrestleMania every year and then ride until the wheels fall off, literally,” Orton said to The Schmo.
Orton previously discussed his contract status in August of 2024 during an event to promote Bash in Berlin. During a promo segment, Orton revealed he had signed an extension, as well as stated his desire to surpass Ric Flair and John Cena’s records for the most world title reigns.
“I just signed a five-year extension to my contract,” Orton said at the time. I want that title, and I want to be a 15-time World Champion, and then a 16-time World Champion, and even a 17-time World Champion. And set yet another record here in the WWE.”
After last night’s Raw teased a possible match between Rhodes and CM Punk in the near future, Orton may be out of the title picture for the time being. Given the length of his contract, The Viper should have more championship opportunities, though. However, fans will most likely prefer he builds up to any such title matches without the help of Pat McAfee.
On Monday (as covered in Rumor Roundup), PWInsider reported that fans were nearly spared the unpopular angle involving McAfee. Instead, WWE Creative had — according to the report — discussed using Aleister Black in the storyline.
The idea that had reportedly been bandied about was Black would help Orton revert back to his Apex Predator persona. According to PWInsider, Orton would take on Black in a match before WrestleMania 42. During this proposed match, Orton would hold back on using the punt and possibly lose. He would then not hesitate in using the punt on Rhodes.
PWInsider noted it’s not clear how far Creative got with the idea involving Aleister, but it was obviously scrapped in favor of using McAfee, a decision that may have been pushed by WWE’s parent company, TKO.
What do you think about Orton’s future plans? Would you like to see him eventually overtake Cena’s record for world title reigns?
