The already thin WWE roster suffered another blow with the announcement that Randy Orton will serve a 60 day suspension. The censure is in response to his 2nd violation of the company's wellness policy and it will keep him out of action until August.
Without Orton to serve as the main draw for Smackdown or to participate in main event level feuds, WWE will once again be forced to push mid-card talent into more prominent roles.
The company is already without part-time stars Brock Lesnar and "The Rock" for the majority of the summer. Triple H is expected to wrestle at least one more match in 2012, but isn't likely to return for several more weeks in order to sell the (storyline) injuries he sustained at the hands of Lesnar. Heel character Wade Barrett is also still on the shelf after suffering an injury this past winter amidst a sizeable push.
To compound the issue, the "Lord Tensai" character is reportedly not impressing WWE officials. Therefore, they won't be using him in any prominent feuds in the near future.
So who's left? The lack of true brand restriction will allow WWE to shuffle CM Punk and John Cena onto their Friday night broadcasting, but there may still be booking issues without yet another top star to carry angles.
With the current World Title pictures currently taken care of, you may see more emphasis put on the Christian/Cody Rhodes feud for the Intercontinental Championship than was originally planned.
The other mid-card title, the U.S. Championship, has been stuck in limbo while it sits with Santino Marella. WWE made the right move by allowing Marella to actually put together impressive matches, but his character will not be able to carry out a rating boosting feud.
So the current contender to take Orton's spot? The answer is either Rhodes or Dolph Ziggler.
Both wrestlers have been inline for a shot at a top billing feud for several months. Rhodes would need to quickly end his storyline with Christian (which isn't unlikely being a simple loss in his title rematch could close the book on it) and move on to challenging either Sheamus or CM Punk.
Ziggler may have been put in the driver's seat on this past Monday's Raw when he appeared to walk out on the Vickie Guerro Stable. If he is going solo, it may finally be Ziggler's time to take a spot as a top heel.
Orton will likely return in time for SummerSlam, but his absence to this point will almost certainly effect his push upon return. He missed time earlier this year due to injury and it cost him a shot at the World Heavyweight Title at the Elimination Chamber PPV.
A month later, he lost one of the lesser hyped Wrestlemania 28 matches to Kane, who despite being a fan favorite, is usually used to get superstars like Orton over.
