From The WWE Rumor Mill: Randy Orton undergoes knee surgery 

What's the story?

Randy Orton was absent this week on SmackDown Live and hasn't been seen since he failed to reclaim his United States Championship at Backlash.

In case you didn't know...

Randy Orton has been working a much lighter schedule in recent months after his stint as WWE Champion last year and it appears that one of the perks of this schedule is that he doesn't have to tour with WWE.

Orton has been wrestling now for more than a decade on a full-time schedule so it makes sense that he's winding his career down and not being seen as one of the main stars in the company anymore.

The heart of the matter

Randy Orton has been a noticeable absentee from WWE shows over the past few weeks, and Wrestlingnews.co are reporting that The Viper underwent minor knee surgery last Tuesday, which is the main reason why he hasn't been on WWE TV since he lost his match with Jeff Hardy at Backlash.

Orton isn't expected to miss a lot of action because of this injury and should be back on TV in July. The former WWE Champion has been working fewer events recently so that he can allow his body to heal up from injuries and spend more time with his family, so he was expected to miss the current European Tour based on his schedule even if he wasn't struggling with an injury.

What's next?

Randy Orton isn't expected to miss SummerSlam which means that he will only be on the sidelined for a few weeks since the injury isn't considered to be a major one.

Author's take

Randy Orton has been one of the biggest stars in the company over the past decade and it appears that he is winding his career down now. Orton isn't as young as he used to be and his body is being affected much more by injuries, which could be why he's looking at a lighter schedule right now.

This injury isn't considered to be a huge setback, but it is one that will allow him to spend some time with his family until WWE needs him back on TV.