At the moment, SmackDown's World Heavyweight Championship match is set as a standard singles match between the champion, Daniel Bryan, and the challenger, Sheamus. I would say that this one is not set in stone because not much has happened on screen to create a natural rivalry between the two. There is still room to set a new stipulation or, possibly, another challenger or challengers. Things could very well stay as they are, however, there is one SmackDown superstar in particular that would not surprise anyone if he got involved in this feud: Randy Orton.
Orton, for all intensive purposes, is considered a bigger babyface in the company than Sheamus. He has more of a pedigree and gets larger reactions than him. I would say the only two faces as big or bigger than Orton among regular competitors are John Cena and CM Punk. Orton suffered a concussion on February 13th and was removed from the Elimination Chamber because of it. Otherwise, Orton may very well have won World Heavyweight Championship at the Chamber. He is currently scheduled to be re-evaluated on February 27th, meaning he could return to action as early as next week's RAW.
Randy Orton has no scheduled Wrestlemania match at the moment nor is there much rumor as to who he could face. Rest assured, WWE will find a place on the card for one of their top stars. The question is where.
Could Orton possibly enter the world title feud and make it a triple threat match (or possibly a fatal four way if a heel enters as well)? Yes. I would even go so far as to say that Orton has motivation. The concussion that Orton suffered came in a match against the Big Show on RAW. Although I don't think a single instance in that match has ever been pin pointed as to where the concussion actually happened, the kayfabe reason is due to the post-match assault from Daniel Bryan. Bryan hit both Orton and Show over the head with the world title. Therefore, it could be said that Bryan costed Orton a world title opportunity and Orton has reason for retaliation. If he were to return on RAW next week or the Tuesday SmackDown taping and assault Bryan, it'd be very believable.
If Orton stays out of the main event picture, he may end up as part of the developing feud between Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and Interim General Manager of RAW, John Laurinaitis, and SmackDown General Manager, Teddy Long. Where this meaningless feud is headed, no one knows. It may result in Long and Laurinaitis actually having a match at Mania (God forbid). However, there is a rumored Survivor Series styled tag match budding from this. The concept would be either an 8-man or 10-man tag team elimination match. One team would be dubbed "Team Long" (faces) and the other would be "Team Laurinaitis" (heels). The idea would feature a "winner take all" stipulation where the winning team's representative general manger would become full-time general manager of both RAW and SmackDown. Of course, this is just a rumor and may not happen. Personally, choosing between the elimination tag match or just Laurinaitis vs. Long is like choosing which way you want to die. They both sound excruciating and unnecessary. I suppose I'd rather take the singles match. That would take up less time and free up notable competitors like Orton (and CHRISTIAN) to do something more worthwhile for Wrestlemania.
There has long been talk of a Money in the Bank match occurring at this Wrestlemania, but that has died down recently; possibly due to the Team Long vs. Team Laurinaitis rumor picking up steam. If it does happen, I would think Orton would be a shoo-in just to give the match some star power. This match would also free up other notable names such as Christian, Alberto Del Rio, Dolph Ziggler, Kofi Kingston and possibly Zack Ryder to get away from the Long vs. Laurinaitis feud of pointlessness (which is what I'm hoping for as a Christian fan).
The final possibility is a standard feud and singles match with a heel - just as Orton had one year ago with then leader of the New Nexus, CM Punk. I feel this is the
least likely course of action. If Orton were to have a feud, it'd likely have to be with a heel from SmackDown. That includes Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, Mark Henry and Christian. The problem? Those are literally the past four guys Orton has feuded with since last summer and he went over all of them but Henry. Additionally, Rhodes may be in a budding program with the Big Show (likely dependent on whether Show vs. Shaq actually happens), and Barrett just suffered a dislocated elbow earlier this week and may not be ready in time for Wrestlemania at all.
Why do I focus on Randy Orton so much? To me, Orton is a linchpin as far as the rest of Wrestlemania's card is concerned. What is done with him in the coming two weeks will likely indicate what is to be done with others' favorite wrestlers such as Dolph Ziggler, The Miz, Kofi Kingston, and, my own favorite, Christian. If Orton returns to television next week and gets involved with Daniel Bryan and Sheamus, that could open the door for one or maybe two other wrestlers to get into the world title match as well. If he gets pulled into the Long vs. Laurinaitis feud, it would be a strong indicator that the tag team match will likely come to fruition. If he sits back and has a random singles match or two on RAW or SmackDown, it may be a sign that he and others are being kept out of the Long/Laurinaitis angle and thus, a MITB match may take place.
As someone with a vested interest in what Christian's Road to Wrestlemania will look like, I care very much as to how Orton will be used. Also, as someone who is strongly hoping that Christian does not become a permanent fixture in this GM angle, I would like to see Orton stay as far away from Long and Laurinaitis as possible when he returns.
Mark my words, Randy Orton will be the first domino to fall in the creation of the rest of the Wrestlemania card.
SmackDown starts off with the Peep Show. Basically Christian asks Long and Laurinaitis to convince him to join one of their teams.
