An Improved Randy Orton?

[sjdigitall]

Watching this weeks RAW and the promo between Randy Orton & Shawn Michaels was very good. It was a great promo between the two that was straight to the point and never felt too long. One thing i noticed was how intense Randy Orton was.

This felt like a different Randy Orton. Alot of people are clamouring for him to be 2009 Orton but to me in that promo it felt like Legend Killer Orton. His tone was perfect, he wasnt talking in long and boring sentences ( a bad habit he picked up with the viper gimmick) and i believe he deserves credit for that because i thought it was excellent.

 

[B Negreanu]

I agree!

This Randy Orton character is my favourite for this current era, just really entertaining and edgy.

 

[gers09]

as long as he not that boring one from last few years i haven't cared about him for a while now he was annoying boring just a poor character but this character he turning in to the viper just tears tough ppl beating shite out them is better he more interesting now

 

[SuperTaco]

Orton is showing us all, once again, that he's a better villain than a hero. He seems to be able to show more personality and more to his character when he's the bad guy. He just looks more comfortable in this role.

The promo with HBK was exhibit A of his comfort level. No slow, dragged on sentences. No look or feeling of disinterest, none of those unnatural arm raises to get the crowd going, and no forced smirks. Now they're authentic, douche bag heel smirks. Much better.

 

[ZackSnowExcellence!]

I can't say he's IMPROVED, but his promos are and always have been great while his time as a heel. Since June, he's turned heel, and his promos with Daniel Bryan, and Shawn Michaels as you said, this past Monday.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Orton is showing us all, once again, that he's a better villain than a hero. He seems to be able to show more personality and more to his character when he's the bad guy. He just looks more comfortable in this role.

Maybe so, although it's still an indication of my contention that wrestling fans prefer just about everyone as a heel. Clearly, though, Randy favors it and was supposedly asking management to let him turn bad all during his face run.

So be it, but I liked some of the stuff he did as a good guy, too. When he and Kane were trying to reason with Daniel Bryan, telling the little guy he wasn't the weak link, Randy showed an ironic side as he displayed mild exasperation and annoyance, instead of the full-blown anger he usually brings as a heel. Still, Randy was the third wheel in the Daniel-Kane-Orton group; otherwise he might have been included in the sensitivity training the other two had to go through.

Yes, Randy's promo with HBK was very well done. Since he's a Legend Killer, it could be he's better at talking parts when dealing with legends.

 

[SuperTaco]

Maybe so, although it's still an indication of my contention that wrestling fans prefer just about everyone as a heel. Clearly, though, Randy favors it and was supposedly asking management to let him turn bad all during his face run.

So be it, but I liked some of the stuff he did as a good guy, too. When he and Kane were trying to reason with Daniel Bryan, telling the little guy he wasn't the weak link, Randy showed an ironic side as he displayed mild exasperation and annoyance, instead of the full-blown anger he usually brings as a heel. Still, Randy was the third wheel in the Daniel-Kane-Orton group; otherwise he might have been included in the sensitivity training the other two had to go through.

Yes, Randy's promo with HBK was very well done. Since he's a Legend Killer, it could be he's better at talking parts when dealing with legends.

To your first point, I would agree that it seems to be the general consensus. I personally get a little put off when there's too much heel stuff going on, though. Watching WWE during the first few weeks of the D-Bry/Orton/HHH feud was painful to sit through because it seemed to be beating after beating, humiliation after humiliation to the faces. Recently it's achieved a much better balance, mainly due to many of the free shows ending on a high note.

To the second thing, I personally would have loved seeing Orton try to go through that sensitivity training . He'd have to talk about the voices in his head, and Dr. Shelby might have ended up punching someone out by the end of it.

 

[LoudClearVoice]

Orton has been great ever since the heel turn and his involvement with the McMahons. His promos are better, his look and mannerisms are better, and he's been more enjoyable in the ring. I think it was stupid to take the belt off of him so quickly. If STILL don't trust him then they shouldn't have given him the belt in the first place.

Orton is showing us once again that he is an elite talent and one of the "top" guys on the card.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Orton is someone whose always seemed far more natural and much more comfortable in the role of a heel. Some wrestlers can walk that line and do babyface or heel with equal grace, but Orton's not really one of them. When you take into account that characteristics of his "Viper" persona, everything from his mannerisms, facial expressions, body language and personality scream that he's just not a "nice guy".

Orton going tweener did feel fresh for a while and it helped him to stand out. He didn't come off as a "nice guy" and had a lot of male supporters. Women would go nuts over him, squealing like 12 year olds who Justin Bieber smiled at. It did inject some life into him he was getting a bit stale, though he was someone who was heavily overexposed during his last heel run much of the time whether it be in feuds against Cena, Edge or Triple H.

In my opinion, Orton is back to where he generally needs to be. I'm sure that some fans or a dirtsheet writer will bitch about Orton being wasted or something in the next few months because he's not where they think he should be.

 

[MCMG]

Randy Orton clearly works best as a heel. Being a face never truly worked and, although very obvious, it was a good move by the WWE to turn him back. Orton has an unfair reputation for being poor on the mic when I think he is actually quite good and this is shown best when he is a heel.

 

[Hard Hit Prince]

I think Randy Orton has been the sole reason for my investment in this rivalry - I mean sure I think Daniel Bryan is very talented and I like him, but he isn't hanging with Randy Orton in the microphone. I always liked Randy Orton, it's one of this things that when you watch him for the first time with his great appeal, is great finisher and workrate you simply become a mark for the guy - and as a villain he's simply one of the best ever and I mean that.

His intensity is different than everybody's - he isn't a sarcastic or a coward heel like most of the guys are. He is what you see, he's that freaking guy that you would be jealous based on his face alone and he can back it up which is great to see in this era, specially in the main event scene. Randy Orton is also a great storyteller and you can't argue with that - just look at his match with Dolph Ziggler this past Monday - I mean, how many times have we seen Dolph vs. Orton? I can't even count that much and that one match already felt different from all of them and the crowd went nuts for what the guys were doing.

I also thought that Randy Orton never failed to deliver as a babyface, the only thing that failed was the content of his rivalries - in his two/three years run as a babyface there is three things that make him stand out: his feud against CM Punk and the New Nexus, his rivalry against Christian and his rivalry against Kane and that's because he had mic time and he had TV time to develop a storyline instead of being put in 400 repetitive matches just for the sake of filling up time.

I hope he wins this Sunday, I know that storyline is to establish Daniel Bryan as a top guy but I just don't see Bryan evolving after his victory, while I can see a ton of different variations where to use this Randy Orton with the WWE Championship but I'll be fine with whatever they give me as long as they don't let Orton disappear from the top spot, specially now when he's been simply fantastic.