10 WWE Wrestlers In A Worse Position Than This Time Last Year

Any time that Randy Orton finds himself in the WWE backseat, you get the strong impression that it's at least partly by choice, and if he wanted to return to the main event all he would have to do is knock on Vince McMahon's door and stare into his soul for a few brief moments.

That's to imply that The Viper probably won't be losing much sleep about being out of the SmackDown title picture heading into the biggest show of the year. He can rest easy in the comforting knowledge that he'll be one of the company's biggest stars for as long as he wants.

With that being said, there's no denying that he was enjoying a better time of things in the early part of 2017. He had just won the Royal Rumble, for one thing, and his subsequent feud with Bray Wyatt - though ultimately disappointing in its climax - was showing plenty of promise.

What happened between then and now is that Orton bumped into Jinder Mahal, a man with an unfortunate proclivity for making his opponents appear much worse than they actually are. He's like the exact opposite of Shawn Michaels, capable of having a one-star match with just about anyone.