WWE Region, Miami Subregion, First Round: (7) Randy Orton vs. (26) Dean Malenko

[klunderbunker]

This is a first round match in the WWE Region, Miami Subregion. It is a standard one on one match held under WWE Rules. It will be held at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida.

#7. Randy Orton

Vs.

#26. Dean Malenko

​

Polls will be open for three days following a one day period for discussion. Voting will be based on who you feel is the greater of the two competitors. Post your reasons for why your pick should win below. Remember that this is non-spam and the most votes in the poll win. Any ties will be broken by the amount of posts of support for each candidate, with one vote per poster.

Also remember that this is a non-spam forum. If you post a response without giving a reason for your selection, it will be penalized for spam and deleted.

 

[6timehitta]

Well personally I think this is an easy draw for Orton. Orton can take a slow and methodical pace and pick apart Dean, much like Malenko would do to the cruiserweights he wrestled in WCW. Malenko would put up a fight, but not for long as Orton would "surprisingly" hit his "unexpected" RKO out of no where.

 

[MINISTRYrising]

While Malenko is one of the best tecnical wrestlers to ever lace up a pair of boots, he has never had much luck against bigger oposition and While I am sure it would be a great match, Orton would quickly take Malenko apart piece by piece before finishing him off with a RKO.

 

[Teddy Irving]

Don't really want to see Malenko go out this early on but he wont be going over Orton here. There will be a nice back and forth match for a while but in the end Orton will pop an RKO in and that will be that.

 

[8thwotwATG]

Malenko was hell on wheels as a cruiserweight in WCW, but slightly less than spectacular against full fledged heavyweight stars, even in WCW. When he wrestled here in WWE, he barely made any noise at all. Now he draws Randy Orton in the first round here? As far as I'm concerned, this doesn't bode well for Mr. Malenko whatsoever. An undersized heavyweight with, IMO, little in the way of charisma, or ability to get over, against a bigger, stronger, younger man with multiple WWE championships under his belt?
Malenko vs Orton gives Malenko the opportunity to showcase some of his great mat skills, and he gives Orton a good run for his money...for a little while. Orton eventually takes command on Malenko, and takes him out with an RKO to capture the victory and a spot in the next round. This works out to a case of a decent smaller wrestler against a very good larger man, who, imo, has yet to do his best work.

 

[Big Papa Santo]

Don't get me wrong, Dean Malenko is a sure fire hall of famer and one of the most iconic cruiserweights of all time. But so is Randy Orton, all you have to do is replace "One of the most iconic cruiserweights of all time" with "One of the most iconic superstars of the modern era". Starpower aside, Orton still has the upper hand. Both men are amazing at playing mind games with their opponents but Orton took Malenkos WCW ring psychology and crafted it into his own brand of timed, methodical violence. I'd even go as far as saying that Ortons ring psychology at this point in his career is better then Malenkos was at his prime. Malenko is also at an obvious size disadvantage with Orton being a heavyweight. I would use the old saying size doesn't matter, but in this case, it does. All in all a great match but Orton wins with an RKO.

 

[Brewski]

Dean Malenko was one of the greatest wrestlers I've ever had the privilege of watching. While a boring talker, he was a truly incredible ring technician.

With that said Orton has accomplished more in his young life already than Dean ever did in his career. While not nearly as entertaining to me he's a big star that easily goes over the shooter.

Orton, RKO, pin.

 

[The Brain]

If we ever had a tournament of only cruiserweights Malenko might do pretty well. In this tournament he's likely to always be a first round exit. Sure he was a great ring technician, but that's not going to do him much good on the big stage. Randy Orton has big victories against big opponents on big shows. Malenko doesn't. Orton wins here.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

Similar wrestlers - sound technique, intelligent, cunning, methodical, psychologically superior to most.

What sets them apart is physicality. I can't imagine Dean inflicting enough damage. Malenko would put up a solid fight, but Orton's too much for him.

Orton wins.

 

[Jaffa]

This has already been touched but I'll say it again Malenko was a great technical wrestler and had a long career think he retired in his early 40's? However Randy Orton is only early 30's and has accomplished 5 times as much as Malenko did Orton wins easily me thinks.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I enjoyed watching Malenko in WCW. He knew what he was doing inside the ring and his matches with Mysterio, Guerrero, Jericho & Benoit typically stole the show. However, he's not making it out of the first round.

While Orton isn't as good on a technical level, we all know Orton's got the stuff in the ring. What seals the deal though is the pure & simple fact that Orton became a huge star while Malenko was a career mid-carder with no personality. Orton has feuded with and beaten, some cleanly and some through cheating, nearly all of the biggest stars of the past 25 years. Orton has main evented WrestleMania on several occasions and has won 9 World Championships.

This match goes to Orton and it's not even remotely close.

 

[Uncle Sam]

Similar wrestlers - sound technique, intelligent, cunning, methodical, psychologically superior to most.

Remind me to give your cock a hearty stroke. Many who'd hold Malenko up as some bastion of technical wrestling would dismiss Orton as boring and uninteresting. Facts are, there's not that much daylight between the two. Icy, methodical, smooth as silk. Malenko might have taken part in faster paced matches - such was WCW's cruiserweight division - and had a more varied moveset - which, as we all know, is all important - but Orton is quite plainly tiers above him.

 

[Master JM]

This match would be a pleasure to watch I would think. A technically sound veteran in Malenko going up against the master of methodical wrestling in Orton. Randy's resume pretty much blows away Malenko's, and he's a much more vile and calculated wrestler than his opponent. This sly style of wrestling would give Orton a victory, as he's a tad too brutal for Malenko to handle.

Orton by Punt Kick in a great match.

 

[LSN80]

This would be a fun one to watch. Both are as smooth as they come within the ring. Unfortunately for Malenko, Orton is simply the bigger star and the superior performer. Orton may not have the moveset that Malenko does, but he's simply a few bad choices removed from being the solid #2 in WWE. Malenko never approached that level in any company, despite having decent success as a crusiserweight. A moveset alone doesn't make a wrestler, or Dean Malenko and William Regal would have main-evented Wrestlemania's.

Orton is a bigger star, has achieved far more, and would beat Malenko 9 times out of ten. This wouldn't be that 1. Orton wins this.

 

[Shocky]

I'd pay good money to watch this match with both men in their primes. Malenko was always a solid, good hand for the big two. People forget though, he was nothing more than a midcard guy. Nothing wrong with that, but that's where he was. One of the best (my personal choice for best) cruiserweights we have seen here stateside.

Orton, however, is a legit star. He finds ways of hitting that RKO like DDP hitting a Diamond Cutter. He'll get you when you least suspect it. Unfortunately people think of Randy Borton (why?), but they forget he's a pretty solid wrestler. I prefer Malenko, but going with Orton.

 

[TLC]

Randy Orton wins here and it's not really close at all. Malenko was a career midcarder and that's the sort of opponent that Orton beats ever day of the week. Randy is one of the biggest stars of the past 10 years or so and has beaten a plethora of big stars which Dean Malenko unfortunately hasn't.

Randy Orton wins this in less than 10 minutes with RKO out of nowhere, just like your usual Smackdown match against him.

 

[El Rev sXe]

An RKO to a finish ladies and gentlemen. Yes Malenko was an amazing technical wrestler, very gifted, but a mediocre star.

On the other hand Orton at some point was the number two guy in WWE, the biggest heel WWE had to offer and one of the most interesting characters WWE had.

Just for fun, from a kayfabe point of view, Orton have victorys over some of the most usual Malenko's opponents: Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit. Malenko may have the technical abilities, but that hasn't stopped Orton in the past to stroke an RKO for his victory.

Orton wins.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

This would be one of the better actual match ups if this took place in real life. The thing about Orton is he has a sudden finisher (The RKO). Malenko has to wear down his opponent to set up for a submission, which is extremely tough to do with someone like Orton, who's proven to go long distances in matches and has that killer instinct to take someone out.

I give Orton the edge here with an RKO at about the 15 minute mark of a four and a half star match.

 

[Tastycles]

Remind me to give your cock a hearty stroke. Many who'd hold Malenko up as some bastion of technical wrestling would dismiss Orton as boring and uninteresting. Facts are, there's not that much daylight between the two. Icy, methodical, smooth as silk.

Except Malenko was methodical like a serial killer, and Orton is methodical like pneumatic drill, and about half as interesting. That being said, Malenko is only here because the IWC, for all their faults, can appreciate somebody who knows what he's doing.

Orton has got good credentials, far better than Malenko, and there's pretty much nothing you could put Malenko over him without resorting to arguments about how good they make others look etc. By far Orton's biggest weakness is that he's the 127th most charismatic wrestler in this tournament. The problem is that Malenko is the 128th, and the one thing you can normally rely on someone bettering Orton at is lost.

An easy Orton win.

 

[deem]

Haha what. People think Orton is a good worker?! I'm so confused. He has barely any concept of long term selling and his matches are predictable and bland for me. I actually like his moveset a lot and he executes moves well, very crisp and impactful. In particular his shortarm clotheslines and dropkicks are great. But as a professional wrestler, I really dislike him. Shame, as a lurker Uncle Sam is probably my favourite poster. Maybe it's a level and i got pwnt, who knows.

But yeah. Ability aside, come along. this is a no contest, of course Orton is going over. Malenko is a joy to watch in the ring, but just doesn't have enough significant wins against a guy as powerful as Orton at all. Whereas Orton was #2 behind Cena right up until the Summer of Punk imo.

 

[Uncle Sam]

Except Malenko was methodical like a serial killer, and Orton is methodical like pneumatic drill, and about half as interesting. That being said, Malenko is only here because the IWC, for all their faults, can appreciate somebody who knows what he's doing.

Malenko had the slightest hint of a gut, a bit of a receding hairline and looked like he was in his forties when he was in, well, his mid-to-late thirties. Not bad, really, but nothing like the shape Orton's been in at any point for the last ten years. I was going to say, "Which one really looks like a serial killer?" but then I remembered that there's a difference between real life serial killers (the ones with secret underground dungeons and lampshades made from human skin) and characters from Scream. Point conceded.

 

[D-Man]

Malenko just doesn't have the size to go far in these tournaments. I often wonder how he makes it into the draw each year when his purpose is nothing more than taking a nosedive in the first or second rounds. He is outsized and outmatched in this round.

Orton tops Malenko in every way in this category. Although I respect Dean's resume, he just doesn't have the resume to make it far in this tournament and matching him with Orton just made his elimination that much easier.

 

[supernatural1981]

Nice and easy one for a change.

Malenko put on some great matches with the crusierweights in the 90's but never really made it to the top of the pile.

Orton made at just 25 years old and continues to have top fueds now. both future hall of famers but Orton wins with a RKO out of nowhere

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Dean Malenko was a fantastic technical wrestler, he didn't get the nickname "Man of 1000 holds" for nothing, but Randy Orton is one of the top superstars of the last decade, holding multiple World Titles, competing on the bigger stage and beating bigger and better stars than Malenko ever did.

RKO to end this after only 5 minutes

 

[HBsam31]

I hate to see Malenko go out this early, but that is what is going to happen. A great technical wrestler, but Orton would just be too much for him. I agree with The Brain in if we were having a crusierweight tournament Malenko would do well, but not in this tournament. Not against Orton.