WWE announced on Thursday’s edition of Smackdown that Brock Lesnar’s opponent for SummerSlam on August 21 will be none other than Randy Orton. None other!
Orton, a 12-time World Champion and sort of the Yang to John Cena’s Yin, has been on the shelf since suffering a shoulder injury back in October. The injury proved significant enough to require surgery, causing WWE to promote a WrestleMania card without him on it for the first time since WrestleMania 19.
SummerSlam will also be a return of sorts for Lesnar, who hasn’t appeared on WWE TV (outside of video game commercials) since decimating Dean Ambrose in a street fight at WrestleMania 32. Up first for Lesnar will be his highly publicized return to the world of mixed-martial arts as he’ll step into the octagon to face Mark Hunt at UFC 200 on July 9. Prepare yourself just in case Lesnar breaks an ankle in that fight, can’t compete at SummerSlam and the match ends up being Orton vs. John Cena. Just throwing that out there for you to stress about for the next two days.
Orton and Lesnar previously faced off almost 14 years ago (!!) on an episode of Smackdown. You can watch that below. Let’s hope Orton returns to WWE with that haircut.
