Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Orton: What's Next for Each Star After WWE SummerSlam?

WWE SummerSlam 2016's main event ended in chaos when Brock Lesnar forced a stoppage in his match with Randy Orton thanks to a vicious assault, and it asks serious questions about where both men are headed next.

Neither man being pinned should mean both come out of the pay-per-view looking relatively strong. But Orton was made to look weak at the hands of Lesnar, who himself looks in a real state of flux about what he does next.

With SummerSlam still fresh in the memory, here's what could be in store for both guys as we head out of the biggest show of the summer.

Brock Lesnar

Looking at Lesnar's schedule last year (per ProFightDB.com), he didn't fight after SummerSlam 2015 until October, when he headed to Tokyo before competing at Hell in a Cell.

SummerSlam last year saw him lose to The Undertaker to square up their miniseries before he returned later in the year for the decider.

But it's difficult to gauge whether Lesnar will be around more or less this year after what happened Sunday night.

First of all, there has to be some form of address concerning the ending of the match and Lesnar's mutilation of Orton, which looked way beyond something that was scripted.

The amount of blood Orton shed cannot have been in the booking for the match, nor can the way Lesnar took to Orton's head in the closing stages of that bout.

So WWE has to have Paul Heyman come out and address the situation, but with Shane McMahon getting involved, too, it could continue the brand warfare we've seen lately.

This might lead to Shane coming out and telling Heyman who his next SmackDown pick is for Lesnar, creating a separate storyline where Lesnar is seemingly taking on the whole of the blue brand.

At this stage, it's difficult to predict who Lesnar will fight next. The easiest thing to predict is that he may well take a break, but the ending to SummerSlam will not go away quietly. It will be addressed on Raw on Monday night, and then we'll get a clearer idea of what is in store for Lesnar.

What is obvious, though, is that Lesnar's popularity is certainly changing:

"

I'm SO over Brock Lesnar. You should be too. #Summerslam

— NAI's Bill Neville (@BillNevilleNAI) August 22, 2016"

Randy Orton

With Randy Orton being a permanent member of the WWE roster, his future is slightly easier to predict.

Could WWE have the two guys go around again? Perhaps. You look at the WWE World Heavyweight Championship picture as it is, and it's hard to find a way into it for Orton, especially with a babyface as champion.

So that means Orton either gets another shot at Lesnar, or he sets his sights elsewhere. To work out who he could fight, though, you have to eliminate a number of big names.

AJ Styles is arguably SmackDown's biggest heel now, but he should be moving into the title picture, leaving Orton behind.

What other heels are there on the blue brand? There is Bray Wyatt, who didn't even compete at SummerSlam and looks to be in limbo at the moment.

"

They teased Wyatt/Orton on Smackdown, and now I see a reason: Wyatt is about calling out false idols and Orton just exposed himself as one.

— Head Bee Guy (@RickyClassicPhD) August 22, 2016"

An Orton-Wyatt feud would tick a lot of boxes. It would certainly help to elevate both men, and it would be a big rivalry for SmackDown to have as it heads toward its first brand-exclusive show later this year.

It would keep both busy until the scene changes in regard to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, and it would also give Orton a quick way to get back on the horse after being decimated by Lesnar.

Don't rule out Orton vs. Lesnar II, but right now, the safer bet is Orton heading into a full-time feud on the blue brand with someone like Wyatt.