Since SummerSlam in August, Randy Orton has been a prominent part of the SmackDown brand. That will change as 2026 comes to an end.

Over the weekend at WWE Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia, Orton wrestled in a Last Man Standing match against Cody Rhodes. Rhodes and Orton have been feuding for most of 2026. They faced each other in the night one main event of WrestleMania and later in the year at Sunday Night's Main Event. The match at Crown Jewel was the rubber match.

After weeks of wondering whether or not he'd be able to pull the trigger on a punt kick to Orton, Rhodes found the range and crushed Orton in the skull with the kick. Orton wasn't able to make it to his feet by the ten-count in the ring and lost the match.

After the victory, Rhodes declared for the Team USA vs. Team Mexico match at Survivor Series, and on Monday Night Raw, Rhodes was named the captain of the team. Orton won't be a part of that match, however. In fact, he won't be a part of WWE at all for the rest of 2026.

Randy Orton to miss the rest of 2026

According to a new report from WrestleVotes, Orton will not be back in WWE until after Christmas, meaning he'll miss two major WWE events.

The first is Survivor Series at the end of this month. Right now, there are three matches scheduled for that show. 946 vs. Bloodline inside of WarGames, the traditional Survivor Series tag team match between Team USA and Team Mexico, and a WWE Women's World Heavyweight Championship match between Liv Morgan and Becky Lynch.

The other major event Orton will miss is Wrestlepalooza. This year's Wrestlepalooza event will take place in Australia during a major WWE weekend in Perth. Because of Orton's timeline, he will also not be able to compete in the inaugural John Cena Classic.

The report doesn't indicate why Orton will be missing the time. Obviously, it would be reasonable to think Orton is dealing with an injury of some kind. He also simply may be taking time off during the holiday season.

Orton missed some WWE time earlier this year coming out of WrestleMania, and returned with a vengeance at SummerSlam. He interfered in the Rhodes vs. Punk main event and cost Rhodes the match.