Did WWE Drop The Ball With Orton's Rumble Return?

[Cleavo77]

First off, if you wanna merge this thread, idc. Frankly I'm sick of all the switching you admins do with people's threads, not just mine. Free speech is a hell of a thing isn't it? If anyone agrees with me I'd love the rep to hear about it (Good or bad)

NOW, onto business.

I feel like WWE seriously dropped the ball announcing Orton's participation in the Rumble this Sunday. He is the biggest face on Smackdown, and #3 in the WWE behind Punk and Cena. Could you imagine this...

Royal Rumble, St. Louis, Missouri.

Announcers mention once or twice how hard it must be for Orton to be watching this being that he was in the best shape of his life.

Jericho, Sheamus, Miz left in the ring.

#30 - Buzzer goes off...."I hear voices in my head" Arena ERUPTS.

Orton comes in and clears out Miz and Sheamus. Jericho and Orton face off.

Orton hits Jericho hard with a scoop slam. Seethes for the RKO. Barrett's music hits and he comes rushing to the ring. He gets in the ring and Orton hits him with an RKO. Crowd goes wild. Orton gets up and turns right around into a code breaker, he stumbles and Jericho drop kicks him out of the ring to win.

JERICHO IS GOING TO WRESTLEMANIA TO FACE CM PUNK FOR THE WWE CHAMPIONSHIP!

This frees up Barrett and Orton to continue their feud. Barrett can use a weapon against Orton in the Elimination Chamber behind the refs back. Orton can beat Bryan for the right to face Barrett at WM. Orton goes on to WM to beat Barrett for the Championship and end the story line between them.

SO...

What do you all think? Did they drop the ball announcing his return? Should they have left it a surprise? Let's hear it!

 

[The Brain]

First off, the comment about the admins was completely unnecessary and the free speech thing is irrelevant.

NOW, on to business

I agree with you. Well partially anyway. I think Orton's return should have been as a surprise entrance at the Rumble. That's even if it wasn't in St. Louis but the fact that it's in his home town is icing on the cake. He's only been out for two weeks and Smackdown can survive one more show without him. A surprise rumble entry would have been a nice way to bring him back.

I don't know about the rest of the details. I don't think he needs to be number 30. A random number would be fine. Orton vs. Barrett at mania might be ok but I haven't thought that far ahead yet. Either way returning on Smackdown is a waste for what could have been a nice ppv moment.

 

[Peoples_Champ]

Its all about PPV buys. More people will buy the PPV knowing Orton will be appearing. WWE did the smartest thing possible by leaving his return until two days before the PPV, giving kids enough time to convince their parents to buy the PPV.

 

[Rising Savior]

Did wwe drop the ball with Randy Orton not returning at the royal rumble? Absolutely not! What type of question is that? Orton's only been gone what about three weeks? That's not long at all. It's not like it's an Edge situation where he was gone for about seven or eight months, then I would say he should return at the rumble. But three weeks come on that's ridiculous. Hardly forgot he was injured.

 

[The Brain]

Its all about PPV buys. More people will buy the PPV knowing Orton will be appearing. WWE did the smartest thing possible by leaving his return until two days before the PPV, giving kids enough time to convince their parents to buy the PPV.

That crossed my mind but I doubt Orton will cause a spike in ppv buys. The rumble is a strong enough event to sell on its reputation. Both title matches are intriguing as is Cena vs. Kane. The rumble is always highly anticipated. I'd be surprised if there was anyone who was not going to buy the ppv but now will because Orton will be one of 30.

 

[phoenixphreek]

Its all about PPV buys. More people will buy the PPV knowing Orton will be appearing. WWE did the smartest thing possible by leaving his return until two days before the PPV, giving kids enough time to convince their parents to buy the PPV.

ah. I had not thought of that.
until reading that comment, I completely agreed. would've been a great surprise especially compared to an advertised smackdown return. but alas, it is all about money

 

[VinnieSunshine]

First off, the comment about the admins was completely unnecessary and the free speech thing is irrelevant.

Actually it wasn't, but that's for another time.

I think in a way they did. WWE made Orton's injury, whether it was as severe in real life or not, more severe in storyline. Now all of the sudden he's back and feeling 100%?

I guess we will only really know on TV, but to me it was too soon. Push Barrett more. Make Barrett be like his own version of The Legend Killer and call Orton out on it about how he did the same thing.

With rumors that he is penciled in to win RR, I hope they dont bring him back like nothing happened and then he DOES win it.

 

[King of the Words]

Yeah, the only reason they announced it is to get the Orton fans( mostly kids) to make sure they get their parents to buy it for them. WWE is all about the money even at the expense of ruining a decent story line. I dont think orton will win, but I think he will win the SD elimination chamber and face Daniel Bryan at Mania 28 for the WHC. which he will win of course. Its not what I want to see go down but I think thats the way WWE is headed.

 

[thebromm]

They didn't drop the ball. It was too obvious that he was coming back in his hometown and it was already leaked. They just changed the original plan.

 

[Cats Pajamas]

Yeah, the only reason they announced it is to get the Orton fans( mostly kids) to make sure they get their parents to buy it for them. WWE is all about the money even at the expense of ruining a decent story line. I dont think orton will win, but I think he will win the SD elimination chamber and face Daniel Bryan at Mania 28 for the WHC. which he will win of course. Its not what I want to see go down but I think thats the way WWE is headed.

What storyline were they ruining again? I could have sworn Orton has been out for a few weeks thereby not part of a storyline?

I don't think it was too big a deal. Anybody know if the Rumble sold out yet? Maybe they wanted a few more ticket sales out there in cozy KAN-SAS CITY, MISSOURIIII!!! Oops, St Louis that is (pulled a Truth there)... Orton is a name that always looks good on a card. Cena is tied up in the Kane business, Punk is champ, may as well pepper a few big names to promote the actual Rumble for which the PPV is named. I know "all superstars are eligible", but at this point if Punk or Cena entered it would be more a surprise.

I say no harm, no foul. Possibly some good out of it even.

And we all know the Mods here are all lonely, anti-sematic, raging little tyrants with a lust for their eThority (just kidding Brainy, you know you're alright).

 

[Twocenter]

NO.

WWE didn't drop the ball with Orton's return. They dropped the whole stadium. I mean how can a man come back in less than a month if he has a herniated disc? That's totally fake. I admit wrestling is fake but when they do stuffs like these, I want to . What is the matter with Orton coming this tuesday? (Ya know it's taped). I'd rather mark out like others when he returns at the rumble. That's dropping a ball on a good moment. Even if he was out for 3 weeks, that is some serious time as he is "The Man" of smack down. If it is about PPV buys, I'd rather watch a few guys wrestle backyard-style than waste my money on a selfish WWE PPV (Which is highly doubtful..lol)

So, I think that spoiled a good moment of 2012. I doubt that shock-response will come when his music blares through that freakin' speaker and crowd chat the Funk out. But that's just my 2 cents.

 

[Pedigree1]

Did the E drop the ball no it was so obvious from jump that he return. St Louis his hometown duh of course hes coming in and will win it!! I think the PPV buys will increase a little knowing that orton will be in it!! Its about money and money only!! Its been leaked here and there announcers saying orton must be sick and Barrett keeps talking about him week in and week out!! Signs were obvious and im a easily person to surprise!! SO no E didnt drop the ball they just simply told us what we already all knew

 

[matty2thumbs]

Any "smart" fan would know and anticipate an Orton Rumble return(ESPECIALLY since its in St.Louis). Lets just accept that and move on. If you want to keep the "surprise" element in affect, you obv wouldn't do what the WWE is doing. His name would not be mentioned and his music would hit, and he would pry win. Obv not the case. So, in case you MARKS havent figured it out yet, Chris Jericho(not your beloved Y2J) will win the Rumble and make his intentions clear and challenge "the best in the world" CM(which is M.C. backwards for all you that STILL don't get it)Punk for the strap at 'Mania. WOW. I know that is what you marks are thinking. That's it. Plain as day. Cookie cutter. Rack City, B, rack, rack city B. 10, 10, 10, 20s and them 50s B.

 

[Uncle Sam]

WWE didn't drop the ball with Orton's return. They dropped the whole stadium. I mean how can a man come back in less than a month if he has a herniated disc? That's totally fake. I admit wrestling is fake but when they do stuffs like these,

Now, I ain't no fancy big city doctor, and I certainly ain't one of those super duper spinal surgeomaticians, but I do have one of them there interweb connections:

Most minor herniations heal within a few weeks.

Far be it from me to suggest that Randy Orton, a professional athlete with access to the best medical care in the world, could recover from a minor injury in a short amount of time, medicine man. I'm just a simple man with simple values. Don't do drugs and don't kill and eat more than three ex-wives a week.

(which is M.C. backwards for all you that STILL don't get it)

Your name is sbmuht2yttam backwards. I HAVE UNLOCKED THE CODE. I couldn't have done it without you, man!

Cookie cutter. Rack City, B, rack, rack city B. 10, 10, 10, 20s and them 50s B.

They call him matty2thumbs, stops in the restroom and stares at the mens' bums. Word.

Could somebody explain what this thread is about? That's the key bit of information missing here. We've got my surgical expertise, moral guidance and killer hippity hop skills; we just need some cold, hard facts. Did they announce Orton was coming back on SmackDown? At the Rumble? Did he appear on stage on Raw and groom himself like a cat while I wasn't looking?

 

[David]

I mean it would have been nice, but as someone said its all about ppv buys, which i don't necessarily think thats it (all though announcing orton certainly helps them) i think it was more announcing him for smack down so smack down sees a rating boost

 

[Peoples_Champ]

That crossed my mind but I doubt Orton will cause a spike in ppv buys. The rumble is a strong enough event to sell on its reputation. Both title matches are intriguing as is Cena vs. Kane. The rumble is always highly anticipated. I'd be surprised if there was anyone who was not going to buy the ppv but now will because Orton will be one of 30.

I tend to agree that Orton wouldn't cause a spike in buys, but he would bring a bit of an increase for sure. I'm sure there are a few thousand people for whom Orton in the Rumble would be a make-or-break decision in purchasing the PPV.

 

[Chadmw]

The funny thing about all these comments saying they did drop the ball, are the same people that if Randy Orton was a surprise entrant in the Royal Rumble, would have all said the WWE is so predicatable, everyone knew Randy would return in is hometown. Can't the WWE ever do anything unpredicatable. They have done the injured return entrant so often, how boring can they be.

So no matter what the WWE did in this situation, all of you people would have complained anyway

 

[AndThat'sTheBottomLine]

Chadmw you are absolutely right they would still be cryin about wwe's predictability. While I agree they shouldve waited and made his return a complete surprise and then the ball might not have been dropped and I'd be happy there shouldve been no leaks but hey it is what it is.

 

[Uncle Sam]

I don't know about the rest of these bipolar schizophrenics, but I wouldn't have complained it was predictable. Even if I'd seen Orton have his limbs torn off by hungry lions with my own two eyes, I would have been about eighty percent certain he'd be making a return at the Rumble. He was well enough to work matches and ended up off TV to have a minor injury seen to? Yeah, OK, sure - he's not making a big return in his hometown.

Do I give a fuck that it's predictable? No. It wouldn't have been because it was a surprise that I'd mark out, it'd be because one of my favourite wrestlers was making a return; a return which is now being put on SmackDown, apparently. Even announce it ahead of time - I'm not too fussed.

Babyface making his big return in his hometown at a major pay-per-view. Now, I ain't one of them fancy big city bookers...

 

[The Eighties]

I think it was just a case of wanting another confirmed big name entrant in the Rumble. It also means Smackdown's 3 main contenders have an interlaced feud going in.

 

[LODemolition]

I think they dropped it hard, even with it being about the almighty dollar with PPV buys. Would've been a great "surprise" for the kids and marks who don't keep up with the internet news to see him come back when he wasn't expected to return til after Mania.

I also just read that the WWE and World Champions (likely to be still Punk and Bryan) might be allowed to participate to add a twist to it this year. Just plain stupid. Not that either would win obviously, but what would we be supposed to believe? That if they win, they don't have to defend at Mania?

 

[¡Roján!]

They totally dropped the ball with it. I mean, Orton is no Cena, people were going to buy the Royal Rumble PPV with or without Orton, really.

Watching him come in at #30 to an erupting crowd would have been one of the best moments on the PPV. I understand that maybe if the plan wasn't to have him win, then surprising the crowd and then consequently, letting them down could have been a bit of a buzzkill, but, he could have been in the last two, you know? Of course you know. So, yes, they really did drop the ball with his return. Plus, he's returning on Smackdown first. Smackdown. WTF.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

First off, if you wanna merge this thread, idc. Frankly I'm sick of all the switching you admins do with people's threads, not just mine. Free speech is a hell of a thing isn't it? If anyone agrees with me I'd love the rep to hear about it (Good or bad)

I'm not sure what you're talking about as far as admis "switching" people's threads. If posters violate forum rules, then that's on them. If a poster isn't sure if something he or she is doing is a violation, then ask someone from administration. There's almost always someone around and it takes so little time. If you screw up, and a mod notices, it'll be corrected. If you do'n't like it, then don't post.

As for the topic in and of itself, I don't really see how they dropped the ball. There will probably be a few other surprises at the Rumble. Plus, Orton's injury & overall medical situation has been so heavily discussed & covered in recent weeks that I don't think WWE would've been able to keep it a secret. These things somehow always manage to leak out. It worked out with Cena & Edge because they'd been out of action for several months and they were just far from people's thoughts.

Knowing that Orton will be on the ppv, as others have said, could potentially lead to more people buying the show that might not have otherwise.