WWE News: Randy Orton Pulled from Elimination Chamber 2012, Replacement Revealed

According to the members-only section of F4WOnline.com, there is breaking news as it relates to the 2012 Elimination Chamber pay-per-view:

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"Randy Orton was injured last night in his match with Big Show. No details are available, but it appears he will be out of Sunday's PPV and replaced by Mark Henry, who is being called back early due to depth issues."

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Suffice it to say this is a major blow to the SmackDown chamber match. Along with Daniel Bryan, Orton, by virtue of his star power, was no doubt going to be a main focus of the bout.

Now that "The Viper" is reportedly out of the match, most of the responsibility to ensure a dramatic contest falls on the diminutive shoulders of the world heavyweight champion Daniel Bryan.

Given the fact that The Great Khali and Mark Henry are practically immobile, Wade Barrett and Cody Rhodes will have to work extra hard so the gimmick affair won't suffer too badly from an in-ring standpoint. Not to mention, The Big Show will have to pull his weight as well—roughly 450 lbs. worth.

As for the ramifications of "The Apex's Predator's" mysterious injury, we'll have to wait and see until more details are released. A notable observation to make, however, is that he must be hurting more than Henry, who, despite knee and groin problems of his own, will sacrifice his long-term health to return prematurely.

Taking into account Orton's injury history, one might assume the culprit keeping him out of the Elimination Chamber event to be a recurring issue with his right shoulder. Over the last several years, it has periodically aggravated him since he originally hurt it a mere few weeks into his WWE debut.

If one were to speculate, "The Viper" may have again re-injured it either during the DDT or "RKO" spot (botched or normal version) in his Raw clash with The Big Show.

Ultimately, as WrestleMania 28 approaches, it will be interesting to see how Orton's injury affects the card, if at all.

Update: Apparently, the company has done a 180 at the last minute and decided to go with Santino Marella, instead of the still-injured Henry, as the substitute for Orton.

That being said, the WWE's plans usually change—sometimes continuously—leaving the door open for the possibility that Santino may eventually be switched with Henry after all, perhaps as late as the actual PPV broadcast.

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