WWE Rumors on Randy Orton Return; Chris Jericho on Edge in AEW; Samoa Joe on CM Punk

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Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe and All Elite Wrestling.

Orton Reportedly in Great Shape Ahead of Potential Return

Future WWE Hall of Famer Randy Orton is reportedly preparing for his return to the ring after missing the past 16 months with a back injury.

After video surfaced on social media that seemingly showed Orton outside the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp confirmed that Orton has indeed been at the PC this week.

It was also reportedly by Fightful Select (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside News), that while Orton hadn’t yet been cleared to resume in-ring training as of early August, sources indicated The Viper had gotten “huge” thanks to his hard work in the gym.

If Orton is doing ring work at the Performance Center, it seemingly indicates that he may not be too far off from returning to WWE programming.

Prior to landing on the shelf, Orton was in a tag team with Matt Riddle called RK-Bro, and collectively they were one of the most beloved acts in WWE.

Orton and Riddle dropped the Raw Tag Team Championships to The Usos in a champion vs. champion match on a May 2022 episode of SmackDown, and The Usos put Orton through the announce table afterward, which was WWE’s way of writing him off television.

The most sensible move would likely be to bring Orton back as a babyface since fans would be excited to see the return of the Apex Predator, and that could make him a candidate to go up against The Bloodline.

The Bloodline was responsible for injuring him in a storyline sense, and Roman Reigns may need an opponent if he defends the undisputed WWE Universal Championship at Crown Jewel and Survivor Series in November, making Orton the ideal candidate if he can make it back by then.

Jericho Believes AEW Could Refresh Edge

Amid speculation that WWE Hall of Famer Edge could potentially make the leap to AEW, Chris Jericho made a case in favor of the move.

During an appearance on the Superstar Crossover podcast (h/t Upton), Jericho was asked about Edge possibly signing with AEW, and he explained why he feels it would make sense from Edge’s perspective:

“Well, I mean, who’s to say for sure? But if you look at Chris Jericho, for example, where I was in WWE, there really wasn’t much more that I could do there. You’re there for many years, and you’ve wrestled everybody, and it’s great. But it’s always good to shock people, and to show up with a new kind of mission.

“So I think somebody like Edge, you know, there’s a lot of guys over [in WWE] like this. They’ve kind of done everything they can do there. For him to come to AEW with a whole fresh new coat of paint, a whole new roster of matches that he can have, obviously a new name, which would then, knowing him, knowing me, what I would do is a whole new look—a whole new mindset. That’s the best thing about having AEW and about us being as successful as we are, is that there’s now a viable alternative. I don’t wanna say, competitor, because it’s not that, but you can now go to either company.”

Last month, Edge wrestled what he said was the final match of his current WWE contract, defeating Sheamus on SmackDown in his hometown of Toronto.

The Rated-R Superstar went on to confirm that his contract officially expires at the end of September, which generated plenty of discussion about whether he might consider jumping ship to AEW.

PWTorch’s Wade Keller reported that Edge “presented to WWE what it would take to retain his services, but WWE declined to meet his request,” before adding that people within WWE expected him to sign with AEW as a result.

In a video posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, Edge refuted the part of the report about WWE rejecting his requests, saying: “There’s nothing going on. There’s no hard feelings between me and WWE. I love WWE, it’s my dream gig. It’s all I ever wanted to do. I didn’t come at them with some crazy contract or anything, they didn’t deny me. I have a contract extension sitting in my inbox, I just don’t know what to do.”

Edge suggested that retirement was among his considerations since he was unsure if he would be able to top the match he had with Sheamus.

However, if Edge wants to continue wrestling and doesn’t want to do it in WWE, AEW would be his best option.

He has several close friends in AEW, such as Christian Cage, FTR and Jericho, plus there would be plenty of potential for intriguing matchups, as Jericho alluded to.

Jericho essentially did it all in WWE before opting to be part of AEW’s formation, and that decision has likely added longevity to Jericho’s career. Since Edge is in a similar situation, it is possible he could follow that same path.

Samoa Joe Talks Perception of CM Punk

Samoa Joe gave his thoughts on CM Punk this week following Punk’s recent firing from AEW.

In an interview with Joseph Staszewski of the New York Post, Joe was asked if he feels Punk is misunderstood as a person, to which he replied:

“I’d imagine there are tons of things that are misunderstood or portrayed about him. Now, what those things are it’s who’s representing in what way. I can’t really give you a blanket statement as far as what those things are. For the most part, our relationship has been very, especially for these years, has been very non-wrestling related. It’s just been extraneous stuff outside of the world of wrestling and talking about life stuff.”

At AEW All In last month in London, Punk competed in his final match for the promotion, beating Joe to retain the “real” AEW World Championship.

According to multiple accounts, Punk got into a physical altercation with “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry backstage before the match, ultimately leading to the decision to terminate Punk’s contract.

After Punk left WWE in January 2014, he stayed out of pro wrestling until 2021 when he signed with AEW amid a ton of fanfare.

Punk went on to become a two-time AEW world champion and had numerous great matches and rivalries, but backstage issues were seemingly the deathblow to his time with the company.

For essentially his entire career, Punk has never been afraid to speak his mind and stand up for what he believes in, and that has at times made for a reputation that he is difficult to work with.

There has been a great deal of speculation regarding whether Punk might sign with WWE now that he is done with WWE, and whether or not that happens may come down to how WWE perceives Punk and his ability to fit into the locker room without causing drama.

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