WWE comments on Randy Orton house show ‘injury’, which reportedly is a work (UPDATED)

As covered in our latest Rumor Roundup, Twitter was aflutter last night (Sun., Dec. 29) with talk that Randy Orton had suffered a knee injury at a house show in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The Viper’s match with AJ Styles was stopped after an attempted RKO spot, and he had to be helped to the back.

There was no comment from Orton or WWE last night, but the latter’s website posted the following update this morning:

Randy Orton undergoes medical evaluation following WWE Live Event

Amid various unconfirmed reports that Randy Orton sustained a leg injury during a match at WWE’s Live Event in Hershey, Pa., on Sunday night, WWE.com has learned that the 13-time World Champion is undergoing a medical evaluation. The extent of any potential injuries suffered by Orton is not yet known.

WWE.com will provide updates on this developing story as they become available.

It’s a fairly generic statement. Wrestling Observer says that’s because the storyline is a work:

“A knee injury suffered by Randy Orton at a WWE house show Sunday night is part of a storyline that will play out on TV according to Dave Meltzer.”

This would mark the second time in a week WWE has used a non-televised live event for a major development which will impact their television programming.

We’ll see if Orton’s story continues on Raw from Hartford, Connecticut tonight. Join us in our live blog to find out.

UPDATE: WWE is now officially advertising a promo segment from Randy for Raw where he will address the “medical evaluation”, so this definitely feels like kayfabe...