Photo: Jitterymonkey

Bob Orton’s Health Is Fine

A strange rumor began making the rounds last night that “Ace Cowboy” Bob Orton had passed away. That is absolutely untrue.

Stuff about my dad is a rumor.

— Randy Orton (@RandyOrton) June 15, 2017

Orton is still scheduled to be in his son’s corner this Sunday at the Money In The Bank pay per view, which takes place in St. Louis, Randy’s hometown. A quick note that during his own career, Bob was billed as hailing from Kansas City. Randy was actually born in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, there is also a legends segment being planned for Sunday’s pay per view, which Bob is also scheduled to be a part of. Ric Flair, Baron Von Rasche, Greg Gagne, and Larry Hennig were the other confirmed names mentioned. There was also a bizarre story about Larry Matysik that I don’t know whether or not to believe. Up until the time Vince McMahon began expanding nationally, St. Louis was one of the most important cities for wrestling in this country.

Photo: WWE

Why Is John Cena a Free Agent?

As we all now know, John Cena is being billed as a “free agent” for his 4th of July return to SmackDown Live. Because that coincided with the news of Roman Reigns making a “SummerSlam announcement” next week on RAW, rumors of a Cena-Reigns match for SummerSlam began swirling. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, that match will NOT be happening, at least at SummerSlam. We reported earlier in the week that Cena may be challenging WWE Champion Jinder Mahal at WWE’s second biggest show of the year. The Reigns announcement may simply lead to an angle with the returning Braun Strowman.

The reason Cena is being billed as a “free agent,” at least according to the WON, is just to allow him to work against a wider array of opponents. I suppose that with him working such a limited schedule this year, WWE is looking to have Cena only work against the big names. Of course, billing him as a “free agent” and then having him challenge Mahal would seem needless as both are a part of the SmackDown roster.

Most Watched Shows on WWE Network This Week

According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, here were the 10 most viewed shows on the WWE Network over the past week:

1. Reborn by Fate: A short interview with Matt & Jeff Hardy
2. Extreme Rules
3. NXT on 6/7
4. Bring It to the Table on 6/12
5. Money in the Bank 2016
6. WrestleMania 33
7. Table for 3 with Orton, Sammartino and Flair
8. ECW Exposed with Heyman and Joey Styles
9. Backlash 2017
10. 205 Live on 6/6

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