Video: Randy Orton suffers concussion on Raw but when?

This past Monday night (Feb. 13, 2012) on WWE Raw, Randy Orton suffered a concussion that has knocked him out of the Smackdown Elimination Chamber match this Sunday night at the pay-per-view of the same name.

When WWE broke news of all this, it came as a great surprise, especially considering the fact that it didn't appear as though anything that happened in Orton's match against Big Show could have done enough damage to actually cause a concussion.

The storyline explanation for the injury was Daniel Bryan hitting him in the head with the world heavyweight championship belt but that seemed like a mostly bogus explanation. Then again, if it didn't happen then, when did it happen?

WWE released video of the match and it sure looks like the second RKO was what did the trick. Let's take a look at the video after the jump.

As you can see, this is heavily edited. They cut the ending because Big Show botched the first attempted RKO finish by falling too early. If that wasn't bad enough, it would appear Orton's injury came on the second RKO, which was seemingly executed perfectly.

Shortly after it hits, Orton goes to stand up and stops when he gets to one knee. He doesn't look right as he slowly climbs to his feet and when he gets there, he looks shaky.

Immediately after, Bryan hits him with the belt in the back of his head, which he seems overly slow to react to. Plus, he doesn't sell it very well. When he finally hits the mat, he lays there for a while looking completely gone.

Upon repeated viewings, the belt shot doesn't look that bad. The RKO, meanwhile, looks as though it's the main culprit in giving Orton yet another concussion in a career full of them. That's an important point, too, because studies have shown that those who have suffered head injuries like that are more likely to suffer them via lesser impact in the future.

So not only did Big Show botch the finish on the first RKO, Orton ended up getting a concussion on the second one. Now, Santino Marella has been booked to take his place in the Elimination Chamber match. I'm as big a mark for Marella as anyone but his inclusion in the match is baffling and let's face it, makes it far less interesting.

Realistically, Orton was the only guy in the match other than Bryan who it seemed had a legitimate shot at winning. Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, Big Show, Great Khali and Santino are not getting the title put on them on the last major show before WrestleMania, which further shows how utterly maddening it is to even hold this event while the Royal Rumble winner, Sheamus, just waits around to challenge the winner of this match, which we can now be almost certain will be Bryan.

Orton will likely return for WrestleMania, even if it's a bad idea, because WWE will find a doctor to give him clearance to get him on the show. A triple threat match between Bryan, Sheamus and Orton still seems the most likely but we'll have to wait and see how they book things going forward.