The Kofi/Orton botch on Raw

[Blade]

Ok, a few people have been talking about this on the Raw review thread, and it's begging to have a thread made about it.

So, on Raw last night we saw a 3 way match for the number one contenders spot at the Royal Rumble. The ending saw Cody take out Cena, as Kofi landed punches on Orton in the corner. After what seemed like a strangely long time, Dibiase came out and pushed Kofi off Orton. Then, for some reason, Orton started looking really pissed off. He pushed Kofi over and then proceeded to give Kofi what looked like a very dangerous RKO and shouted "STUPID!" at Kofi before pinning him. He then mouths something to himself at the end. It's hard to tell what, but it definitely looked negative.

Here's the best youtube video I could find

[YOUTUBE]HLZzM7ck4vg&feature=sub[/YOUTUBE]

So what pissed off Orton? I thought at first that Kofi had botched how he took the RKO but then I saw that Orton looked pissed off before he delivered the RKO. If you look very closely, at the 9 second mark where it's close up on Orton, you can make him out saying what looks like "bitch". The push he delivered to Kofi also looked angry rather than something Orton's character would do. As he pounds the mat, it almost sounds as if Orton is saying "YOU! FUCKED! UP!" and then he looks upwards and sighs for a moment before delivering the RKO with (excuse the pun) extra venom.

So what happened? Did Kofi do something in the corner, perhaps stiff shots? Or did he miss something else he was supposed to do, which is why Dibiase took so long? Or maybe there's the slight chance that Orton was angry at Dibiase for taking so long and he just took it out on Kofi...

But Orton was visibly pissed off. What I'm thinking of is what implications this has for Kofi and his push. Remeber last time someone botched a move and pissed off Orton in the ring? Kennedy. Fired the next day. And when RVD delivered that infamous frog splash to Triple H in the elimination chamber, with RVD's knee landing in Trips' throat? RVD's push disappeared after that and he wasn't in the world title picture till about 2 years later. So could Kofi be punished?

 

[newteenforbb]

Here is the final moments of the match (post-commercial):

[youtube]<object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jjA1RFu-_FQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jjA1RFu-_FQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>[/youtube]

The only thing I have come up with (and without any news stories surfacing today on the subject, this may turn out to be "much ado about nothing")...

Kofi was supposed to be punted. That would explain Orton being in the corner and getting angry at Kofi for beginning to get up. Then Orton pushes his down as if to try and set up for the punt a second time. Once again, Kofi gets up. If you notice, Randy delivers a very predictable and planned RKO. RKO's are usually quick and come out of the blue- almost impossible to expect. This one looked way too planned. I think it was because at that point in the match, Orton had no choice but to end it since the original ending wasn't going to happen. And hence- his anger and all...

The three questions that of course remain:
(a) Is this the case or was it something else?
(b) Is Orton in the wrong for making such a scene and not waiting until they were both in the back to take issue with Kofi?
(c) Will anything come out of this for either man?

 

[goodlay]

Yeah at 9 seconds it does look like he said "bitch" and then he just shoved him, which was weird. I also didn't notice his ground pounding was different, and it did seem like he was saying something like "You! Fucked! Up!" then he looked pissed right before the RKO which was pretty dangerous. After the RKO he was yelling "Stupid!" right at Kofi and after the pin it looked like he said "God fucking dammit!" to himself. Yeah DiBiase messed up, but it looked like Kofi really fucked up. As for hurting his push, well it's already beginning to fade, and I think with this it will hurt it even more if Kofi really fucked up.

newteen may be right, it does look like Orton was trying to set up for a punt. Hopefully we'll get confirmation on this from the WZ news staff.

 

[Blade]

The only thing I have come up with (and without any news stories surfacing today on the subject, this may turn out to be "much ado about nothing")...

Kofi was supposed to be punted. That would explain Orton being in the corner and getting angry at Kofi for beginning to get up. Then Orton pushes his down as if to try and set up for the punt a second time. Once again, Kofi gets up. If you notice, Randy delivers a very predictable and planned RKO. RKO's are usually quick and come out of the blue- almost impossible to expect. This one looked way too planned. I think it was because at that point in the match, Orton had no choice but to end it since the original ending wasn't going to happen. And hence- his anger and all...

That's an interesting thought. Orton did look like he was going to punt Kofi there for a few seconds, before Kofi got up. If they were going for a punt ending, Kofi obviously forgot and thought it would end with the RKO. If Orton had been going for the RKO right after Kofi fell from the turnbuckle, he would've pounded his fists as soon as Kofi fell, right? He wouldn't have waited, pushed Kofi, waited a bit more, then started pounding his fists, because he tends to pound his fists as soon as he sees the opportunity.

If Orton was supposed to go for the punt, but Kofi thought he was supposed to take an RKO, then surely Orton would've been thinking "Ok, you want an RKO? Here's your fuckin' RKO" and delievered that dangerous looking one on purpose. Because it's only seconds before and right after he delivered the RKO that he looked really, really pissed off and actually shouted "STUPID!" at Kofi.

 

[Stuntz]

Reading his lips it appears he said "Fucked that up" and he was legitamately pissed in my opinion...Id be willing to bet Kofi gets knocked back down to midcard for awhile. Maybe even said "Fuck...Goddammit"....That was not planned if it was I would be surprised cause he definately said fuck

 

[Rated_R_Superstar2010]

if u notice kofi gets down from the ropes and hits orton for a little in the corner and then goes back to the second rope. i think ted was supposed to be in the ring alot quicker because kofi and randy had to stall in the corner. kofi goes back to on the ropes once he knows ted is over the baricade. also cody is in the refs face for a long time. the ending looked botched as well. i think you guys are right it was supposed to end with a punt, not an rko. the only part that come off bad on tv was ted cuttings kofi's leg. and planned or not that was the sickest rko i've ever seen

 

[Big Ol' Buckta AIDS]

That's an interesting thought. Orton did look like he was going to punt Kofi there for a few seconds, before Kofi got up. If they were going for a punt ending, Kofi obviously forgot and thought it would end with the RKO. If Orton had been going for the RKO right after Kofi fell from the turnbuckle, he would've pounded his fists as soon as Kofi fell, right? He wouldn't have waited, pushed Kofi, waited a bit more, then started pounding his fists, because he tends to pound his fists as soon as he sees the opportunity.

If Orton was supposed to go for the punt, but Kofi thought he was supposed to take an RKO, then surely Orton would've been thinking "Ok, you want an RKO? Here's your fuckin' RKO" and delievered that dangerous looking one on purpose. Because it's only seconds before and right after he delivered the RKO that he looked really, really pissed off and actually shouted "STUPID!" at Kofi.

You got it. I mean just look at Orton's face when Kofi was on his hands and knees. That match was definatly supposed to end in an punt. He had that look in his eye. My guess is that Kofi wont be around for some time, not because he screwed up the ending, but because that was indeed supposed to end in a punt.

Another thing i just thought of here, maybe the fact that he didn't get punted is a big deal ( backstage wise). Orton's punt is viewed to be a move that puts people out for a long time. Maybe the Creative staff had it in their plans to have kofi get punted, and not be on TV for awhile. Now with him being RKOed as opposed to punted, people aren't expecting Kofi to be out, and this is going to be looked out as a wtf moment towards the E, as opposed to the story being belivable. ( being out for a month after a punt is belivable. after an RKO, not so much, maybe thats why Orton put some mustard on that one) So maybe Kofi really did screw the pooch on this one. I garantee you Orton didn't get angry because Kofi had a simple mix up, these guys improve all the time and they can make it work . Its one thing to mess up a move. It is another thing to mess up an intracule part of a storyline, and in the process, have the writers go back change the story because you messed up.

 

[marklouis]

The way I read it, Kofi got up too soon for the RKO. Orton has started doing his "viper thing"-on his hands and knees, banging his fists on the mat. This usually gets the crowd going and builds up the move, but Kofi getting up so quick didn't allow that to happen.

I think Orton was way out of line on this. This definitely should've have been done backstage. Orton didn't prove anything, he just embarrassed Kofi. I respect Orton's ability, but this was a dick thing to do.

 

[layinDown]

I also noticed this last night and I'm glad someone posted a thread on it. As soon as I heard Orton repeating "stupid", I knew something was up. As some others have pointed out, I'm sure it wasn't planned for him to so obviously and loudly drop the f-bomb, which is the biggest clue that something went down.

To me, it looks like the f-up started with Dibiase. I'll have to watch again, but I have no idea what the heck Dibiase tried to do there...ok, just watched it again. Dibiase hits the back of Kofi's knee and Orton throws Kofi off - no way was that supposed to happen that way.

Randy needs to learn to control his temper big time. The dude should get fined for the obvious language and what looked to be a dangerous RKO. What an asshole...but what an awesome heel.

 

[KKarvox]

I agree, it looks like he was supposed to take the punt. Watch, Orton even tries to push him back down to set up for it again, and then he gets really pissed that he still gets back up. I'd say Kofi is definitly going to be in for some kind of punishment. People get jobbed out for botching matches, people get fired for botching matches with Orton. I'd say no big loss whatever happens to Kofi, he wasn't that over, and no one really cares that much about him.

 

[Ballin247]

I think you all are putting way too much into this. Maybe Orton was just selling his intense dislike for Kofi because that is what he is supposed to do. It looked like he genuinely hated Kofi as opposed to what most shitty heels do when it looks like they are doing bad acting. He is simply playing his role well. I wouldn't look too much into this. Orton was probably just being a good heel, unlike most crappy heels who are unconvincing.

 

[Rated_R_Superstar2010]

I agree, it looks like he was supposed to take the punt. Watch, Orton even tries to push him back down to set up for it again, and then he gets really pissed that he still gets back up. I'd say Kofi is definitly going to be in for some kind of punishment. People get jobbed out for botching matches, people get fired for botching matches with Orton. I'd say no big loss whatever happens to Kofi, he wasn't that over, and no one really cares that much about him.

what??? he was just in a triple threat match for a title shot and he is in the middle of a feud with the number 1 heel in the wwe. he is deffinatelly over and alot of people care about him. its not like the ending of the match looked bad. if anything ted screwed up and took forever to cut kofi off the robes

 

[PedigreeTHE619Chokeslam]

OK, the way I see it, I think that it was Ted's fault for taking to long to get out there. Why in the world would they have Kofi get punted. It just wouldn't make any sense to take him off TV when he's getting decent pops from the crowd. Cody Rhodes was taking a real long time in the Refs face, so what would that have to do with the punt. Ted took a really long time to get to the ring. Rhodes was probably stalling because Ted didn't get out quick enough. The only reason I think Orton was pissed was because of that, because I don't see what the point of Rhodes stalling like that would be. Fault is on Ted in my opinion.

 

[INDYjon22]

I was thinking the exact same thing when I watched this last night. What got my attention was Orton yelling, which is not very common from Orton, or at least I don't usually see it. He obviously looked upset when this all went down and the yelling just makes me think that Kofi did something wrong, but I do not know what.

It did appear that Dibiasi was late or maybe on time with something left out. I can't really believe that Orton would take out Dibiasi being late on Kofi. If that is the case then I would be more surprised that some sort of action was not taken out on Orton for endangering Kofi. If this were the case, it would have been incredible unprofessional of Orton and I would think Kofi's push would probably be kicked into gear faster as some sort of apology by management to him.

Personally, I feel as though the most likely scenario is that either Kofi did not take the punt, if it was planned, or that Kofi's strikes were stiffer then they appeared. As previously stated, it did appear as though Orton was going for a punt but Kofi got up and then got shoved. If that was the case, I would wonder why Kofi did that. Did he forget, was he defying the planned finish, did he have some sort of injury from the fall from the ropes that disoriented him. When he fell he did appear to fall a little strangely, if you ask me. His leg was caught up in the rope and I don't know how well he could have protected himself, so I could see how he could have knocked himself loopy. I don't think Kofi would try and change a finish especially if it resulted in him taking an even stiffer RKO.

My other theory is that maybe something happened earlier in the match that pissed Orton off. I admit, I did not watch the entire match but I did see the finish. Maybe Kofi upset Orton earlier in the match and Orton got his payback or whatever you want to call it during the finish.

None of us can obviously say what happened, we aren't Kofi or Randy, but it did appear as though something went down. I will be very curious to see if any reports come out on the main page pertaining to the incident or maybe it was all preplanned. I will be watching more closely though to see if any sort of repercussions are done on screen or off.

 

[Hurt2k1]

Unless the match was suppose to end with the punt then I think Orton overracted a bit and should have been handled in private instead on air. Orton arrogance makes a great heel in the ring but might not make him very helpful outside the ring if he is going to berate the rest of the wrestlers for doing something wrong that on camera looked like very little to the viewers.

 

[AutumnHeartBreak]

You guys just put too much thought into it. You have to realize that Orton and Kofi were in a feud before and he's just trying to get into character. Why the hell would he punt Kofi anyway? Doesn't he usually do that to injure someone and take them off of the TV?? And there really isn't any botch in here. You can see that while kofi was trying to get up Orton was already standing by him preparing to deliver an RKO and when Kofi kinda gets up, Orton mocks him and shoves him down then delivers the RKO afterwards. It's just Orton figuratively saying "I already beat you last week and I'm about to do it again" kind of thing.

 

[Pickle]

It definitely looked like there was supposed to be a Punt to me. He was standing in the corner waiting for Kofi to get in position, and when he started to get up he pushed Kofi down again. Then he backed up for another punt, but Kofi stood up again. So Orton flips out.

In my opinion Kofi may have messed up, but this kind of shit is way too common with Orton. Whenever there is a botch in an Orton match, you can tell because he starts yelling and throws little tantrums. I can't recall a specific instance when it happened, but I seem to remember seeing him do stuff like this before. But if Orton was anywhere close to the main event level talent he's supposed to be, he would have improvised and tried to cover up the mistake. There could have easily been a punt after the RKO, if Orton hadn't knocked Kofi senseless first.

But then again, I'm expecting professionalism from a man who used to go around shitting in women's gym bags whenever they turned down his sexual advances.

 

[rko57]

Wow, I was thinking of posting this exact thread! But you beat me to the punch, good job. Anyways, yeah, it was very obvious Orton was really pissed off. Nobody screams "Stupid! Stupid!" for any reason like the way Orton was. I dont know who's fault it was, at first I was thinking Dibiase, but I dont know if it was Dibiase because Orton seemed really pissed off at Kingston. Why would he be screaming stupid at Kingston if it was Dibiase? I dunno, but Orton was really pissed, and I think it added to his character even more in the end, lol. No matter what, go Randy, always been a fan and always will be!

 

[tehblogger]

um, Orton "getting into character" doesn't normally consist of him shouting "STUPID! STUPID!", before mouthing profanities after the match. It consists of him drooling at the mouth before going all cold and silent. It's pretty clear he was legitimately pissed about something.

Yeah, it looks like he was getting ready for the punt. He was in the corner, Kofi was in the right kind of position, and then Kofi started getting up and Orton moved towards him to shove him back down again. When Kofi got back up again, then he got really pissed. The whole thing was weird, with DiBiase apparently taking too long to get there, Kofi taking an awkward-looking tumble off the ropes when he did, and then Kofi seemingly forgetting the finish (or perhaps being too disorientated from the fall?)

If they really were planning a punt, that doesn't surprise me. It would be the final nail in the coffin of the Kofi/Orton feud and would set up the Orton/Sheamus feud quite nicely. Kofi could take a couple of weeks off (be surprised if creative had anything for him right now anyway) and come back as a "surprise return" at the Rumble, maybe eliminating Rhodes and DiBiase. As it is, they'll have to find something to do for him now, unless they give him a worked injury from that stiff RKO.

 

[Jetspete]

i have gone to the video tape, and heres my 2 cents. The ending was supposed to be a punt, whether or not it had anything to do with the storyline, and randy was pissed that Kofi botched it. If the ending was the RKO he wouldve just delivered it (i disagree with those of you who called it a devastating rko, didnt look any worse than the usual). Instead he twice tries to get kofi into the punt position. My guess is that it wasnt a storyline angle, it was just the finish to the match. Randy probably is pissed at kofi for various botches over their feud and this was the last straw, taking it out on him publicly.

 

[jazzua]

I'm not sure about the punt, but something definitely didn't go right. Actually, that match had a very strange feel to it. Even during the match, I thought it looked like Kofi was a fish out of water. There were quite a few times in the beginning of the match where he was just standing around near Cena and Orton and it looked like he wasn't sure what the spot was or something. It even seemed to rub of on Cena. If you watch the match from the beginning, you can see alot of poor transitions that make it look like someone didn't know what was going on. Maybe, Orton said "You Fucked Up?" as in are you high? He is from Jamaica, or at least he was, or something.

I hope we see some sort of report or answer to this because it was totally odd. Orton needs to learn to keep that part of it backstage though. Shawn used to have a huge problem of doing this too. He would yell at the other guy so loud you could here him clear as day during the match. It's surely something that should be taken care of behind the curtain.

Something I would like to mention that I didn't see yet is Ted's run in. I think Orton should've been pissed at him too. That was the weakest chop of the ropes I've ever seen. It didn't even look like he touched him, and then Orton just pushed him of the ropes. Why even have Ted run in?

 

[Blade]

I think you all are putting way too much into this. Maybe Orton was just selling his intense dislike for Kofi because that is what he is supposed to do. It looked like he genuinely hated Kofi as opposed to what most shitty heels do when it looks like they are doing bad acting. He is simply playing his role well. I wouldn't look too much into this. Orton was probably just being a good heel, unlike most crappy heels who are unconvincing.

But that's the thing, Orton's character doesn't really sell intense dislike because he's the one that does the stuff to make him intensely disliked. I know that probably makes no sense, but it's always Orton that's playing the mind games on his opponent, always Orton launching the attacks on his opponents and it's always Orton's opponent that harbours the intense dislike. At most, Orton always seems mildly indifferent to his opponents. Look at his feuds with Triple H and Cena. He sold his cockyness, he sold his cowardice, he sold his fear whenever he got cornered by either men, but he never once swore at them or shouted at them.

When have you ever seen Orton's character look genuinely pissed off at someone to the point of swearing at them? It's only happened once, when Kennedy botched the back drop on Orton. Orton looked pissed off and even swung a punch at Kennedy. Orton's character simply doesn't get pissed off.

Not to mention, even if Orton was just selling his hatred, he still didn't need to give such a dangerous RKO. With a tiny bit more force, Orton could've broken Kofi's neck. In fact, Orton was probably lucky not to have really hurt Kofi. Look at that RKO. It just looks bad and stiff. There's no way there was no legit heat between them.

 

[Rzarectah]

There could have easily been a punt after the RKO, if Orton hadn't knocked Kofi senseless firstt.

But then again, I'm expecting professionalism from a man who used to go around shitting in women's gym bags whenever they turned down his sexual advances.

What!? You talking about Orton shitting in bitches gym bags? Give me a link to a story about that shit. Anyway, Orton did look pretty effin pissed after kofi kept getting up. After the first time Kofi gets up he looks confused like "what the fuck is this mofo doin"? and then pushes him back down for a second, it was weird. And also he rolls him over hard as shit and looks pissed even after the match was over. I think something must have happened between the two but I'm not completely positive, there is still a chance that Orton was just being a good heel.

 

[Big Ol' Buckta AIDS]

Ok. Look at the Video clip again. Stop it around 8-10 seconds. I know this sound retarted, but Orton has this look when he's about to punt someone, and he definatly had that look. Secondly he tried to push kofi down again. That match was Absolutly suppossed to end with a punt.

 

[brolli123]

At first i thought Ted's delay would be part of a storyline to turn him face but then it did look like Orton was going for the punt and had time to do it but then kofi got up an was shoved back down then when Orton got down and started to slam the mat it sound like with each pissed off slam he said fuck,fuck,fuck then deleivered the RKO an got even madder.