The year 2018 is proving to be one where lots of returns and debuts are the big talking point.

One return which has dominated the headlines from all the way back in January is Rey Mysterio, with the former WWE Champion publicly revealing this week that he is in talks to sign a three-year deal to make a comeback.

COMEBACK

There's also talk about Dean Ambrose and his return, with sources revealing that he was spotted at the Performance Center which suggested he's on his way back - perhaps after SummerSlam.

Not only that, but there has also been a lot more discussions about the WWE snatching Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks to stop NJPW getting a strong foothold in the US, and their appearances on WWE's website recently have only fuelled those rumours.

However, it's not all great news as it was revealed on Thursday that Sami Zayn will be out of action until 2019.

One SmackDown LIVE star, however, is on the road to a return it seems, courtesy of an update from PWInsider.

According to Ringside News, Randy Orton has been spotted in Birmingham, Alabama where he's reportedly doing rehab.

This also happens to be the same city The Lunatic Fringe moved to when rehabbing his own injury after supposedly suffering from a setback.

THE VIPER

In May, it was reported that The Viper underwent surgery to repair a medial meniscus in his left knee, with the recovery time for this tear said to be at around two to three months.

With that in mind, the source has added that Orton's recent surgery means he will miss Extreme Rules, but it remains highly likely that he'll return shortly after that in July which will be perfect timing for him to build-up his SummerSlam feud.

Some optimistic fans on Twitter that have their hopes up have gone as far put as predicting that Orton could return on SmackDown LIVE to team up with Daniel Bryan in his strange new tag team feud opposite The Bludgeon Brothers.

The 38-year-old hasn't been seen on WWE programming since Backlash.

At that event, he failed to reclaim his United States Championship after losing to Jeff Hardy, so it remains to be seen which feud he can slot in upon his comeback.

A lot of fans have also wanted Orton to return as a heel, but with Samoa Joe, The Miz and Shinsuke Nakamura occupying those spots, it looks likely that The Viper will remain a protagonist upon his return.

Who should Randy Orton feud with heading into SummerSlam? Have YOUR say in the comments section below.

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