Do you think that Randy Orton is a babyface for the rest of his career?

[Widdows]

I don't think many people predicted that John Cena's babyface run would last as long as it has when he turned, so what about Randy Orton's run as a face?

Randy has had a few comparisons with Stone Cold recently, so if his merchandise sells well [ala Cena], could we be in for another extended face run of a big name?

And if so, how long before you get sick of it?

 

[dionlyone18]

Uhhh I don't think of Randy as a face..hes a tweener if you remember when he was in the ring with swagger and cena he tried to rko cena but he reversed and rko'ed swagger..now i do see a long run as a tweener because no matter how bad he tries to be..(a la stone cold) he will still be cheered because hes as close to the atitude era as we will ever get..dont get me wrong im not one of those douches thats like "ahhh attitude era is wayyy cooler and i hate the pg crap and blah blah blah" but like i said i def see this role going strong for a long run

 

[CuddleBuns84]

The role of the babyface. Can Orton do it for the rest of his career? That answer is maybe. But I do like the role so far. It's like Vin Diesel's greatest roles ever played. Riddick. The anti-hero. He needs no help, doesn't want it, and will hurt you if you cross him.

The anti-hero gimmick as I call it, can last a good time. Not also that, but it his turn went so smoothly. It was just a feud with Legacy that got him a great crowd reaction, and even over with the crowd. He is already over with the people, and now has a feud with Edge.

Now as it lasting for the rest of his career? That's going to be tough. Well yea, I think it can. It's like watching one of those awesome TV shows, with the good cop, bad cop. And he is the bad cop your just going to enjoy. So, suck up the Orton face turn, it's going to move some merchandise.

 

[StopFantasyBooking]

It's way too early to make a "rest of his career" type statement. He's got so much more time to go, there's just no way to know how long until people need something else.

Cena won't be face forever, you know.

 

[pessimism101]

I don't think Randy Orton will ever be a full-fledged face so the answer to this thread is NO. People seem to be confused. Just because Orton is getting pops wherever he goes doesn't make him a face. He's more of an anti-hero and is being cheered either because he's facing heels (Edge, though Edge is arguably a tweener like Orton), he reminds fans of the Attitude Era, and/or people like Orton as a performer and will cheer him no matter what. Either way, nobody sticks with an alignment for very long these days, so I'll say no, Orton will not be a face (or even a tweener) for very long.

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

Not a chance, Randy is too good at being a hateful b*****d to remain a face. He was completely believable the whole way through the feud with the McMahons no matter how despicable the act was. Fact is, he is at a position now that he can easily slide from good guy to bad guy and fans will have absolutely no problem cheering or booing him. Basically, he is the perfect character, because he can work with any topliner without THEM having to change character.

 

[JayMiine]

Right now he has a chance of becoming bigger than Cena. A CHANCE. So how about this,

We've all been waiting for Cena to turn heel. How about in a year or 2..maybe 3..Orton is the #1 Babyface and Cena is #2. Then we get our NWO moment. Orton turns heel in a biig way and who better to step up than Cena(just like Sting in WCW).

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Greenlight13]

Well, he's got a minimum of 10 years left in him, and given he's turned twice thus far in his career, I'd say it's all but certain he will turn at least a couple more times.

He's found his Austin 3:16 phase and as you said, he isn't specifically a face, just a tweener that people adore, an anti-hero, so in theory he could do this for as long as he wanted, but even Austin didn't stay "face", he joined Vince and Triple H, then turned face again, then joined the Alliance, then turned face again and remained that way because his appearances were sporadic.

The Rock, arguably the most popular babyface since Hogan (we can't really call Austin a babyface given how he acted), turned heel. Hogan, the most popular wrestler of all time turned heel. Nobody is immune, and given Orton has been a big-money, company carrying heel in the past, I'd say it's a certainty eventually he'll turn again.

 

[The Con Volt]

Uhhh I don't think of Randy as a face..hes a tweener if you remember when he was in the ring with swagger and cena he tried to rko cena but he reversed and rko'ed swagger..now i do see a long run as a tweener because no matter how bad he tries to be..(a la stone cold) he will still be cheered because hes as close to the atitude era as we will ever get..dont get me wrong im not one of those douches thats like "ahhh attitude era is wayyy cooler and i hate the pg crap and blah blah blah" but like i said i def see this role going strong for a long run

Uhh... Yeah. That was Edge. Not Cena. But thanks for coming out!

He's full on face now. A tweener is more of a title you give to someone who gets a good mixture of boos and cheers and/or is known for attacking other wrestlers despite their heel/face alignment. And so far, in Orton's face run, the only people he's attacked that were getting cheers are Wayne Brady and Meatloaf. Hardly people I would consider face wrestlers. So no. Orton is a full on face in the same way Austin was. He's just not a goodie goodie. Now will it last his whole career? I'm not too sure. Considering he has pretty much maintained every aspect of his heel character minus bullying everyone, and STILL became a face makes me think it would be damn near impossible to turn him heel again. He's pretty much the antithesis of Cena. While Cena does more and more "heroic" and "courageous" things, it seems like we hate him more. Whereas Orton was able to transcend a full on character change and still become a face.

 

[mpn62]

I think you will see Orton as a tweener, closer to a face for the rest of his career. HOWEVER, in the world of the WWE, things change and you go with the times. Look at Triple H. He was probably the best heel in the business since Ric Flair's heel days. He has gone back and forth between heel and face. Obviously now, he's a full-fledged face. I do not see Orton being a face like Cena where he gives those ridiculous speeches to pump himself and the crowd up. Orton will probably be a tweener/more of a face for the remainder of his career. Just my opinion.

 

[The Scarred One]

Orton is not a babyface...at least, not in the traditional way.

Like people have already stated, Orton is more of an anti-hero much like Steve Austin was back in the day and a throwback to the Attitude Era because of his intensity and unpredictibility.

The way Orton's face role works out great is that he is pretty much the complete opposite of John Cena, the other top babyface in WWE. A good comparison between them is that if Cena is considered Superman, Orton would be Batman. Cena has that boyscout image to him much like the Man of Steel in that he always does and says the right thing, while Orton is more of a lone wolf whose moves and motivation can't be predicted. So the two of them are indeed polar opposites.

As far as him remaining in this role for the remainder of his career? I don't think so. People change roles between face and heel very frequently nowadays. On top of that, Orton just turned 30 last month so he has a long way to go before he even considers hanging it up.

But I do agree that if Orton does become more popular than Cena, than it would be the perfect opportunity for Cena turns heel. We'll just have to wait and see.

 

[El Rev sXe]

I think for his carreer it would be a major push to stay tweener-face. however IMO I would love to see him get a heel turn quickly. when everyon thinks that he has become partner of Cena he destroys him!!!! sorry for that

but I do think it depends on how well are going to be the crowd reactions towards Orton in the next couple of months (3-9 MAYBE, random numbers everyone!!!) But I think he has at least 2 more MAJORS HEEL TURNS before he becomes like HHH or HBK or even Taker a eternal fan favorite

 

[I_Like_All_Wrestling]

Absolutely not. Orton is an asshole. He's an asshole in real life and he's an asshole in the WWE whether he's a heel or a face. I don't think that we'll ever see him do something like saving a huge face unless it's because he's also in a feud with whoever is beating the other face. I don't think we'll ever see him do something heroic.

He has too much of a heel factor to his personality to be a true face. I can't even believe that he's one now, if you can call him that.

 

[CuddleBuns84]

Absolutely not. Orton is an asshole. He's an asshole in real life and he's an asshole in the WWE whether he's a heel or a face. I don't think that we'll ever see him do something like saving a huge face unless it's because he's also in a feud with whoever is beating the other face. I don't think we'll ever see him do something heroic.

He has too much of a heel factor to his personality to be a true face. I can't even believe that he's one now, if you can call him that.

The Warrior was one of the biggest assholes in the world. He was cocky, and still is to this date. He didn't care about the job he was doing, or the safety of the others in the ring. A lot the veterans have been happy with Orton because he steps it up.

Goldberg has been quoted on saying that he left the WWE because he cared about what the kids were watching, and didn't like promoting sex and violence. He was a nice guy, but he couldn't step up to what was asked of him, and no he isn't doing shit.

Overall, just because the guy doesn't sign an autograph, it doesn't mean he can't do the job right. There is money going to be made of the Anti-hero gimmick. Just ask Stone Cold.

 

[Ferbian]

The fact is that Randy Orton isn't a babyface right now, he's a tweener, so he's a balance, a tweener character for me is usually something I remain entertained by for a majority of time, and due to the fact that he's a tweener.

You can easily have him going back and forth with the heel characteristics, and some face characteristics, creating what I find to be a perfect balance of entertainment.

But to answer your original question, I don't think Randy will remain babyface, or tweener for the rest of his career, he may very well turn into a clean babyface for a period of time, or back to a clean heel for a period of time, like the majority of wrestlers does in this business.

 

[NoDamnMercy]

A good comparison between them is that if Cena is considered Superman, Orton would be Batman. Cena has that boyscout image to him much like the Man of Steel in that he always does and says the right thing, while Orton is more of a lone wolf whose moves and motivation can't be predicted.

Aweomse, one of the best comparissons I've ever read! Can I put this in my sig?


On topic: No, he can't do it for the rest of his career. What hes doing now is great for him. But the next time he goes up against a face, I see him turning to straight heel. I like Orton as the anti-hero, I've actually always like anti-heros, I think they have waaaay more character then straight heels or faces. I think they need to keep him like this for at least a year.

 

[Ruthless-RKO]

Ofcourse not...He works much better as a heel and WWE will need him as a heel sometime in the future..anything can happen and I think we will see hiim a heel again...I don't see him as a cena type face...orton's character is one of those, he doesn't communicate with the audience as other faces do..he doesn't cut a promo talking to the fans like cena does etc...so I only see him a heel and tweener for the rest of his career..

 

[Jeff]

I think for the rest of his career he will be cheered by many people in the arena because he is a big name. Wrestlers get to a point in there careers that they have been around long enough that even when they are suppose to be bad guys, the crowd cheers them just because they like seeing them.

I think if Randy Orton keeps this type of gimmick for the rest of his career (although it will change over time. All gimmicks do). But if he keeps this character he will always get some cheers.

However you never know. In two or three years the WWE may want to do a complete overhaul of his character. Look at the Undertaker for example. He went to that Biker gimmick for a few years. In a few years all that needs to happen is Randy Orton gets injured then returns a few months later with a completely different personality.

 

["Cool Guy" Jensen]

I also do not see Randy Orton as much of a face. He has not really changed his personality at all to really look like much of a face. It was the WWE that turned him face, it was the WWE Universe that did it. Everything he did as a heel, he does now, the only thing that changed is the WWE Universe's opinion on him. I personally always loved Randy Orton, and I hated when the fans kept booing him, but finally, they are starting to come to their senses.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Good fucking luck making him into anything else. This is the guy who sexually assaulted Triple H's wife, and was still getting pops

He litereally gets the biggest reaction of the night simply by walking around. Walking. Around.

What the fuck could they POSSIBLY do to make him an effective heel ever again? For a long term situation? Nothing, it would be like trying to turn Triple H, or HBK, or Undertaker. The crowd decided what he would be, and now he is.

 

[klunderbunker]

Sure he'll be a heel again someday.

Like Norcal said, the guy sexually assaulted HHH's wife. He's now the most over face on the roster. What changed? Time passed by. The fans can just get tired of people doing the same thing. HHH was an evil man in 2001 and came back to the loudest pop I've ever heard. Hogan got booed out of the building at times. The fans can simply get tired of people. Orton will be a big face for awhile, but not forever.

 

[gd]

He'll definetly be a heel at some point again. There aren't many guys stay with the same alignment for much more than 5 years at a time, much less their whole career.

I guess it just all comes down to how successful this face Orton is. If he absolutely excels as a face, I guess he'll stay there for quite awhile. But with the company already having a very clear top face, on the same brand no less, I don't see Orton staying this way forever. Not at all.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Sure he'll be a heel again someday.

Like Norcal said, the guy sexually assaulted HHH's wife. He's now the most over face on the roster. What changed? Time passed by.

that's the point though, time DID NOT pass by, he was getting huge reactions before, and after that. He has gotten cheered no matter WHAT he has done for about the past 2 and a half years. All it took was that collar bone injury, and people started to shit every time he came around.

The only way it changes is if the booking enviornment of the WWE continues to go more and more old school, in which one evil act or turn can cause utter outrage. Things like that are mighty tough to come by these days.

Notice in my post I said "effective heel".....I suppose you could be right about him being "turned heel" again, but my point is, he will never ever be back to the point of utter disdain from a crowd. Not now.

 

[klunderbunker]

The key word there is now. Back in say 1987 would you have ever believed Hogan could be a heel again? Hogan cheated as much as any heel ever. Ric Flair was one of the most evil guys ever and broke the leg of the people's champion Dusty Rhodes. Eventually they all were turned face or heel. It can happen. The crowds could simply change. Right now Orton is as over as he is because he's the biggest badass on the roster. What happens if someone comes along that does it better? Or if the fans' taste changes? Wrestling can dynamically change very easily. It has before and it could again. For a good while he's going to be a huge face, but not forever. I'd be stunned if he was.