The wait is almost over, and WWE is about to get two major names back on television. Randy Orton and Kevin Owens are both expected to return soon, but the bigger storyline is Orton: Dave Meltzer has said he could be back in the next week. After months of absences and reshuffled plans, that is not a small development. It is a signal that the main event picture on the blue brand may be about to change again.
That matters because Orton was not just another injured star sitting on the shelf. The latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter report says WWE changed a lot of plans because of his back, which tells you exactly how seriously the company viewed his absence. When a performer like Orton disappears, the whole card can start to wobble. The ripple effect is real, and WWE has clearly spent time working around it.
Orton's return could reshape the blue brand
The report also suggests that Orton's comeback could lead straight into the main event scene on the blue brand and perhaps even SummerSlam. That is where this gets interesting. If Orton is indeed returning in the next week, WWE is not simply getting a familiar name back for the sake of it. It is potentially reintroducing a top-level presence into a scene that has already had to adapt without him.
Kevin Owens is part of that same conversation, even if the timing is not framed quite as sharply in the report. The source says both men are expected back on WWE television soon, and Owens' last match came in March of 2025. That is a long enough gap for fans to feel the absence and for creative plans to move on without him. His return, alongside Orton's, gives WWE a chance to restore some star power in one move.
There is also the simple fact that returns of this size are rarely neutral. They change tone. They change pace. They change who looks important. And in a company that has already had to bend its plans once because of Orton's back, it would be no surprise if his return ends up forcing another rethink. That is not a problem. That is what happens when a genuine main event player comes back into circulation.
For now, the key detail is the timing. Orton could be back in the next week, and Owens is also expected soon. In WWE terms, that is not distant future territory. That is imminent. And if the report is right, the blue brand may be about to get a lot more interesting very quickly.
