Randy Orton suffers storyline concussion, pulled from Elimination Chamber pay-per-view

Update by Keith Harris: Subscriber only posts on f4wonline.com have confirmed that the concussion is legitimate. This is far from the first concussion Orton has suffered during his career. Indeed, last year he suffered a concussion a week before the June WWE PPV Capital Punishment, but was still medically cleared to compete on the show after passing the ImPACT testing of WWE's medical director Dr. Joseph Maroon, which has come under fire as being "a huge scam" of late due to the unreliability of the test. Thankfully WWE are playing it safe this time, given Orton's history of neurological issues. Don't expect him to be out long however, with WrestleMania right round the corner.

During last night's RAW, Randy Orton was taken out along with Big Show at the hands -- and belt -- of our beloved nature-walking, vegan World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan. According to the folks at WWE.com, Orton suffered a concussion and will not be cleared to compete at this Sunday's Elimination Chamber. Here they are with some details:

Randy sustained head trauma following his match with Big Show, in which Daniel Bryan interfered, and he was evaluated in the training room immediately afterward," WWE physician Dr. Michael Sampson told WWE.com. "Due to his symptoms as well as his neurological evaluation, he was diagnosed with a concussion. We will be doing more testing to see how he's going to do as far as short term vs. long term.

Orton will not be cleared to compete in the World Heavyweight Championship Elimination Chamber Match this Sunday.

Whether Orton legitimately suffered some head trauma from taking some gold to the head (read: unlikely), needs to take some rest due to injury, or has been hanging out with Evan Bourne a little too much, this takes some of the star power out of Smackdown's Elimination Chamber bout this Sunday (Feb. 19). Hopefully Orton takes the time off to relax and heal, no matter what the reason. As for the open spot in the match, the WWE could be presenting us with more damaged goods. And we aren't talking about Eve after last night, folks!

Despite being suspended indefinitely by SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long on Feb. 3, Mark Henry has unexpectedly arrived at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif., for a SmackDown live event. The World’s Strongest Man’s arrival at the venue comes on the heels of news that Randy Orton is not medically cleared to compete in the World Heavyweight Championship Elimination Chamber Match this Sunday. On Raw SuperShow this past Monday, Orton suffered a concussion when World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan hit him over the head with his title.

And we go from one man who has taken quite a bit of rest from wear and tear to one who needs a lot of rest but can't catch a break. Go figure.

A dual-brand Battle Royale during tonight's (Feb. 14) Smackdown tapings to determine who would fill the empty slot left by Orton was held and won by ... Santino Marella? The result was later tweeted by Joey Styles.

This has certainly gotten ... interesting.