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Orton was suspended in 2006 by the company for 60 days as well, later admitting in WWE Magazine he was suspended for smoking marijuana backstage in a locker room.
While discussing his anger management issues in the September 2006 issue of the Magazine, Orton said, "My problems came to a head when I decided to smoke a joint and someone smelled it and stooged me off. You know who you are, so if you're reading this, thanks. But I also had a few outbursts of anger on the road. I get loud and verbally abusive. But I've nipped that part of me in the bud. I attended an anger management clinic in Atlanta. It cost 15 grand for a four-week stay. I had to live down there on the campus. The first week I was there, I was like, OK, I'll do what I have to do to get out of here." But then I started to realize, wow, I was wrong in a lot of these situations. I just got this reputation of being hard to work with, being a d**k and everything in the book. But the truth is, I don't flip out anymore."
Orton will not be able to return to action for the company until 7/30, leaving him out of the next two planned WWE PPVs, the 7/3 Live Smackdown and the 7/23 Raw 1000th episode. That would put him back at the 7/30 Raw taping in Cincinnati, Ohio. In total, Orton will miss 35 scheduled WWE dates, including a number of house shows where he was in main event positions.
The loss of Orton hurts the Smackdown side of things from a storyline-perspective, but opens the doors for current World champion Sheamus to step up. The company has John Cena working Smackdown tapings for the next few months, which should offset the loss of Orton as well.
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