Randy Orton Returns

[Dave]

Finally, after months of speculation and the WWE biding their time, the Apex Predator of the WWE; Randy Orton, has returned to WWE TV.

Last night, at WWE Fastlane, Randy Orton made the save of Ziggler, Rowan and Ryback; scaring off Seth Rollins and destroying the Authority almost single-handedly. The result of all this? Probably setting up a match with Seth Rollins at WrestleMania; Rollins actually high-tailing it out of the arena at the very sight of The Viper.

So, what lies in store for Randy Orton after his return? Obviously it is looking like a feud with Seth Rollins but how does this work out in regards to The Authority, Triple H and all of the TV time in between? Are you even excited to see Orton back in the fold on the road to WrestleMania or should he have been kept off of TV until after WrestleMania? Did you like return or did it leave you underwhelmed?

So many questions. State your case here.

 

[Navi]

I'm glad to see Orton back. With Cena off fighting with Rusev the faces need someone to lead them. What do I see happening? Well I think we're going to have round two of Rollins running out of the arena every night. You know shades of his feud with Ambrose.

The Authority will go into protective mode, and not let Orton near him for the next few weeks. Now that Reigns is firmly in the Wrestlemania main event, Big Show needs something to do, and I predict that he'll be taking on Orton now. If not him then Kane with J&J Security tagging along for the ride. In other words tons of interference in almost every match.

As HHH seems to be focused on the upcoming feud with Sting, he'll leave it up to his cronies and Stephanie to take care of Orton. It will all come to a head a week or two before Mania and Orton will get his hands on Rollins there. Shame really, because it should have been Ambrose/Rollins at Mania. They have more of a history and the story is one fans can get behind. Too bad he's busy now chasing Wade Barrett.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

When Orton returned I realised I hadn't noticed he'd been gone and that I didn't care he was back. He's a fine all round talent, but he needs a complete overhaul and/or to adopt a Jericho style schedule.

I know he's still relatively young but it feels like he's been around forever. There's not much for him to do anymore.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

To be perfectly honest, I can't say I care all that much at this point. I'm just sorta burned out on Orton right now and frankly, I'm only interested in seeing him if he ultimately puts Rollins over. Rollins holds a victory over Orton on Raw, which happened to be the same night that Orton was "injured" by Rollins' Curb Stomp, so I don't see Rollins going over Orton in two straight matches, even if said match is at WrestleMania. Even if he does, it'll probably be the result of J & J Security running interference.

The whole notion of Rollins beating feet from Orton and essentially looking like a scared bitch doesn't do much for me. I know that heels are supposed to be underhanded, but I don't understand why Vince wants 99.9% of them to also come across as sniveling cowards. Like some other formulas Vince employs, I think this is one that's been done so frequently with so many different wrestlers over the past several years that it's just too stale. When it comes to almost every heel that's gotten a push over the past 5 years or so, Vince books them to look cowardly or ineffectual when going up against people like Cena or Orton; I think it's also part of the reason so many fans are burned out on them.

I'm not saying Rollins can't be a lowlife scumbag who cheats, but I don't see the need to portray him as a scumbag who can't get the job done without half the locker room emptying to help him. Look at Rusev last night as all he did was kick Cena in the balls. My point is that there are easy ways for a heel to be a heel without look like a complete pussy in the process.

 

[Escher]

Personally I liked Ortons return, although that is mainly due to the fact that I had pretty much forgotten about him so I was surprised which is a rarity for WWE these days. That being said it was a good return, well placed at the beginning of the card and did a good job as the first steps of an Orton/Rollins feud, Rollins running out of there will provide Orton with promo material and everyone knows Rollins isn't ever short of things to say so this will hopefully be an interesting feud both in and out of the ring. One interesting thing will be the involvement of Rollins' hired ''muscle'' (if that applies to J&J), Orton easily ran through all four Authority Pawns last night so it begs the question will they give up trying to stop Orton and let Rollins fend for himself, or will they go all out on a more forceful offensive.

And if Big Show, Kane and Rollins are tied up in this feud where does that leave Ziggler, Ryback and Rowan?

 

[Navi]

The whole notion of Rollins beating feet from Orton and essentially looking like a scared bitch doesn't do much for me. I know that heels are supposed to be underhanded, but I don't understand why Vince wants 99.9% of them to also come across as sniveling cowards. Like some other formulas Vince employs, I think this is one that's been done so frequently with so many different wrestlers over the past several years that it's just too stale. When it comes to almost every heel that's gotten a push over the past 5 years or so, Vince books them to look cowardly or ineffectual when going up against people like Cena or Orton; I think it's also part of the reason so many fans are burned out on them.

That's been my biggest complaint so far with the Authority storyline. Like why do they need so many people to get the job done? Everytime I mention it everyone comes back at me with "Well their heels you know." My response to that is...you can be a heel, cheat and do whatever but these 5-2, 5-3 matches are getting ridiculous. All it does is end up in a beat down and everyone does their finishers. Finishers which I might add never work in a 1-1 match.

Since Rollins joined the Authority we've seen more of his backside than I care too. And I also think that's it's hilarious that Orton managed to clear the ring last night, when Ryback, Rowan and Ziggler working together couldn't. Oh it gets tiring watching because you know the same thing is going to happen week in and week out.

 

[Dave]

Personally I liked Ortons return, although that is mainly due to the fact that I had pretty much forgotten about him so I was surprised which is a rarity for WWE these days. That being said it was a good return, well placed at the beginning of the card and did a good job as the first steps of an Orton/Rollins feud, Rollins running out of there will provide Orton with promo material and everyone knows Rollins isn't ever short of things to say so this will hopefully be an interesting feud both in and out of the ring. One interesting thing will be the involvement of Rollins' hired ''muscle'' (if that applies to J&J), Orton easily ran through all four Authority Pawns last night so it begs the question will they give up trying to stop Orton and let Rollins fend for himself, or will they go all out on a more forceful offensive.

And if Big Show, Kane and Rollins are tied up in this feud where does that leave Ziggler, Ryback and Rowan?

You know, this is a good point. And it gave me a horrifying thought actually. What if we don't get to see the match between Orton and Rollins at WrestleMania? Is it really beyond the realms of possibility that we see, God forbid, another multi-man tag team match with all 6 of the guys from last night but with J&J and Orton in the mix? That would surely be the worst thing that could happen to every single person I just mentioned.

As Jack Hammer said though, this is only interesting if Orton is putting Rollins over and I just don't see it happening. It isn't often than someone with a surprise return this close to Mania is beaten by a snivelling heel that is constantly running away. Still, the WWE should be biting the bullet on people like Rusev, Rollins and Wyatt. So why not have hope that Orton will do the favour and put him over.

Just not in a tag match. Please.

 

[Mustang Sally]

As Jack Hammer said though, this is only interesting if Orton is putting Rollins over and I just don't see it happening...

I agree; they're going to have to be more creative with this one. After all the time Randy has been gone.....and his obvious change from heel to face ....they're not going to want to set him up to play second fiddle to anyone, much less a virtual singles rookie like Rollins. Randy needs to go on a tear and if WM31 weren't so close, I wonder if they wouldn't have him beating up some midcarders before going after one of the the top guys. But the time is short and they don't have the luxury of building up Randy; they've got to go with his reputation, which is considerable.....fortunately.

Fortunately too, because Seth Rollins needs an opponent for the big event....and given the history between he and Randy, we're good to go.

But in this coming month, if all we're going to see is Orton getting beat up by Rollins, Mercury, Noble, Kane & Big Show, it will be the same old soup warmed over as Rollins & Company has been giving us for months. Whether Randy is featured as a good guy or not, I'll always see him as a 'tweener....and as such, hopefully he can find a way to combat all the interference and come out on top.

 

[chuckmdubya]

It's good that Orton is back. Despite his long career and same basic gimmick for years, he still adds an element of surprise to the show. You never know when he'll pop up and deliver an RKO, and he is a character that, similar to Shamrock, can snap at anytime.

His return was a bit mundane. I wish there would have been more excitement and less of a cluster. Normally I'd worry that we were gonna see him get beat up by the authority in full force every Monday, but I would hope that on the road to WrestleMania each guy would be busy with his on WrestleMania opponent.

 

[Escher]

Just not in a tag match. Please.

If WWE are smart (which I'm not 100% sure they are anymore) they will not make us sit through anymore increasingly large somewhat repetitive tag matches.

The unlucky trio (Ziggler, Ryback and Rowan) despite working quite well together just need to stop and do their own thing, another tag match will not help anyone.

 

[blueskyy]

If the plan were to set Randy Orton up against Seth Rollins for Wrestlemania, I would hope that they leave Kane and Big Show out of it. It is easy to accomplish that since both men had working relationships with Orton and Triple H (who was and hopefully still is in friendly terms with Orton), they might themselves in a difficult spot and want no part of this. As far as booking goes, if they plan on putting on "competitive" matches, I would put them in one or two matches prior to their Wrestlemania match, with either or both having a win each.

 

[DynamiteKid518]

My biggest complaint may seem trivial to some but I think it was one of the key reasons this "big return" just didn't work for me.
Besides the crowd being utterly dead for this whole show, I felt like the biggest reason Orton's return seemed flat was just simply what he was wearing.

I hate when guys do run ins in full ring gear but it's even more annoying when a guy who hasn't been around in months, isn't booked on the show, comes out in wrestling trunks, knee pads, boots and wrist tape. Not only is it illogical and insulting to the fan, it just looks bad.
If he would have come out of nowhere in street clothes this return would have went from a very mediocre segment to pretty damn spontaneous and believable.

It's the little things and maybe someone can fill me in on why WWE always does this with guys wearing full gear during run ins and returns.

 

[kadroan]

Finally, after months of speculation and the WWE biding their time, the Apex Predator of the WWE; Randy Orton, has returned to WWE TV.

Last night, at WWE Fastlane, Randy Orton made the save of Ziggler, Rowan and Ryback; scaring off Seth Rollins and destroying the Authority almost single-handedly. The result of all this? Probably setting up a match with Seth Rollins at WrestleMania; Rollins actually high-tailing it out of the arena at the very sight of The Viper.

So, what lies in store for Randy Orton after his return? Obviously it is looking like a feud with Seth Rollins but how does this work out in regards to The Authority, Triple H and all of the TV time in between? Are you even excited to see Orton back in the fold on the road to WrestleMania or should he have been kept off of TV until after WrestleMania? Did you like return or did it leave you underwhelmed?

So many questions. State your case here.

I figured he would have returned on Sunday. It's great to see him back. WWE definitely needs him to shake up the cards a bit. It's only so many match combinations you can do with Reigns, Team Cena (minus Cena) and Team Authority.

I look forward to Rollins vs. Orton. It should be a great match and have a great video package. I'm curious to see how long they're going to let this go, finish at WrestleMania or extend as far as Payback like Bray vs. Cena.

 

[FightOwensFight]

As a fan of Orton I am happy he is back. A bit lackluster last night, but the crowd was strange all night. As others have said, my only concern is that he gets lumped in with the rest of the people currently involved in the Authority stuff and that would be a waste of both Orton and Rollins. With Bryan losing to Reigns, and hopefully out of the picture for the ME at WM I would like to see the following.

Ryback and Rowan vs. Big Show and Kane (they will be involved somehow, might as well get it out of the way here).
Ziggler vs Bryan (the match hinted at in social media and rumored)
Orton vs Rollins

That would give you 1 decent match (Ryback and Rowan are big/strong enough to be able to work with Kane and Show) and potentially two great matches.

 

[LuckyLouie]

The crowd killed it. For giving him such a shitty pop. It seems like he even said where is my pop at the end.

 

[ColeMc]

He got a huge pop on Raw though.

Let's hope they don't go babyface with him, as an anti-hero he can really play up the Viper schtick. Hitting who he wants, when he wants, kill em all, let god sort them out.

 

[Navi]

He did get a huge pop last night on RAW, and while I'm glad to see him back, it was kind of disappointing.

When he first came out I thought he would take it right to the Authority and Rollins in particular. Instead he ends up working a tag match where he's Rollins partner. All night I was waiting for him to implode but never happened even at the end.

I seriously hope he's not going to become an Authority stooge again. We have enough of them, and they already take up way too much air time.

 

[FightOwensFight]

Yeah, if he just goes back to being with the Authority it would make all the other bad booking decisions of the last 2 years look genius by comparison. The ONLY thing I can see happening that makes sense is they do the angle where Orton takes them down from the inside. Next week you see Kane laid out in the hallway. Then Show, and so on. Certainly planted the seeds of that with the way HHH was looking the entire time last night. His face said "I know Randy, and he is up to something". He doesn't, and shouldn't, trust him.

I just hope it doesn't end in another Authority-led destruction.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

I'm sorry but as much as I say I like a storyline to play it self out, Randy Orton should have climaxed upon his return and continued climaxing until he met Rollins one on one.

It makes no sense that the voices inside Orton's head are telling him to wait things out and see how things go. He got his skull crushed to some extent by Rollins. Did Orton's injury cut off his balls? Did getting curb stomped make Orton more of an introspective person ?

I don't mind his story getting so much time last night but huh? And what? And derp?

 

[Mustang Sally]

I seriously hope he's not going to become an Authority stooge again.

Me too; it would be completely stupid to toss logic out the window and allow something like that.....no matter how contrived pro wrestling and it's storylines might be.

When the Authority group and Randy were standing backstage, conducting their "business meeting" and Steph told Randy he could refuse to join the Authority and just walk away, did you believe it? If Randy declared his intention to opt out, wouldn't they have pounded the crap out of him?

But through the business meeting and the actual tag match, weren't you waiting for Randy to turn and stomp Seth Rollins, causing the rest of them to gang up on him? I figured the turn had to come somewhere, given how unlikely it was that a guy would re-join the group that caused him serious injury just four months earlier. I enjoyed the Randy-Seth locker room segment before the match, during which Seth asked Randy to "forget" the entire incident that put him on the injured list....and Randy, while expressing a willingness to work with Seth, told him he wasn't going to forget anything. Fine, fine segment.

The company might string this "Randy in the Authority" angle up 'til WM31......but it will end by then, for sure. Whether Randy is to be good guy, bad guy or 'tweener, he won't be a member of the Authority for long.

 

[Dave]

What the fuck was that last night!? A quick change of signature is almost being called for.

I was so excited for Orton to come back and start kicking ass. And the first 10 minutes of the promo on Raw last night got me moist in that regard. But then the WWE went ahead and fucked it up once again, making it look like Orton was going to double turn; only for him not to follow through on it and making him look like an utter stooge once again.

I don't know if the WWE is just teasing us but they have, once again, ruined all of the momentum that Randy gained at Fastlane by making Rollins put his tail between his legs and running. Truth be told, I was really looking forward to seeing the match between these two but now I am less than excited. You know that this is going to be dragged out for the next four weeks before the match is finally confirmed, at which point everyone will have lost interest in it.

Last night was the opportunity that Randy needed to get himself over and really put himself against The Authority. I would have booked it that Randy just wanted the match with Rollins but the Authority kept putting the kabosh on it or getting involved just when it seemed like Randy was about to get his hands on Rollins. But that's all gone now.

What a waste. I'm not condemning it completely but I really hope that WWE sort this out and soon.

 

[bioshock]

My biggest complaint may seem trivial to some but I think it was one of the key reasons this "big return" just didn't work for me.
Besides the crowd being utterly dead for this whole show, I felt like the biggest reason Orton's return seemed flat was just simply what he was wearing.

I hate when guys do run ins in full ring gear but it's even more annoying when a guy who hasn't been around in months, isn't booked on the show, comes out in wrestling trunks, knee pads, boots and wrist tape. Not only is it illogical and insulting to the fan, it just looks bad.
If he would have come out of nowhere in street clothes this return would have went from a very mediocre segment to pretty damn spontaneous and believable.

It's the little things and maybe someone can fill me in on why WWE always does this with guys wearing full gear during run ins and returns.

Not to mention they had his intro music playing and all. They just don't know how to do returns anymore, dunno if they ever did.

As for what happened on Raw, I only watched the first hour, read up on some of the end but didn't sound like I missed anything. They had his return going OK up until the Authority showed up. Orton could be the most over and most liked guy on the roster if they just let him RKO everybody and be 100% against the authority the same way Austin was against Vince and the Corporation. But I think WWE just doesn't want Orton being that popular per say more popular than Cena or the future Reigns and Rollins. I don't doubt this whole storyline just being something to put Rollins over.