Randy Orton stretchered out after Kevin Owens piledriver in WWE SmackDown injury angle
Kevin Owens delivered a piledriver to Randy Orton on Friday’s WWE SmackDown leading to an injury angle.
Orton called out Owens on Friday’s SmackDown after their Crown Jewel bout last Saturday never took place as the two brawled before it could kick off. Orton was shown storming to the ring, then demanded Owens come out for a confrontation.
The two brawled as officials tried to break up the physicality, but Owens put a punctuation mark on the segment by delivering a piledriver to Orton. Orton immediately sold his head and neck, and was carried out of the arena on a back board.
The angle marks the highest-profile usage of the piledriver in WWE since a February 2013 Raw match where CM Punk delivered the move to John Cena:
In the aftermath, Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes came to the ring to check on Orton, then was shown climbing into the ambulance with Orton.
Later in the show on commentary, Michael Cole noted that Orton was taken to “a local hospital” and was suffering from “undisclosed cervical injuries.”
The angle can be seen in the embedded video below.