As the road to WrestleMania 41 continues, a number of top WWE Superstars have already got their plans ready for the big Easter weekend event in Las Vegas, Nevada, and according to a recent report, Randy Orton could already have some plans as well.
Orton has been away from the ring since November after WWE confirmed that "The Viper" had been diagnosed with acervical cord neurapraxia after taking a piledriver from Kevin Owens, but according to PWInsider Elite, Orton could be back in the mix in WWE sooner rather than later. PWI sources confirmed that people within WWE are expecting Orton to be back in the company by March, and that the current plan for him is to be back in action by the time WWE heads over to Europe for their "Road to WrestleMania" tour. This means that Orton would be back in time for WrestleMania itself; PWI believes a bout with Kevin Owens is the logical path, but that has yet to be confirmed as Owens will be in action this Saturday at Elimination Chamber in an unsanctioned match against Sami Zayn.
If Orton does compete at WrestleMania 41, it will mark his 19th appearance at WWE's biggest event of the year, further cementing his third place position behind Triple H with 23 appearances and The Undertaker with 27. Orton has only missing two WrestleMania shows (in 2016 and 2023) since his first WrestleMania in 2004.
As far as his rivalry with Owens is concerned, the two men actually formed an unlikely tag team heading into WrestleMania 40 that eventually blossomed into them helping Cody Rhodes fight The Bloodline. With that said, Owens' actions towards Rhodes after their initial match at Bash In Berlin led to him also turning on Orton, and once again putting "The Viper" on the shelf.
