It was reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter in late November that Randy Orton’s shoulder injury is very serious and so serious that it will likely keep him off of WrestleMania 32. Orton also found out that he will need minor neck surgery to clean up bone chips in his neck. Orton was told that his neck surgery would take place after doctors felt that he’s recovered enough from his shoulder surgery.
However, Orton took to Instagram to refute the reports that he is getting neck surgery. Orton wrote the following in the comments section of an Instagram post:
“I see many of you think I need neck surgery. I heard weeks ago that Meltzer stated it as a fact. I don’t keep up with gossip, so I didn’t think anything of it. As far as my shoulder, I was cut on 12/8. Things are ahead of schedule, and I’m pumped to get back to work. As far as my neck, and I’m only debunking this ‘fact’ for the sincerely concerned fans, I DONT need neck surgery. Remember, unless you hear about it on WWE.com, you really should take everything you read online concerning pro wrestling with a grain of salt.”
Keep in mind that Orton’s mentor, Ric Flair, had also stated several weeks ago that Orton would need neck surgery. Dave Meltzer discussed Orton’s status on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio. Basically, what happened with Orton was that he found out about a week ago that he did not need the neck surgery. Orton is expected back sometime between mid-March and May so, if he is ahead of schedule, then he could be back in time for WrestleMania.
Orton’s Instagram post follows WWE’s pattern of denying injuries. When Daniel Bryan was injured earlier this year, WWE flat out denied that he had a concussion but Bryan later admitted in an interview that he suffered a concussion. Wade Barrett has a shoulder injury but he was still included in a match on Raw a couple of weeks ago where he never took a bump.
