The Viper is poised to strike again. The 14-time World Champion has his sights set on WrestleMania 41, and he’s not coming alone.
At Friday’s WWE SmackDown taping from Bologna, Italy, Orton issued a challenge to his longtime rival Kevin Owens for a match at the upcoming event just 4 weeks away.
Owens came out in an RKO t-shirt and suggested that he and Orton team up at WrestleMania and make a run at the tag titles. Orton wasn’t having any of it, and the official challenge was laid down.
A Rivalry Renewed
The bad blood between the two superstars has been simmering for months, dating back to their brief alliance heading into last year’s WrestleMania 40.
The tensions between Orton and Owens reached a boiling point last summer at Bash in Berlin, where Owens brutally betrayed Cody Rhodes, sparking a vicious feud that eventually dragged in The Viper.
The two battled back and forth for months, culminating in a barbaric encounter at Survivor Series that left Orton with a serious neck injury.
Orton suffered cervical cord neurapraxia due to a package piledriver delivered by Owens during the match. The injury has kept The Apex Predator out of action for months, but now he’s ready to settle the score on the grandest stage of them all.
The Orton vs. Owens clash adds even more star power to an already stacked WrestleMania 41 lineup. The current card features world championship bouts like Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins vs. CM Punk and Jey Uso vs. Gunther, as well as a dream match between Cody Rhodes and John Cena.
