I was there last night as well. As Lagana stated, it was a fantastic match and everyone should watch it. If you support great wrestling, it shouldn’t matter who wins as long as a great match is had, right?
Andrea is correct in stating how the crowd favored the two wrestlers. During the match and after the match were telling. Even though Orton was heavily favored by the fans from the moment he came out, as the match went on and Christian countered several of Orton’s top moves, more of the crowd got behind him.
Christian also got an amazing ovation after the match. (Even though Orton shit on that by coming back out and reminding everyone that his name is Randy Orton and he is the champion.)
It was a really close match and it seemed like Christian could win at one point. People complain about the RKO out of nowhere, but that is part of the “viper” gimmick.
Lagana brought up an amazing point with supporting Christian through merchandise sales. Money does talk in the WWE. There’s a reason Zack Ryder pimps his shirt out at the end of each of his YouTube shows.
I did want Christian to win. I think it would have made him a start and I doubt one loss would affect Orton. As a matter of fact, it would help him. It would show that getting the title is not that easy.
Having Christian lose the title to Orton so quickly devalues Christian, Orton, the WHC, and Smackdown and here’s why:
1.) Making Orton the centerpiece of your brand is fine, but having him get the greatest accomplishment of the brand on day 1,without any trials to overcome, is poor fucking storytelling. Unless the story is about Christian’s redemption to gain the title back… on his own. Then we have a fantastic beginning. (If the writing team that smart.)
Why should anyone even watch Smackdown at this point if the “hero” of the show has already won? Where does he go from here? With Christian, we could see him as a fighting champ for the first time. We already saw this with Orton enough.
2.) If Christian won, the crowd would accept him more as a champion. There was a time when Orton wasn’t hot shit and someone had to put him over to get there. One loss for Orton wouldn’t affect his merchandise sales or his popularity. HBK, Rock, and Austin lost for crying out loud just to prove that point. Randy would win the WHC down the road anyways, restoring any unlikely lost value to his character.
3.) If Christian was accepted more as a champion, his merchandise would sell more! If Orton’s didn’t go down and Christian’s went up, doesn’t WWE make more money!?
4.) Orton winning is predictable. If Christian beat him on SD, a lot of people wouldn’t expect that. There would be a rematch of course at a PPV and people would be more likely to pay to see because now they know the match can go either way. You know, more money for WWE!
5.) The buildup to make Christian look like a star and champion leading into Extreme Rules is deflated. If Vince wanted to create a magic moment at the PPV, doesn’t this actually destroy that?
6.) Having the title drop so quickly makes it seem more like a storyline prop than anything else. This has happened multiple times in WWE and other promotions that may or may not still exist, but that doesn’t make it right.
And here’s the last point: while Randy is talented in the ring(more so than the sheepish cult that is the IWC is willing to give him credit for), Christian beats him in workrate and on the mic. He doesn’t need to squash people with a punt to the head to get over. If the writers can’t figure out how to make Christian a main eventer, then there is something certainly wrong. at WWE Creative.
I’m not pissed that Christian lost. I feel like unless this is a redemption story for Christian, WWE has blown a good feud and a long-term money making opportunity, screwing the fans and themselves at the same time. And that is why I am made.
Here what I would do if I was a writer and had to get things right on track.
Next week, Orton’s in the ring. Tells the audience that he walked right in and beat Smackdown’s best to become champion after being immediately drafted over. He lets the crowd know that he’s going to be champion for a while because Smackdown doesn’t have anyone on their roster who could pose a threat to his reign. (Since he was an asshole at the end of the show last night, he will build on that next week and onward in this feud.)
Christian’s music plays, he comes out with a stern expression on his face as he walks to the ring. He then faces Orton in the ring, eye to eye. For that moment, there are no words, just the stare down to build tension. Randy Orton asks Christian what he is doing here, that he beat Christian in the middle of the ring last week, and that Christian has no further business with him.
Christian says that title was his and that it was his dream to have it. He waited so long to get it and once he did, it was gone in an instant.
Orton cuts him off and reminds Christian who the title belongs to now and that Christian had no business having it in the first place. He tells Christian that he was in the right place at the right time and now that his best friend Edge is gone, he has nobody to protect him.
He says something along the lines of. “You’ve waited all this time and now you have nothing to show for it.”
This realization turns Christian’s stern expression into face of doubt.
Orton continues, “Edge never waited for the title. He created opportunities and did everything that was necessary to become a champion. He knew that waiting would get him nowhere and calculated his every move and manipulated so many people to become champion. But he’s not here anymore; Smackdown now belongs to Randy Orton, the new ultimate opportunist.”
This causes Christian to snap and unexpectedly deck Orton. After beating Orton down and hitting him with the Killswitch, Christian grabs the mic and looks down on Orton. He tells Orton that he’s learned a lot about what it takes to be a champion from Edge, but even more so from last week’s defeat.
He tells Orton that he could have won last week and SHOULD have won and now he’s going to for sure because now that he’s had a taste of the title, he wants it even more and he’s not going to wait around for the next chance. Instead he’s going to take it. Christian’s music plays and he leave the ring with a face of determination to take back the title while Orton is still laid out in the ring.
This sets up a high profile match at Over the Limit that people would pay to see. Your welcome, WWE.
Are you insane? Christian deserved the belt, there is no ifs and buts about it. How would you feel, if it took you 17 freaking years to have a world title in WWE, got it finally after taking so many bumps for them and then being screwed over 2 days 2 freaking days later? If i was Christian i would say f*ck you Vince and leave. Vince has definitly lost it.
Del rio is on Raw, so there was no way he could /should have been champion at Extreme Rules.
