7 Reasons Randy Orton Should Return to WWE

As a pro wrestling fan and writer, I've come across a number of ridiculous rumors and reports.

But one recent rumor may trump them all.

According to F4WOnline.com (via WrestlingInc.com), Randy Orton's future in the WWE is reportedly in jeopardy after his recent 60-day suspension for violating the WWE Talent Wellness Program.

Of course, I find this report to be absurd, and I honestly don't see any way that the WWE would actually fire Orton, unless he were to fail another Wellness Test.

At least in my view, Orton should and will return to the WWE once his suspension is over.

Here are seven reasons why I think that.

7. TNA Shouldn't Even Be a Real Possibility

Randy Orton to TNA shouldn't even be a real possibility on the part of all parties involved.

Orton shouldn't (and likely wouldn't) go to a company that's had little to no growth despite all the things it's done to try to do just that, TNA shouldn't want to shell out on an insane amount of money for Orton (especially when doing the same for guys like Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan has had little to no return) and the WWE shouldn't let one of its biggest stars leave the company.

While many have speculated that Orton trading his spot on SmackDown for a spot on Impact Wrestling is possible, I find this laughable.

TNA is not WCW in 1996 (insert your jokes here). If it was, I'd say, "Sure, Orton. Go to TNA and see what happens."

But Orton will get absolutely nothing out of TNA, while I'm sure that TNA would have no idea how to use him correctly.

So, can we please just scratch this Orton to TNA talk altogether?

It's NOT happening.

6. Why Wouldn't He?

A lot of fans have claimed that Randy Orton should not return to the WWE for a number of reasons.

One of the biggest ones is that Orton has a lucrative contract, and given that he now has two wellness strikes, the WWE will only push him as a midcarder upon his return, meaning that his hefty salary is just too much to pay for a midcard talent.

But when you really think about it, it's hard to think of a boatload of reasons why the WWE wouldn't want Orton and vice versa.

That's why I sum up this debate with one simple question: Why wouldn't Orton return to the WWE?

Because he failed a second wellness test? That's it?

That's really the only ammo that pro-firing Orton fans have, as there are virtually no other legitimate reasons why Orton and the WWE should part ways.

Remember: WWE stars get fired after their third failed wellness test, not their second.

5. He's in the Prime of His Career

Randy Orton is smack dab in the middle of the prime of his career.

At 32 years old, he's at the perfect age where he has enough experience to where he's no longer green while also still having the physical ability to put on consistently great matches.

The early-to-mid 30s is when WWE stars typically have the best years of their carer, and that's never been more evident than with Orton.

While he's been main eventing pay-per-views for the better part of the last decade, it wasn't until 2011 that he truly became one of the very best in-ring performers in pro wrestling.

Ever since that feud with Christian, he's delivered great match after great match with a wide variety of opponents.

I don't care if he failed a wellness test or not.

If you're the WWE, you don't even consider not bringing Orton back when he's at the peak of what's already been a fantastic career hover the last decade.

4. He Can't Be Replaced

Vince McMahon has this mindset that he can plug anyone into the WWE machine and turn him into a star.

But oh, how untrue that is.

As evidenced by the WWE's recent struggles in creating new megastars, you can't simply create a star overnight. It's a long process that takes a lot of time and hard work, if it even happens.

Over the last few years, the WWE has tried to create these new stars on many occasions, but most have failed.

One who hasn't failed as a top star? Randy Orton.

He has developed into one of the WWE's best all-around performers. He can work as a face or heel, put on great matches each and every week, has arguably the best in-ring psychology in the business and is over like rover with the fans.

As much as Vince likes to think that he could simply replace Orton if he had to, that's just, well, impossible.

Orton cannot and will not ever be replaced.

3. He's the No. 3 Star in the Company

Here's an analogy for you.

The two teams currently playing in the NBA Finals, the Miami Heat and the Oklahoma City Thunder, both have their own "Big Three" or trio of great players.

For OKC, it's Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden (in order from most important star to least important star), and for MIA, it's LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh (also in order of importance).

Now, do you think that the Thunder would release or trade Harden if he got himself suspended for five games? Would the Heat do the same to Bosh?

The answer: Hell no!

Oklahoma City wouldn't release a great player like Harden for one simple mistake, just like Miami wouldn't release Bosh for one simple mistake.

See where I'm going here?

Randy Orton also made a mistake when he failed that wellness test, and it's borderline absurd to think that the WWE would even consider not bringing him back because of it.

Orton is the No. 3 star in the WWE, and just like Harden and Bosh, he's too valuable to release just because of his first mishap in several years.

2. The Case of Jeff Hardy

Many wrestling fans have argued that Randy Orton should be released because he now has two Wellness strikes, and thus, it will be hard for the WWE to give him a major push when he's one more failed test away from termination.

But all I say to those people is to look back at the case of Jeff Hardy just four years ago. 

In March 2008, Hardy was suspended for 60 days for his first violation of the Talent Wellness Program. He served out his suspension and lost a lot of money because of it, but when he returned to the WWE just a couple of months later, guess what happened?

Hardy wound up right back where he was prior to his suspension: At the top of the company as one of its biggest baby faces.

Well, technically Hardy rose to an even higher spot on the card than he ever had previously. Not long after his return from suspension, he competed for the WWE title on multiple PPVs, and in December 2008, he won his first-ever WWE Championship.

So, please, no one tell me that two wellness strikes has screwed Orton for good.

Hardy proves that that simply isn't the case, and that Orton will be brought back to the WWE and rebound from his suspension rather quickly.

1. The WWE Needs Him (Especially Right Now)

If the WWE was loaded with major main event names, releasing Randy Orton might be a legitimate possibility.

But it's not, especially at this very moment.

The WWE only has two household names right now (CM Punk and John Cena), while other big names are suspended (Chris Jericho and Rey Mysterio), a ton are simply part-timers (Undertaker, Triple H, The Rock and Brock Lesnar) and a number of guys are injured (Alberto Del Rio, Wade Barrett, Mark Henry, etc.).

The main roster is as thin right now as it has been any point in recent memory, and the recent programming has suffered considerably as a result.

So, just imagine what happens if you combine all the injuries, suspensions and part-timers and then decide that you want to release Orton, too.

Good lord, would that be a catastrophic mistake or what?

The WWE really needs Orton right now, and in fact, it needs him now more than ever.

Drake Oz is a WWE Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter and ask him any wrestling-related questions on Formspring.