Randy Orton and Kevin Owens were going to have a featured match at WrestleMania 41, but Owens is out of action with an unfortunate neck injury. That left Orton without a match and a storyline where he demanded SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis find him an opponent. Who is the man who will step into that role? Rumors are flowing about who will take that spot, and here are the three names leading the way.
(3) Solo Sikoa
Solo Sikoa has no match at Mania, and he should have a match after the year he had on SmackDown as the cosplay Tribal Chief. He recently teased a match with Randy Orton after battling him in a tag team match with Jacob Fatu on SmackDown two weeks ago. While this is an underwhelming option for Orton's WrestleMania opponent on the surface, Orton did have beef with The Bloodline throughout the calendar year after they took him out of commission with his neck injury. Orton would actually have sufficient rationale to punt Sikoa as revenge, just like what he was going to do to Kevin Owens.
(2) Nick Aldis
Nick Aldis seems like an unlikely option since he is the general manager and has not competed inside the ring in quite some time. However, he did get RKO'd by Orton twice since the draft. Aldis had fined him for doing that at the start of Orton's tenure on SmackDown. However, Orton paid twice the fine to prematurely pay for his next RKO that he would inevitably deliver to Aldis. This was long-term booking in a nutshell when it comes to a superstar-authority angle. Also, if Orton punts Aldis and takes him out of commission, that would not be a problem because Aldis won't wrestle the next night.
(1) Sami Zayn
Sami Zayn would be the most poetic option to battle Orton at WrestleMania since he has a strong connection with Kevin Owens and was actually Owens' last PPV opponent before he got injured. Zayn deserves to be on the WrestleMania card, and it is peculiar that he has not been scheduled for anything substantial. He could make a good story here to blame Orton for KO's injury and turn heel in the process to make a rivalry with Orton more exciting. It might seem delusional for Zayn to support KO after KO manipulated him for years, but their close friendship will be an excuse for his actions.
Perhaps one of these names, or another big return will step into the role to face Randy Orton. Whoever answers the call, this will be a huge moment at WrestleMania 41.