Orton's Destruction Of Wyatt's Holy Ground

[Jack-Hammer]

The closing segment of SmackDown Live last night featured Randy Orton interrupting Bray Wyatt in the middle of his invocation by appearing on the big screen in the "shack" where "Sister Abigail" is buried. Orton went into this degradation of Wyatt, his philosophy, Sister Abigail, etc. while pouring gasoline all around the inside of the shack while Wyatt could do nothing but vent his anger, frustration and near panic. Orton eventually went outside the "shack" and doused it with more gasoline before eventually setting it on fire, watching with sadistic glee as the flames consumed what was called "holy ground" for Wyatt before striking his classic pose.

To me, this was something of a throwback to some of the darker story segments of the Attitude Era, such as the various ones with Taker in his more satanic "Lord of Darkness" persona. Like those darker segments, it had history, was over the top and just flat out ridiculous but in a very fun way. Wyatt's reaction was a great over the top mixture of sadness, panic, anger, frustration and a little dash of fear. Some may have enjoyed it, some may not have, but I just thought it was a ton of fun. Like most things in pro wrestling, it falls apart when you think about it too much but thinking about it too much kills the fun of pro wrestling.

I also like how they've kept us in suspense this year over the final WWE Championship picture for WrestleMania. Some are against the notion of a triple threat match while some are for it, I think I'd prefer a one on one match between Styles and Wyatt but I'd settle for a threeway dance. My only concern is that this all leads up to a 1 on 1 bout with Wyatt and Orton due to Styles putting up his #1 contender's spot in a bout with Orton when he doesn't really "have to." What I mean by that is if Styles' ego gets out of control and he decides to risk his spot just so he can shut Orton up. A less disappointing option, though one that's still disappointing, would be Shane McMahon forcing Styles to put up his spot in a match, a match he loses, and is the catalyst for the rumored Styles vs. Shane bout for WrestleMania. Personally, I'd rather see a triple threat match than for Styles to be pulled out of the title match to face Shane because I feel it's a waste of his talent coming off of what's ultimately been, in my opinion, the overall strongest and most entertaining WWE Championship run in a few years.

 

[Navi]

We all knew that Orton was going to snap one day on Wyatt and he did it in spectacular fashion last night. Have seen Wyatt in a lot of different run down buildings but this the first time for this one. The thing that surprised me the most though was Wyatt knows that Orton is sort of a lone wolf, and all it took for him to trust him completely was Orton giving up his match at Mania against him.

To be honest I thought Wyatt was a little smarter than that to trust him so quickly as the rest of the Wyatt's almost looked robotic in a sense. That being as it is though, it was a fantastic promo by Orton. It is easily one of the best ones I've ever see him do and Wyatt sold it completely. Wyatt will either come out of this a broken man or he will invoke the spirit of Sister Abigail and become more evil than before. That might be a little creepy for the kids but great for us adults.

Really happy they didn't go the route of having Wyatt showing doubts about Orton and getting Rowan to come running in at the end for the save. All in all it was a great promo by both guys. The best thing is, instead of ending the story it just adds another layer to it. Don't know where this leaves Styles. The next few weeks in the run up to Mania will be very interesting. It's easily the best story line going right now on both shows.

 

[Dave]

Yeah, it was a really good segment and a great piece of action. But the real thing that annoyed me throughout was why Orton decided to do it this week? I know that Mania isn't far off and they need to start getting things together for the big event. But given that 2 weeks ago, Orton was telling Bray that he didn't want to face him, I'm just wondering what changed during that period? The whole thing is kinda nonsensical, honestly. And that's especially true when you consider that they had so much potential for this feud with Harper in the main event picture. So as much as I enjoyed the segment and thought it was a great evolution of the angle, the timing was kinda questionable.

As far as where this leaves AJ, there's no doubt to me that he's eventually going to be going to the big dance with Shane McMahon. I don't like it at all but that's what going to happen. The only saving grace I can think of, given the events that took place last night, is that it could be Daniel Bryan who steps in instead. You seen AJ snub Bryan last night when he tried to congratulate him for winning. I know that it's a very long shot and the odds are well in favour of it being Shane. But hey, we can all hope for Styles versus Bryan.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

I love how they build up the title match and in indirect fashion's A.J's feud with shane going into mania.

We all know that in the end, this will end up with A.J being taken out of the title match somehow because the direction as always been orton vs wyatt for the wwe title a mania, so what's interesting after last night is how they get rid of styles and what the build will be from now until mania for the orton/wyatt match.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

The thought I have is that Shane or Bryan take away Styles spot due to Randy's insistence that the Rumble win rules out and he can call the match the way he wants. It makes sense as it creates heat between the rumored Shane and AJ bout (its interesting that both men have somewhat made their name bigger with Kurt Angle) and gives heat to a future Orton/Styles feud.

While it's not above WWE to put Orton and Styles in the ring together with a Mania main event on the line on free TV, it seems like something they would normally save for a bigger stage. I also don't feel like a triple threat is likely as

I liked the segment. The production was a bit much but I can look past that for the speech, the reaction, and commitment to the storyline. Although burning a man's place of worship is kind of an incredibly shitty thing to do. I'm also down on the fact that it essentially ends the idea of there being a real Sister Abigail. Sure she can be resurrected or some other spiritual mumbo jumbo but from a reality standpoint that character is literally and figuratively dead. I was also expecting Rowan to show up and keep Orton from lighting the match.

But overall it kept me incredibly engaged and was a lot of fun.

 

[Dmbfantomas]

Yeah, it was a really good segment and a great piece of action. But the real thing that annoyed me throughout was why Orton decided to do it this week? I know that Mania isn't far off and they need to start getting things together for the big event. But given that 2 weeks ago, Orton was telling Bray that he didn't want to face him, I'm just wondering what changed during that period? The whole thing is kinda nonsensical, honestly. And that's especially true when you consider that they had so much potential for this feud with Harper in the main event picture. So as much as I enjoyed the segment and thought it was a great evolution of the angle, the timing was kinda questionable.

As far as where this leaves AJ, there's no doubt to me that he's eventually going to be going to the big dance with Shane McMahon. I don't like it at all but that's what going to happen. The only saving grace I can think of, given the events that took place last night, is that it could be Daniel Bryan who steps in instead. You seen AJ snub Bryan last night when he tried to congratulate him for winning. I know that it's a very long shot and the odds are well in favour of it being Shane. But hey, we can all hope for Styles versus Bryan.

He needed Bray to completely trust him and tell him his deepest and darkest secrets. Randy needed to completely break him.

Also, they had like 7 weeks to kill until Mania.

 

[The Life Of Pablo Ren]

Yeah, it was a really good segment and a great piece of action. But the real thing that annoyed me throughout was why Orton decided to do it this week? I know that Mania isn't far off and they need to start getting things together for the big event. But given that 2 weeks ago, Orton was telling Bray that he didn't want to face him, I'm just wondering what changed during that period? The whole thing is kinda nonsensical, honestly. And that's especially true when you consider that they had so much potential for this feud with Harper in the main event picture. So as much as I enjoyed the segment and thought it was a great evolution of the angle, the timing was kinda questionable.

As far as where this leaves AJ, there's no doubt to me that he's eventually going to be going to the big dance with Shane McMahon. I don't like it at all but that's what going to happen. The only saving grace I can think of, given the events that took place last night, is that it could be Daniel Bryan who steps in instead. You seen AJ snub Bryan last night when he tried to congratulate him for winning. I know that it's a very long shot and the odds are well in favour of it being Shane. But hey, we can all hope for Styles versus Bryan.

Well, the thing I'm seeing around the web is that "the keys to the kingdom" that Orton gained by giving up his WrestleMania opportunity was full access to the Wyatt compound. That should've maybe been better explained but it does give you the answer you're looking for.

 

[Spidey Revivey]

I didn't quite understand why they pulled the trigger as soon as they did either, but it was refreshing to see something that cinematic play out on Smackdown though. I enjoyed Randy's speech, something I've never really cared about with his character until now. Was particularly interested in the editing where they kept cutting to Orton and then Wyatt who was at the arena. Very reminiscent of Attitude Era angles where one wrestler would mess up the other wrestler's car or what have you. Totally interested in Sister Abigail again but that was probably the conclusion to that story. All in all a really cool moment.

 

[enviousdominous]

I would have liked a little more backstory.

Apparently this entire time Bray has been getting his confidence from his dead Sister, who's buried underneath his vermin infested shack. Okay, I guess.

Randy burned down the shack, because that would burn Sister Abigail, who's buried beneath the home. Umm, I suppose. I'm no expert on fire, but I imagine that her rotted corpse would be pretty well protected as it's underground. If Bray bothered with a coffin, that would just be extra protection. The soil with all the maggots crawling around on it looked pretty damp, but whatever.

Bray reacted like a five year old's first visit to a slaughterhouse. He really loved that dilapidated hovel, that for some reason never came up when New Day fought the Wyatts at their compound.

Yeah, I'm not as emotionally invested in this storyline as I suppose the WWE wanted me to be. I suspect that Randy's sudden change of attitude has something to do with Luke Harper screwing up the ending to the battle royal.

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

Well, the thing I'm seeing around the web is that "the keys to the kingdom" that Orton gained by giving up his WrestleMania opportunity was full access to the Wyatt compound. That should've maybe been better explained but it does give you the answer you're looking for.

Essentially this, but to further build on it, Orton's entire purpose has been to use Bray and the Wyatt Family to his own ends. Bray took particular interest in Randy, so Orton, being unable to shake him off and unable to bulldoze through him with the looming threat of the Family, decided the best way to deal with them was the join them. Subsequently he earned their trust - taking the Spear from Reigns at Survivor Series and Gore at TLC when they won the tag titles - and used it to his advantage.

He replaced Harper as the second in command and even won the Rumble match off the back of having Bray be Reigns' main focal point at the end of the match. Then, after Harper planted the seed of doubt that Orton probably would betray him, Randy further muddied the waters by totally submitting himself to Wyatt, forfeiting his rights as Royal Rumble winner. This earned Wyatt's complete and utter trust. After all, Randy had a prime opportunity there, just as he had had throughout the months prior, to betray Wyatt and didn't.

So he gained access to the important Wyatt Family stuff, the compound, the location of Abigail, all that jazz, and he figured he had gained enough out of the relationship, what with the Rumble win and guaranteed title shot, and struck Wyatt's most vulnerable spot. Now with Wyatt supposedly emotionally shattered, and with no back-up, Orton is in prime position to swoop in and beat him for the title. Problem for Orton is I don't see it quite working like that.

I've seen most people hypothesise that it's going to be Orton vs. Styles for the title shot, but I think they'll save that and instead have Styles get his one-on-one shot versus Wyatt on TV before Mania. Wyatt will be enraged by the loss of Abigail et al and beat Styles in fairly vicious fashion. That fuels the Styles vs. Bryan/Shane narrative (they gave him what he'd been asking for, but at the most inopportune time and cost him the thing that he 'deserves' - the main event at Mania) and also plays into the notion that the Rumble shot is above all others: Orton is guaranteed for the winner either way. Not to mention it saves the Styles/Orton match for a grander stage and develops Bray's character quite nicely.

Whatever the case, I've been enjoying this immensely and look forward to whatever twists in the road are up ahead.

 

[Kodo Sawaki]

Kinda too soon. With adding Styles to match was hoping for something more in the line of Orton entering match to protect Bray only to betray him week or two before event. Though I have a feeling that Styles wont be there but in a match with Shane.

But I love it, we didnt had destruction of property in a long time. I love psycho Orton, reminds me on good old times when he DDTed Stephanie and kissed her.

 

[xavyer]

This segment was indeed awesome, i agree with the fact that it was a little too soon, i was hoping for the element of surprise much closer to wrestlemania, something like turning on Bray Wyatt on the last Smackdown before Wresltemania, or on Wrestlemania, once they anounced Styles and Wyatt all of a Sudden Orton's music hits and he let everyone know that he will fight for the title and out of nowhere a triple threat match, but i definitely enjoyed the segment, it leads me to a few questions though, how or where does this leave Luke Harper? Will he be back to Bray Wyatt or will he side with Orton? or will this be a triple rivalry?

 

[L@RISANO]

[YOUTUBE]?v=nzLg1IEhKhM[/YOUTUBE]
September 6th, 2016(SmackDown LIVE)

Saw the above video used on another site. It explains perfectly what Randy Orton set out to do almost 6 months ago. I was surprised they went ahead with Orton screwing Bray last night, but it made perfect sense to anyone following the story from the outset. Kudos to the SD Live writers/bookers for a wonderfully written long-term storyline full of great twists and turns.
Hopefully it leads to a Babyface Bray Wyatt at the end of it all.








On another matter, to those wanting AJ Styles included, does that mean what I have long suspected of many fans is true? You'd just be happy to throw a well thought storyline down the drain just to shoe-horn a fan favourite into the mix? Just being curious...

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

Orton "gave up his spot" at Wrestlemania and pledged his soul to Bray Wyatt so he could get "the keys to the kingdom" The Kingdom meaning that sacred place for the Wyatts where Sister Abagail is buried. Once Orton got access he stabbed Wyatt in the heart by burning the kingdom to the ground along with Abagails remains. We can only assume this will make Bray seem weaker and Ortons overall plan worked. Orton can take over the role of evil godlike guy and control a faction now....if they go that route.

 

[WorstWrestlingExcrement]

I love how they build up the title match and in indirect fashion's A.J's feud with shane going into mania.

We all know that in the end, this will end up with A.J being taken out of the title match somehow because the direction as always been orton vs wyatt for the wwe title a mania, so what's interesting after last night is how they get rid of styles and what the build will be from now until mania for the orton/wyatt match.

I don t know why you and everyone else keep on insisting for shane mc moron vs AJ Styles when it won t happen! I rather not see that we don't need him hogging the spotlight on meaningless feuds! If any Daniel Bryan vs AJ Styles would be more interesting if not let it be triple threat as is

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

I was hoping a burnt, long haired, creepy Sister Abagail crawled out of the dirt. Keeps her head turned away from the screen while the shed burns around her. It ends up being Paige.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

I don t know why you and everyone else keep on insisting for shane mc moron vs AJ Styles when it won t happen! I rather not see that we don't need him hogging the spotlight on meaningless feuds! If any Daniel Bryan vs AJ Styles would be more interesting if not let it be triple threat as is

I hate to burst your bubble but looking at the story told on smackdown as far as AJ styles is concern, that's exactly we're they are going. A.j. styles will wrestles shane mcmahon at mania after all the build up they put into this story and the one with wyatt and orton I doubt they would just throw all of that away to make ths a triple threat.

What I see happening, is one of 2 thing, either tey just acknowledge that orton is te rumble winner and is the rigtful number 1 contender for mania and just make this week match result null and void which will push styles over the edge and he attack shane or they just have aj loses to orton on smackdown next week and aj explode and challenge shane because he's tired of getting screwed out of his one on one title shot.

One way or another, that it please some of the iwc fans, styles won't be in the title match at mania because the story doesn't need him in it.

 

[enviousdominous]

I really think they should have had Sister Abigail be represented as a totem or some shit, like if it turned out that her spirit haunted the cabin and that without the cabin she no longer had an anchor in this mortal plane.

Nah, she died in real life and her body was buried beneath the house, because fuck the floor boards. It looked like there was plenty of fertile soil outside the house for burying a body, but Bray went to the trouble of ripping up the floor boards so he could dump a bunch of dirt in his "kingdom" while he had his dead sister propped up against the wall.

I'm still not clear on how exactly burning down Casa de Wyatt would effect a corpse that's buried underneath it.

I'm guessing the "key" that Bray was referring to was the general location of his desiccated bungalow. Alright, big fucking whoop on earning that. Randy gives up his opportunity to compete in the main event of WrestleMania, and his reward is the ability to visit the equivalent of Ted Nugent's outhouse. I don't think Randy needed all that gasoline, an errant spark could have probably set that poorly constructed pile of dry wood ablaze.

Also; how in the hell did three men share a one room abode? Even the freaks from the movie Wrong Turn had separate sleeping spaces. Was there a triple bunk bed off camera?

I honestly think that Bray was crying because he didn't have insurance, and now he only has a bejeweled belt to use as collateral when applying for a home loan. Randy Orton's plan this entire time was to burn down Bray Wyatt's house. Remind me never to fuck with Randy Orton.

 

[nwocongo]

I honestly think that Bray was crying because he didn't have insurance, and now he only has a bejeweled belt to use as collateral when applying for a home loan. Randy Orton's plan this entire time was to burn down Bray Wyatt's house. Remind me never to fuck with Randy Orton.

At least Randy didn't make him eat his parents... IRS is probably all gristle.

I guess that they will continue along with having Sister Abigail being a disembodied spirit, seems like the ship has long sailed on continuing to add on screen members... I mean why would a cult leader attract new followers over time? That would almost make sense.

Nitpicking aside, they could have completely botched this angle but by comparison to how the Family has been booked in their time in wwe this played out fairly well I thought.

 

[spiketbear]

Randy Orton's plan this entire time was to burn down Bray Wyatt's house. Remind me never to fuck with Randy Orton.

At least Orton didn't make Wyatt eat his parents... (South Park reference).

I think Styles will get a 1 on 1 match with Wyatt, but Eric Rowan will interfere to cause a loss for the challenger. After being denied his rematch, Styles will go after Shane. This is where WWE can do right by Styles. Rather than have the greatest wrestler in the world fight a non wrestler at WM, have Shane either sanction Daniel Bryan for a one time only match in his place, or have Styles face his new free agent signing, Kurt Angle.

I think Wyatt should retain and have a rare strong first title reign. Unlike a lot of first title reigns, like Swagger, Sheamus, Del Rio and Kahli, I think Wyatt has more than earned it. Having Wyatt be a sympathetic face against a sadistic heel Orton will make it easier to justify Wyatt retaining at Mania. He can defend against Orton for a few months, then Cena, then move on to a full fledged feud against the broken Hardys at SummerSlam.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

Smackdown is like a good TV series. A great cliffhanger. Will Orton challenge Bray? Will Shane accept Orton's "change of mind"? What about Styles? Will he accept it? Will it be a triple threat? And what does the superkick from Harper to Shane mean?

So many questions. I hope this doesn't lead to Orton vs Styles before WM though. That match is money for a big PPV, just like Cena vs Styles was.

Now onto the segment. I got chills. Everything was so good. Now there's some real bad blood between Orton and Bray. But does Orton want the championship or not? Or he wants to just screw Bray from the title? Another big question that needs to be answered.

Throw Harper in there and a returning Rowan and this thing is turning out to be so freaking unpredictable and cool.

 

[OYDK]

I thought it was a good segment. Bit corny, bit over-cinematic, but Wyatt's selling really helped... uh sell how important that barn or shack or whatever the hell it was, was to him. I thought it came very close to pushing the boundaries of cartoonish which isn't something you really want to see when it comes to a Mania title match, but Orton and Wyatt brought the intensity and that really saved the segment for me. I'm seriously hoping this leads to a double turn, but I'm not sure how effectively they could pull that off in just four weeks. I'm intrigued though which is always a good thing. I want to see how Wyatt bounces back next week.

Also, Orton should really be in jail at this point. Guy has committed sexual assault, attempted murder, and now arson/desecrating a gravesite. Good guy Wyatt has never broken the law. Cheer for good guy Wyatt.

 

[d_henderson1810]

I hate the idea of Bray Wyatt as a face.

Some gimmicks and wrestlers work as both faces and heels. A guy with a gimmick where they are a megomaniacal cult leader, who is manipulative and invokes fear, an "Eater Of Worlds", isn't a gimmick that works as a smiling face who panders to the crowd.

Bray should have stayed the heel, and Orton go face again. Maybe have Harper being kicked out of the Wyatts be a ruse and Harper should attack Orton, Bray appear to come to Orton's rescue, only to then give Randy a "Sister Abigail" and then kick him out of the Wyatt Family. Maybe have Bray turn an Orton family member to his cult instead.

I have found a lot of stuff in this feud unnecessary. This feud didn't need a title. It doesn't need to be a Triple-Threat Match. It doesn't need A.J. Styles, especially since he has no connection to the feud, and hasn't even crossed paths with either man (Harper would have made more sense as the third man in the feud), and now having Orton stay heel and Bray go face.

It seems like Bray has been turned face because the fans use their mobiles to light Bray's entrance, and yell "You deserve it" when he wins the belt. If WWE won't use fan reaction to turn Cena or Reigns heel, then they shouldn't use the popularity of Bray to turn him face. Turns should be based on storyline reasons and because you have fought everyone on the heel or face side of the roster, and it is to fight fresh opponents.

 

[d_henderson1810]

I didn't quite understand why they pulled the trigger as soon as they did either, but it was refreshing to see something that cinematic play out on Smackdown though. I enjoyed Randy's speech, something I've never really cared about with his character until now. Was particularly interested in the editing where they kept cutting to Orton and then Wyatt who was at the arena. Very reminiscent of Attitude Era angles where one wrestler would mess up the other wrestler's car or what have you. Totally interested in Sister Abigail again but that was probably the conclusion to that story. All in all a really cool moment.

The whole segment smacked of the "Final Deletion" stuff that the Hardys did, meaning that while WWE pretend that they don't acknowledge TNA, they are trying to do their own version of one of their storylines.

 

[Барбоса]

The whole segment smacked of the "Final Deletion" stuff that the Hardys did, meaning that while WWE pretend that they don't acknowledge TNA, they are trying to do their own version of one of their storylines.

For me, it smacked more of the type of movie-style that Lucha Underground deals in, which of course is also where the Hardys got a lot of their style ideas from.