My Word, Randy Orton Is Bloody Terrible

[Uncle Sam]

Or so WWE creative wants me to think. Yes, yes, the ol' bait and switch.

Ever since Orton turned face around WrestleMania-time, people have been muttering about how he's the next Steve Austin - the one man that can challenge John Cena for the title of top face. Unfortunately, somebody seems to have neglected to tell the writers.

Orton was more of a force when he was a cowardly heel. I mean, he's pretty much the only person that's gone down clean to Jack Swagger. Yes, he used a steel chair. A weak-looking backdrop onto a steel chair that was perfectly legal; one that Orton was even planning on using himself until he got his pathetic ass reversed. This is the same Jack Swagger that has gone down to the likes of John Morrison, Kofi Kingston and Rey Mysterio.

Then his feud with Edge starts with Orton standing there for five minutes, making odd faces before taking a surprise swing at Edge only to lose the ensuing brawl. He only saves himself with a surprise RKO. In the resulting match, he separates his shoulder in a borefest that ends in a double count-out.

Then, to spice things up a bit, he gets a door sort of, maybe pushed onto his arm a bit AND HOLY MOTHERFUCKING SHIT HIS ARM JUST FELL APART BEFORE OUR EYES! We then get an absolutely thrilling one-armed bout between him and Edge that Edge thought was so fucking stupid that he untied himself and just beat Orton up.

Just, really, what is going on? Oh, and his shirt looks like something the UFC rejected.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

I haven't been really impressed with Orton's face turn as of late. I would say it's more of who he has feuded with more than anything. Edge came off a lackluster feud with Jericho and now he's doing the same with Randy. Jericho would have made a much better opponent. RAW already has Sheamus, Edge, and Jericho as heels so Orton may stay face for a while. If he does turn heel again in the future, he needs to go to back to the heel he was after he was kicked out of Evolution. I liked that Orton and not the psychotic one.

RAW has way too many main eventers as it is. Might be time for him to go to Smackdown.

 

[triniphenom]

ok to tell yall randy was suppose to stay heel, but the fans change that and orton is better this way he wins matches clean, and hes not a face hes a tweener between bad and good and not caring, orton is one of the best right now, and he did not damage his shoulder in the ring it was by playing some sort of sports at home it happen he only seperate it in the ring.

 

[Silent~Screamer]

He is much better as a heel. If he wants to be compared as the next Stone Cold they need to drop this face gimmick fast. Hell, Austin was a heel and he was way over with the crowd.

 

[JenksIX]

I think WWE is figuring a way to use him properly but right now they can't put him off as a heel any longer and between his voice, attitude, and mic skills ... he can't cut face promos. This is why WWE desperately needs storylines and imagination. I mean look at heel Jack Swagger. He's a goof ball and you kind of feel sorry for him. He isn't doing anything really all that bad for some face to come a long and whip his ass. A heel is suppose to deserve an ass kicking for doing something borderline evil ... look at what DX, Corporation, NWO did in the 90s.

As soon as I saw the NXT invasion, I was excited but a second later I realized that it was going to be Orton/Cena giving AA's and RKO's week after week too the NXT guys. Now I'm not a fan of Cena/Orton vs NXT. But, NXT is what can make someone like Orton truly popular as a baby face(for all the suckers out there.) I would prefer Cena/Orton took a long vacation together and we got to see like Punk, Dibiase, Shemus, McIntyre, Ziggler, MVP, Miz, Morrison etc feud w/ NXT or join them.... just make a whole big spider web out of it and eventually NXT season 2 would be involved and along the way we would see heel/face changes and if Cena would be willing to turn ... then he can be involved lol. Otherwise, just put Cena on Superstars and let him AttitudeAdjust Primo, Chavo, divas, Khali, Hornswoggle, Mark Henry and WWE can watch the ratings sore lol.

Everyone thinks of Stone Cold when they think of an anti-hero type face and I don't have a great memory of it ... but wasn't Austin facing McMahon/Corporation, Kane/UnderTaker ministry, Triple H/Michaels and DX on his own or with the numbers usually against him and there was usually a reason for the "bad blood."

For a guy like Orton to succeed as a face, he needs to be up against odds. It can't just be Edge's scrawny ass out there, mano y mano, it's got to be like Edge and the Rated R posse or CM Punk and SES. Or Edge and CM Punk vs Orton.

I mean I don't like the idea of it b/c I'm not an Orton fan, but that's what needs to be done for an anti-hero face to get really over. And lets face it Orton is mainly liked b/c 1) RKO (a move you can hit at anytime and on numberous people and reminds ppl of the stunner) 2) His entrance music 3) His looks and body.

So if they haven't killed it already, I'd expect too see Orton facing NXT or some group of people soon b/c he needs that "license to kill" in order to do promos suited for him. Either way, he's just not that good but people will continuously mark out when he does the RKO especially on numerous and unsuspecting people.

 

[Dave]

Yeah, I have no idea what the Hell is going on with Randy Orton at the moment. He had such promise after WrestleMania and all of that seems to be extinguished by putting him a feud with Edge. I never thought I would be saying that any time soon but it is true. For some reason, after the initial encounters between the two, this feud seems to have fizzled out and it looks as though the don't know what to do with Randy Orton. People were saying that there feud was great at the start and now it seems that all of the passion and interest has petered out.

I don't really mind Randy Orton as a heel or a face because I think that he can do both but I would have preferred if he had stayed as a Heel. He just seemed to have momentum than anyone else and realistically could have beaten anyone, up to and including John Cena. Now though, I have the impression that his gimmick is really holding him back in his new alignment. It worked so much better as a heel and I don't think that the WWE have noticed that.

The match with Edge, this past Monday, was ridiculous. How do you go from being in the best feud on Raw to a one-armed match like Chavo fucking Guerrero? I really don't know what has happened there and I would have much preferred if Orton had just taken some time out after his injury instead of subjecting us to this shit lately.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

I will start off by saying I am a huge Orton mark. But as of late, I haven't been nearly as into his character as I was before Wrestlemania. Do I blame Orton for this? Absolutely not.

He is going with what he is given, and unfortunately, it isn't much. He doesn't talk. He's injured. He's not doing..anything. They have a choke collar on this guy, and I'm not sure why. I would say it has to do with his injury, but this started before his shoulder gave out, or whatever.

What they are doing with him, right now, is a tragedy. The guy has loose cannon tweener written all over him. The signs are there, we can see them quite clearly (well, those of us that do not hate the guy).

He isn't Steve Austin, I'm sick of hearing that. He's Randy Orton. Never has a character so evil been cheered by fans. Austin was aggressive and hot-headed, but he wasn't downright evil. Fans began to cheer Orton, I believe, because he is the anti-Cena. While Cena follows the rules, Orton doesn't. While Cena is a role model, Orton isn't. Cena is the definition of "PG," and Orton is wrestling in the wrong era.

I don't believe it would have been any better for Orton over the last few months had he feuded with Jericho, or Miz, or anyone else. The WWE has it in mind, seemingly, that this "silent killer" approach is working. This get-in-there-and-get-it-done kind of character is the best way to go. Well, it's not. It's quite boring, actually. And Randy Orton has shown time and time again, that he isn't boring. Sure, some of you might be into more high-octane wrestlers, big spot guys. But I'm not talking about in-ring entertainment. I'm talking about his character.

His feud with Edge has been beyond boring. I won't say it's been terrible, because I don't think enough has happened to warrant that kind of label. It's been nothing. Boring, boring, boring shit. And no one is going to convince me that is the fault of Orton or Edge. It's the way it's being booked, the way it's been written. Orton doesn't talk. They don't let the guy speak. And when they do, he says very little, and there is zero emotion. That's not Orton's fault. We have seen him show a great deal of emotion before, never really positive feelings, but emotion shown through anger at least.

It seems as though the WWE wants us to cheer for him at this point, but they want us to cheer for a character that never got over. This IS NOT the Orton people began to cheer for during his (garbage) feud with Sheamus. They want us to cheer this watered-down version. This less edgy Orton, and I hate it. Does this go back to bitching about the PG-era? I think so. I think they are more worried about little kids buying his t-shirts (which I agree is terrible looking) than they are having a quality show.

The WWE is holding this guy back. They are giving him NOTHING to do that is the least bit entertaining. Do they mean to hold him back? Probably not. Who knows what they are thinking. But they need to do something, quick. They need to turn the man loose. Let him be the emotional, psychotic, viscious heel-type tweener people want him to be. When does he get his biggest pops? When he is RKO'ing someone, or punting a person in the skull. People like the overly-violent Orton, THAT is the character that was getting over. Not this PG-style tweener. It's garbage, and boring. I hope they light a fire under his characters' ass before it's too late.

 

[Legacy Reborn]

Guys...give Orton a break!!! You act like he wanted the change to be a face. The thing is he is way over with the WWE universe, so creative is kind of at odds with what to do. If he didn't hurt himself playing basketball before the OtL PPV, the feud with him and Edge would be much better right now, and we wouldn't be seeing these BS one armed matches.

The fact is we all know he is better as a heel, but heel or face he's one of the best wrestlers out there. I see him pulling off a HHH move like in 2002 and turning heel again, but I doubt it'll be anytime soon. Let creative do what they want, and Orton will play the game as it is. He's the best talent WWE has as long as he's healthy.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Overreacting Sam. Sure, he sucks and all that. Mind though, he got hurt very soon after going into this character fully, and well, the Edge fued has been meh.

You know what hasn't though? How over Orton is. My goodness, I simply gawk at the ridiculous ERUPTIONS of fan reaction every time he enters the arena. Shits all over the pop for ANYONE else in the WWE. Shits all over it. Like, their reactions are coated in shit. Totally covered. Metaphorical, really. What is worse, he gets it simply from standing around, or walking around. Evan Bourne could light himself ON FIRE and do a SSP off the top of the arena in a monster truck, and not get the same reaction that Orton gets from simply walking around.

What im getting at here is sure they may be booking him not so great as of right now, but it definately isnt hurting how over he is, and how many shit tons of people buy that T Shirt. Its been a couple months, give it time. Let him heal, and give it time.

 

[Ferbian]

Now that you mention it Sam, I see it, the only thing that Randy Orton has accomplished through his face turn is some half decent promos and an RKO here and there leading up to a Pay Per View, he hasn't been booked to actually win any of the matches.

I don't get it really, I guess Randy Orton is so over he doesn't need to win matches apparently, I hope that Randy is changed to look a little stronger, because while he is so insanely over, people will soon realize there's nothing behind it and the popularity will slowly fade.

WWE needs to turn this around somehow so that Randy can become just a little bit credible again, or well I'm not saying it wouldn't be believable that he won a match, or won at Fatal Four Way (if he's still in there) but it doesn't exactly help him going in there that he hasn't exactly won anything.

Randy kinda strikes me as the RAW version of Jack Swagger, while he's not a world champion, he's going into a world championship match, and is the less credible one of the opponents because he's been made to look the weakest of the 4.

 

[TheProfessional]

Sure he's still over, but I agree that he is certainly less Interesting.

I don't like what they're doing with the whole 'Not Talking during Promos'.
And I agree that he needs to become more of a Loose Cannon who takes out ANYBODY in his way.

Like that time when he was in the ring with Cena and Swagger.
He tried to RKO John Cena.
Sure, Cena pushed him off and he ended up RKOing Swagger, but at LEAST he tried to get Cena.

He just needs to not give a damn, and only look out for himself.
Sure that may not be a Model Character.
But it's what people want to see.
And it's what is Interesting to say the least.

 

[Takerfan93]

I agree completely. I have not been pleased with his face turn and I hate his whole Viper gimmick recently, it has been taken too far and he speaks even less now. I don't like that he hardly speaks, all he does is stare at people. I know some will say it is part of the character, but it is a part I don't like.

I thought the slithering thing was good when he first started using it, but with his face turn it has got over the top, he just looks stupid doing it now. Before it was simply him going to the ground and waiting for them looking intense before giving an RKO. Now he has to get all twitchy, then spin around and fall to the ground and then push him self up continually with his fists on the ring, it just looks ridiculous to me.

I find his Viper character so boring and I much preffered the Legend Killer. I know after a while he runs out of decent legends and his cocky, arrogant thing would not suit him as much now as it is more used for the youngest guys. But they could have just altered it instead to suit him at his age now (that is what they did in 2007, just took away the legend killer aspect) or at least not changed his character to what it is like now. I know a lot of people love the Viper, but I never have. I just don't feel his character has a personality anymore..

 

[TheAnimal]

It'd be stupid to make him suddenly become a smiley face like Kofi or someone else. He is essentially the same but has heels as his targets and more of his own man. I think because he is a good face he jobbed to Swagger and was used like he was against Sheamus because he is over and an established star so he had to give them credibility and get them over as champions and proper main eventers.

Obviously his injury has hampered his progress in his feud with Edge, but that is more WWEs fault by having him still on TV but not being able to utilise him fully. He is being booked for matches he clearly cannot compete in. I said in another thread if he had a concussion he would not be doing this, its better to have him heal his injury and come back seeking vengeance, but maybe someone else HHHas the monopoly on that storyline?

 

[Layorz]

Randy Orton is not a face, and never had a face turn. Seriously, some people actually think the Legacy/Wrestlemania situation was a face turn? The whole RKOing guest hosts, attacking Legacy out of the blue after telling them he had changed, trying to RKO Cena? That's not face material. Yeah he's over, but he is definitely not a face. He kept the same character he's had for a good couple years or so, minus the fact that he no longer runs with Legacy. At best he's a tweener folks, and he makes a good one.

But this feud with Edge has just been boring. And it's not WWE management, it's not the booking. It's EDGE. Even Jericho couldn't get him over as a face. And it's quite clear that not even Randy Orton can get Edge over as a heel. I mean, right now Randy Orton could RKO babies left right and centre and people will still pop for him. But the second you throw Edge in the ring, nobody cares. If I were Randy, I'd push for the feud to end ASAP and instead start one with the NXT rookies, or Sheamus. He'd get a lot more out of that. Hell, when they confronted each other a couple weeks ago the pop for Orton was huge. But when Orton and Edge met? It turned really 'meh', really quickly. Edge unfortunately just is not in the right place right now, he's so terrible that he brings the people he feuds with down with him.

 

[JGlass]

I don't get why people love Orton so much. Seems like every wrestling fan I talk to outside of these forums (admittedly, I know like three wrestling fans in real life) seems to be marking out for him, and I've never once heard a satisfying explanation for why. It's not his characters, it's not his moves, it's not his promos, they just love him for no apparent reason.

Is it because he is, in a way, the anti-Cena? I guess, but the only way I see him as an anti-Cena is because he is not a typical face. He is classified as an anti-hero, but don't you still have to be heroic to be an anti-hero?

Wolverine is an anti-hero. He disrespects authority and ruthlessly kills his enemies, but is fighting for a cause greater than just himself.

The Punisher is an anti-hero. He is a one-man machine who will do anything to find justice, even if that means doing something that is morally disgusting... but he'll do it for the greater good.

Randy Orton... nobody really knows his motives anymore... nobody really knows where he stands. In this sense, he is a tweener, but he's too over to be a tweener. I don't really know where to put Randy Orton, and I think that's why I don't really like him; my brain doesn't know what to do with him.

 

[1ofThePeeps]

I think it would have been great to see Orton feud with Cena. Fans are cheering Orton when he's a heel? Put him against the biggest face in the company. See if they cheer him then. They still cheer him, even against Cena? Great. I don't see the problem with this at all. We have an awesome set of matches where there are fans that are taking their own sides. You don't NEED to tell fans who to cheer for, and who they like.

I feel like they're trying to force this into a full face turn by putting him up against Edge. Edge isn't even over as a heel yet! He was the biggest face on Smackdown a month and a half ago!

This whole thing has just been poorly done. It's not good television. I don't see that changing, lets just hope they end it soon.

 

[Ruthless-RKO]

I think he should turn back to a heel and move to Smackdown...there are too many main eventers on Raw, and when Smackdown moves to SyFy, they are going to mvoe some top main eventers over...i want that one person to be Orton..maybe leave him the way he is..because he is really over with the fans...

 

[Mudd2010]

If there is anybody I hate more than Cena it is probably Randy "I'm going to take 5 years to walk down to the ring because I'm so intimidating and I'm going to bore the shit out of everyone with the words I don't say" Orton. He may be a better wrestler than Cena, because almost anybody is IMO, but I just can't stand this guy. How the fuck do you injure yourself playing basketball. Then he is just given a title shot at the ppv without even having to do anything because he was still injured. I find it funny how Undertaker is injured and they take him out of the match immediately yet Orton was injured before the match was even made and they give him a spot.

 

[X]

Randy Orton may be the most overrated wrestler on the planet. No, strike that, he definitely is. Not half the worker he's cracked up to be, can't cut a face or even a tweener promo to save his life, and is literally incapable of working a match correctly as a face. He hasn't changed his in-ring style one iota since becoming a face, which leads to every one of his matches over the last few months being just bizarre, with the crowd unsure of when to cheer or what to cheer. Add to that how much of a cocky prick and general douchebag as a human being he is (I still can't stop laughing over the fact that he injured his own arm doing his stupid little "Viper" pounding the mat routine) and I really am just tired of seeing and hearing about the man. When people claim he's the next Austin I laugh, because it's one of the stupidest fucking things I've ever heard. I give it another 6 months max before Orton is heel again, because he's just so absolutely abysmal at being a face.

Someone needs to sit this guy down and fucking teach him how to work a match as a face. Until he can do that properly, I have no interest in the guy's lame duck face routine.

 

[jrocc4dub]

C'mon. Everyone knew this was gonna happen. Once the writers saw Orton was getting the cheers and not DiBiase and Rhodes, and decided to make him face, you had to know his character was going to suffer. He should be a tweener. No friends, RKO'ing anyone for any reason. The psychopathic Orton is the one who got over. Not this version who respects Cena now after wanting to end his career a few short months ago. The injury may have a bit to do with it, but they were changing his character before that happened. It's another case of trying to fix what isn't broken. If he were to return the the unpredictable, slightly insane Orton who fans started to cheer for it would be great. They've definitely tinkered with him too much and we have this watered down version of the gimmick that got the crowd behind him in the first place.

I'm a big Orton mark. I just hope he gets more of his edge back. That's what made fans cheer for him to begin with. It's really unfair to compare anyone to Austin either. No one can live up to that.

 

[Vash21]

I think that there should have been more of a transition between his character, it almost seems like he was rushed into it.

I like the new Orton, I don't like the stupid mat pounding thing, he does it way too much, he sits there an pounds the mat for like two minutes, if the guy is two hurt and it takes him two minutes to get back why in the hell aren't you pinning him.

I don't like his run in when the NXTers were going to beat down Cena last week, I despise the decision for Sheamus to run in as well but thats all another story.

Orton could have furthered his tweener status by coming out an saying why in the hell should he help Cena, its Cena's problem let him deal with it.

 

[SSJPhenom]

I don't want to sound like a broken record. However, one can't deny how much Orton's character change resembles Austin's character change.

Orton was cheered long before he actually became a face. Well, I wouldn't say a complete face. He's more of a tweener. However, the fans are just going ape shit over the fact that he is a face. I think that a lot of fans want someone else at the top with Cena and with Orton, it looks like they've found their light at the end of the tunnel.

His booking has been as bad as I've seen lately, however, his crowd reactions are bigger than anyone else's in the WWE at this point. Did you hear the crowd at the Fatal 4 Way PPV? They went ape shit for Orton.

I know that this is going to piss some of you off, but I think that Cena may have some competition for the top spot in the WWE.

 

[Remy LaCroix]

I've read a few times "If it ain't broke, don't fix" or something along those lines when people argue over how Creative handle John Cena. Oh the irony when it came to Randy Orton.

I've read in Chris Jericho's "A Lion's Tale" that when he wrestled somewhere in Mexico that they had a section in the audience for fans supporting the faces, while the other was for heels. Since people were cheering for him as a heel, why did they feel the need to turn him? "Oh, he gets a face reaction even though he's heel, so we must turn him face 'cause it's only logical!!!"

I also partly blame Edge -- despite being a huge mark for him -- 'cause lately he's felt...diminished.. Well, in my eyes, yeah.

 

[Dean Winchester]

I guess people still loved the antiheroes. Randy Orton has a good character, sured its been messed with these last few years with Legacy holding him back and being apart of boring storylines with Cena and Batista. But Orton still does amazing things. I loved that he just RKo everybody and doesn't give a fuck. And he still has a heel persona as he attacks faces too. But he also beats up heels now aswell. I guess WWE wants Orton to be the news SCSA.