The Kofi/Orton botch on Raw

[BK Styles]

I think even if it was a botch by Kofi (which looks pretty unanimous) Orton should have watched his temper. He's portraying a character and you don't break out of character in front of an audience unless you're given the go-ahead by the big bosses. Randy made it VERY obvious something was up, and I think he should get some kind of punishment, because he drew attention to it more, rather than being professional.

HOWEVER, at the same time, it does look like both Kofi and DiBiase messed up quite a bit, and Kofi will more than likely get into some trouble over it. I wonder if DiBiase will though????

Also, at 9 seconds, I interpreted what Orton said as 'punt...' and then he was still speaking as the camera angle changed. Could easily be Bitch. And at the end, where he says fuck, i think he sais '(what the) fucks happening??' with the 'what the' implied, so it was more like 'fucks happening??'. Maybe?????

 

[thepalaceprince]

Idk what happened last night. I know this much clearly both dibiase and kofi botched spots at the end of this match and clearly orton was pissed about it.

I think orton was definately out of line last night altho his anger really worked well in the sense that its a feud and it made it seem like orton was trying to finally get rid of kofi. However that rko did look dangerous and its incredibly unprofessional to act the way he did at the end of that match. If he just hits an rko on kofi we wouldnt have even said a thing beyond it looked like they botched that spot in the corner instead we are all now dissecting the video like its the kennedy assassination. Finally I want to say that I care about kofi's push Im a big orton fan but I wanted kofi to win that match he deserves a title shot and now with this situation he may never get it and that would be a shame. Hopefully this doesnt turn into a big and kofi wins the rumble and faces orton at wrestlemania.

 

[GetsHeat]

First off for those saying he shouldn't break character.. the only people who noticed this character break are the internet fans. The majority of the crowd probably wouldn't think so deeply about it. He wasn't shouting "You missed the spot!".. hell until I watched it again I figured he was just calling him stupid because Kofi thought he was in Orton's league.

Secondly, I agree with newteen, it seemed like a tough RKO but it wasn't dangerous looking.

 

[Razor]

First of all, okay. It looks like Kofi is supposed to take the punt. He forgets, keeps getting up, and Orton gets pissed. You know, because Kofi just forgot the ending to their match.

However, you guys are orgasming all over yourselves for nothing. Kofi won't get fired. Kennedy was fired because he botched an RKO, potentially injuring Orton. You know, the top heel and champion at the time. You don't do that after you've been gone for 11 months because you injured your own damn self before. Also remember, Kennedy was responsible for Cena's injury because he couldn't take a hip toss correctly. All that Kofi has done is fuck up the ending to a match. It's not like others haven't done the same thing.

Third of all, hey. 200+ guests reading this thread. Join the forums and post your own opinion! This thread could get another 200 posts if you guys posted your opinions.

 

[newteenforbb]

Oh, I don't think either guy will get fired but I do wonder if any will face trouble due to do it. I am actually more interested to see if Orton gets any heat for this. With WWE-PG and Orton having a history of a temper, I wonder if this will indeed be something that Vince and/or the higher ups do something about. I don't think Orton is as "cushioned" or "protected" as some would think.

 

[Pestilence]

No, no, no. C'mon, we've seen that RKO before, on multiple people. Kofi probably should've jumped up a bit sooner, in order to place more of his surface area on the mat, and to break the fall. He COULD'VE been hurt, but I think he knew how to take that truly VISCIOUS RKO just right. I also believe that Orton was saying, "Stupid!" to tell KOfi that he was stupid to get in the way of "his championship".

Either that, or it could've been a botch that could be corrected next week, possibly by interrupting Kofi during a promo, and punting his head off.

 

[bklynwwefan]

Watch Sheamus go over Orton clean now at the Rumble and for Orton to buried in his next feud as punishment. If we see this happening, we know it was due to this incident, since we aren't hearing much on the net about this just yet. We will just have to assume Randy is in that ol wwe dog house by looking at the booking.

 

[KKarvox]

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

Alot of that is opinion, and my opinion is that Kofi is not over, and the reason is he recieves almost no crowd reaction. That might just be TV, but it seems like he gets no major pops, and people don't even cheer his Boom, Boom, Boom thing all that much. Ted Screwed up, but Kofi screwed up the finish by not taking the move properly. You can tell exactly that Orton was setting up for the Punt, he even pushed Kofi back down to try again, and then got really pissed when Kofi got back up. Had the finish called for the RKO, he would have started doing the "stalking" thing where he pounds the ground. Orton seems to take alot of pride in his matches, and thats why he probably flew off the handle. I don't dislike kofi or have any thing against him, but it's not a good idea to screw up a match ending during your first, and possibly only major push, especially with someone like Orton who has backstage pull. I'm trying not to hold it against Kofi, because the match in general was a clusterfuck, and full of messed up spots, but kofi's going to be blamed most likely, that's my opinion.

 

[tehblogger]

heh, Orton shouting "STUPID, STUPID" and "what the fuck" under his breath is hardly Orton breaking character. Orton breaking character would be him making out with Cena, or something. But enraged shouting? Stiff RKOs? That all looks totally kayfabe. I didn't notice anything the first time I saw this, apart from that DiBiase seemed a little late, and I'm fairly sure the casual fan didn't even notice that.

that said, the RKO did look genuinely nasty. Kofi's head literally got yanked down towards the mat, his body following, rather than everything going down together. That must have been legitimately painful, and could have been worse. But Orton may not have intended even this: just before he hit the RKO he flicked his head up, which was pretty obviously a "get ready for it" signal. But if Kofi really was disorientated from his fall off the ropes - he did not come down in a good way - he may not have noticed the sign, so the stiff RKO may not have been all Orton's doing.

 

[Drew]

Hello all, new poster here. I won't claim to be as nuanced as some of you long time wrestling fans, but in my opinion, it was definitely a botch. I would guess it had story repercussions as well, since the punt would have sidelined Kofi until the rumble in all likelihood. Either way, Orton's ire was thoroughly unprofessional. At the worst, Kofi will get into trouble for the botch, and next week he'll cut a short promo leading to a punt that will rectify the whole situation. It just seemed so out of character for Orton to blow up, and also with the obvious need to focus on a short 3 week rivalry between Sheamus and Orton now, Kofi was likely to be sidelined in kayfabe to effectively end that feud.

 

[Dirty Spamchez]

When I saw the video, I thought it was supposed to punt Kofi. It looks like he landed to the side at first. All I know is Kofi did something wrong. When Orton pounded the ground, he just yelled "AHH!" 4 times not "YOU!FUCKED!UP!". I guess when he pushed Kofi it meant that he would RKO him instead of punting him (quick change of plans signal I guess) and delivered a crazy RKO to Kofi. I think after he yelled "STUPID!" he said "Always fuck up" because he messed up the interference by coming late when Orton was going to punt Rowdy Roddy Piper, and during their matches.

 

[Doomsday Device]

I just watched the tape again, and it does look like Orton was setting up Kofi for the punt. Most likely Kofi forgot that he had to stayed down, and Orton is clearly seen shoving Kofi down. Since Kofi got back up again Orton had no choice but to RKO the crap out of him. Not good for Kofi, for screwing up on a main event level match. And on the other side of the coin, Orton should not have lost his temper, and better have dealt with this backstage.

 

[Ryander88]

I read on another forum that Christopher DeJoseph (aka Big Dick Johnson) had posted something concerning the finish to this match on his Twitter account, which has since been pulled. Supposedly it said:

"Its amazing how two missed spots can turn into ring rage...missed punt...blocked T.I.P....rko...guys,lets get it right next time."

It seems to make sense, because Orton did obviously have the punt set up. I actually think the sick looking RKO and the dominant finish for Orton, instead of the RKO out of nowhere, helped him pick up some of the steam he lost during his feud with Cena last year.

 

[newteenforbb]

If it turns out to be the case (Kofi just forgetting the ending), that is a pretty dumb error when you think about it. The punt is like the move that ends up putting a guy out for a few weeks. It is used for storyline purposes. Say WWE wanted Kofi out of action until the Rumble- where he would either cost Orton the match or be a surprised RR entrant and take out Legacy. If that is the case, forgetting you are to be punted when it comes to a major angle like that is just dumb. But I don't know if he simply forgot or just didn't realize what to do. Do I stay down? Get up? Almost get up?... It was pretty weird.

I am not excusing Orton getting way to loud and allowing his temper to get the better of him but I think that will be addressed by WWE.

 

[theHeadliner]

Shawn Michaels isn't the only one to throw unprofessional hissy fits in the ring. I think it was Kofi who was supposed to take the punt because Orton was sitting in the corner in the position he gets in when about to punt after Kingston was knocked off the corner. When Kingston got back up, Orton went over and pushed him down which looked unscripted; I mean why would Kofi sell a soft fall from the second turnbuckle that badly? Something wasn't right. Orton also dropped a bunch of f-bombs on cable PG programming. People can read lips just because you can't hear.

 

[crotchknocker]

Man this thread blew up.

Anyway I didn't really think anything of it when it happened. Yeah it seemed like Dibiase took forever, but other then that I didn't think anything of Randy saying stupid. I also didn't notice the fuck until I watched the replay.

One thing I'm thinking about is why would they punt Kofi? So he misses the rumble and then comes back to surprise Orton later on sometime? I mean thats the only thinking. I would never have thought they wanted to punt Kofi out of the Rumble. They like putting all the stars they can in it. Although it did look like Orton was setting up for the punt, especially when he just weakly shoved Kofi after he got up. Maybe he was suppose to miss it?

Either way if Kofi's push stalls we'll know he botched something. I expect Orton should get reprimanded for swearing on their PG television. Only time will tell, there won't be a Kennedy situation though, Kennedy seemed to already be on thin ice anyway.

 

[rko102]

Orton has every reason to be pissed at the end of this match. The planned ending was obviously a punt to Kofi's head, which would probably get him off TV for a little which might put closure to the Kofi/Orton storyline as well. Instead, Kofi forgot the ending, and Orton had to push him down to try and get him to remember that he was supposed to be getting up slowly for a punt. When Kofi once again got up quickly, you could see Orton got super pissed. He hit his arms and hands on the canvas a lot harder than usual, and right before he RKO'd Kofi you could see he cocked his head to the side and looked up at the sky, and that RKO was friggin brutal in itself. Then he yells 'STUPID!' three times after the match, mouths 'god fucking damnit' as the referee raises his arm, and proceeds to stare down Sheamus, at the same time as he's obviously still seething with anger. Kofi messed up big time. And don't expect to see much of him in the next few weeks. And besides, Orton has every right to get pissed like that. You're a professional; you aren't supposed to botch the end of a match. Perform like that and don't expect WWE to keep you on TV too long.

 

[rko102]

Alright, so I saw that someone had a thread on the botch last night, but I'm twisting the topic a little and asking this: wouldn't Kofi be getting punted in order to keep him off television for a few weeks?

We all know from the past that once a wrestler is punted by Orton, creative takes that wrestler off television for at least a few weeks to sell it...and since we know the Royal Rumble is coming at the end of this month, maybe the plan was for Kofi to interfere in the Orton/Sheamus title match and screw Orton (I know there have been talks of a DiBiase/Orton feud leading into Wrestlemania but I'm JUST speculating). I figure that the reason Kofi was supposed to take the punt was for the storyline of keeping him off television and having Orton be able to say once again that he "ended" a superstar's career, only to have Kofi return and screw Orton out of the WWE title, which might set up a closing to their feud at Elimination Chamber in February, and would open up the door for a DiBiase/Orton feud. That would make it understandable as to why Orton would be so visibly upset as he realizes the match is not going to end the way it's supposed to. Do you agree with me? And whether or not you do as it pertains to storyline implications, do you think Kofi is going to be punished in some form or another over the next few weeks leading to the pay-per view on the 31st?

By the way for those who didn't see the botch, here it is once again (you'll see it's very obvious Orton was going to go for a punt and Kofi got up twice way too quickly):

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

 

[foundation611]

I can't stand Randy Orton and this makes me lose even more respect for him. For him to overreact that way on camera for all the fans to see is not cool. It's obvious he's pissed at Kofi and calling him stupid. He even made a face looking upwards before he hit the RKO. That's not professional at all and it's a shame someone like him is in the spot that he's in. I've NEVER seen Triple H, John Cena, Shawn Michaels, etc pull that immature crap in the middle of the ring for the whole world to see. That's like when you forget a line in a play. No one knows you forgot it unless you make it obvious. That's what Randy did and I think it's totally idiotic of him to react that way. Chew the guy out after the match backstage if anything.

 

[Kinghaspoken]

Yeah didnt look like he was going to punt him at any point, randy is a big baby everyone knows it but i watched that over and over again on monday, i saw nothing that warranted him yelling stupid stupid, im sure it was something that happened though, but not a botched punt. If he was to punt him he could have easily did it after the match as he has before. im sure we would have heard about the botch this on website by now also.

and from what i saw if orton wanted to do a punt Kofi didnt know, and the original ending was supposed to be an RKO and orton may have wanted to change it to a punt on the fly.

 

[RicSpade]

Honestly I think what happened was if you look at how dibiase hit kofi he didn't do anything to make him fall as bad as he did and that Randy was suppose to do something to warrant the RKO or miss a punt or something I'm not so sure.

And to respond to a post about Triple H, Cena, HBK never did anything like that you must only be a fan of some of these guys from 2000 on. HBK vs. Vader 1996 - Vader was suppose to get knocked down and lay motionless as HBK goes for the elbow drop just before he goes to hit it Vader starts moving to get up so HBK jumps down kicks him and yells at him and after the match still looks visibly pissed.

Cena and Triple H never got pissed off because Triple H is a Mcmahon by marriage and can fire someone on the fly if he wishes for screwing up, and Cena tries his best to make everyone look good although I am sure Cena was mad during his first three injuries.

but no in their youth most of these guys I am sure got mad at one point or another just sayin...

 

[rkofromhell]

The only think i know for sure is it took Ted way to long to get into the ring and it looked like he barely even touched Kofi. I personally dont have a problem with Orton acting the way he did because well he is a heel, he isnt a good guy and he isnt suppose to be s good guy. Now if he was face and did that I would have a problem.

 

[onlyonerko]

i don't think it was meant to be a punt as when orton punts someone the commentators usually sell it as a 'look in his eye' type a thing and none of them sounded surprised or mentioned anything to do with a punt. If anything it was just randy pissed as he had to check before he hit the RKO

 

[hatehabsforever]

I think people are reading way too much into the supposed "botch" which I am not totally sure was a botch in the first place. I watched RAW live that night, I watched the re-broadcast the next day, and if I hadn't been reading this site, I wouldn't have seen anything out of the ordinary. I think people are scrutinizing the match way too closely and reading too much into facial expressions, gestures, mouthed words, and screaming, all typical heel actions.

If it was supposed to be a punt and Kofi screwed up, they would simply have done it after the match. Cody or Ted would have returned to the ring and held Kofi there to be punted after the conclusion of the match after the RKO. Or they'd simply plan to do it next week instead, plenty of time to "injure" Kofi and put him out for a couple of weeks leading up to whatever's planned for the Rumble. It's ridiculous to suggest that Kofi screwed up and now the Rumble's plans have been ruined. They could even film a segment later and suggest it happened backstage that night after RAW, resulting in Kofi being injured and out for a few weeks.

To suggest that Kofi will be punished for his "mistake" is silly. Even if there was a mistake, he'd receive a stern reprimand at most. His push is slowing down over the last few weeks anyway, I expect this de-push to continue regardless of this supposed "botch."

To suggest that Orton will be punished/suspended/fired (other thread) is even more ridiculous. To fire him over such a minor incident (if there even was an incident) and allow him to jump to TNA, now of all times, is assinine.

I believe Orton was just acting heelish. Frustrated because Kofi dared to challenge him. Frustrated because of the ongoing events (kayfabe) between them over the last while. Frustrated because his cronies were slow to assist him (especially DiBiase), leading to the supposed Orton/DiBiase split which I keep hearing about but am personally no sold on either. As I heard it, DiBiase was turning face to coincide with his movie. But isn't his movie already out, turning him face now for this reason is too late. I believe Orton was selling his heel personna effectively, which is great because so many people here complain about the ineffectiveness of heels in the WWE selling in such a manner. Damned if they do and damned if they don't. Chronic Complainers.

 

[wareagle_dakota]

what I think is Orton is an absolute ass, I'm sorry but people have been putting up with his crap for years and it's unacceptable. hell, he even got kennedy fired for overreacting backstage earlier this year.

even if kofi did make a mistake which I'm not sure of, no professional would ever react this way. to me orton's behavior is a lot more unacceptable than a possible mistake by kofi of not being ready for a punt.

i'm not saying kofi shoudlnt be reprimanded if that was what was outlined ahead of tiem and he forgot. I'm simply saying Orton's reaction is unacceptable and makes not only him but the wwe look like spoiled brats. There is no reason for him to screw stupid and point it out like that. i highly doubt anyone would have notice or at the least thought less of the performance without his little tirade.

way to put a guy over before bringing him down, talk about bad for business, this is horrible for it. i remember 3 years ago after WM 23 he was sent home after throwing a tirade and trashing a hotel room (it was in england, he was scheduled to fight edge one on one and the match was even announced but was scrapped bc of randy's acting up, which is why shawn and cena went an hour that night, bc they had to scrape edge/orton).

I'm just sick of this guy. he's clearly an ass and he is rewarded while hard working guys who have been around years and (in my opinion) putting on more entertaining matches and promos (get ready for the orton glare for the next 2 min.

last monday was the last straw for me, please stop letting him act this way, he's always done it but has been minimally punished (suspended a month but always comes back to the same monster role he had before)