Randy Orton's Crappy Push (Yes, You Read That Correctly)

[Ben-Phillips]

I highly doubt I'm the only one to have noticed this, but in the last two years, the WWE has worked their asses off to make Randy Orton the top dog in the company, or one of them, and in the last six months, it has really reached a fever pitch... They're throwing everything at him. Orton was riding the coattails of what ended up as a seven month WWE Championship reign from late 2007 to April of 2008. However, none were quite as significant as the push that has been bestowed upon him in 2009. Here's a brief list of Randy's 2009 push:

-Destruction of the McMahon family angle
-Now leading his own faction
-Won the Royal Rumble
-Headlined WrestleMania 25
-Was credited with Re-Injuring Batista and "breaking his arm." Giving him only more heat.
-Two WWE Championship reigns.

Now, that is only in a six month span, people... The year is only half over. And here's my complaint with it:

While Randy Orton was chasing the WWE Championship, WWE had worked wonders with his gimmick and made him the most intense, evil and even (in my opinion) most exciting superstars in the entire company. Randy Orton seemed untouchable, he'd open and close every RAW airing, and constantly progressed, doing things people only wished he would have done or never even expected... But once Orton won the WWE Championship, they deprive Orton of the evil, sinister and damn-near unbeatable attributes, and turn him essentially into a Main Event jobber.

Since Orton became WWE Champion at Backlash, the way he was booked went from the biggest and baddest in the company, to a cowardly, miserable champion who couldn't even beat up a 60 year old man without help from two other men... Then they have Orton literally job the championship off to someone who was already injured, in seven minutes no less... More than likely for a way to put the WWE Championship back onto Triple H and further bury Orton's career. Triple H is seemingly Randy's kryponite. WWE finally seems to be pushing Randy above Hunter, or making him look legit, then here comes Triple H to knock Orton back down the ladder.

I don't blame Triple H and his creative control powers, I blame WWE's corrupt and biased writing staff. When Randy lost his WWE Championship, the night after Extreme Rules, he was once again the great character... Seeming weak and feeling incomplete without his power over the rest... Now he's regained it, and he'll surely be running away from Triple H in upcoming weeks, which he wasn't doing prior to attaining the championship.

Surely, the primary reason Orton would ideally do such was because he was the champion and had nothing left to prove, but that just further trashes his character, and all the hard work put into developing it to what it has become today.

Anyways, my rant has come to it's end... Should WWE keep the championships off of Randy Orton and have him as the sadistic monster heel that can seemingly do no wrong, who chases the title... Or have his character ruined by these transitional championship reigns and making his psychopathic persona turn into just another desperate, cowardly main event heel?

Your thoughts?

 

[Nev]

I don't think too many transitional championships will make Randy Orton's character look bad, as long as he wins the championship now and then.

Him having the WWE Championship for 7 months is rather boring to me and a bit frustrating.

It never made yell at the television screen, smash my keyboard, or promise myself to not watch wrestling, only frustrated.

I really wanted guys like HBK, Chris Jericho, and Jeff Hardy snatch the championship. (All of whom he faced during that reign)

So if they can keep Randy Orton as that tough viper character but at times switch the championships to characters that are over with the crowd, then I don't mind. [No, Not Triple H]

As a matter of fact, they're doing that now.

This question is just based on if the WWE will continue with this or ruin this. I say it keep it the way it's going. Keep Orton the way he is: as the top superstar on RAW but not hold lengthy half-year title reigns.

 

[GameOver]

He doesn't need a push anyway, he has been a legit bad guy for a long time.
I'd say though he shouldn't have lost to Batista

Personally i like his Jake The Snake style of slithering around and then exploding with the RKO out of nowhere much like Stone Cold use to with the Stunner.

However on the mic he is so damn boring.

If anyone is getting screwed it's Chris Jericho lol. he is highly talented and yet he gets left behind to battle Rey Mysterio in a match to unmask him for the first time. hey hold on he was already unmasked in WCW over a decade ago Zzzzzzzzzz He loks like his son, anyone who watched the Monday Night Wars knows that.

But i digress, Jericho should be in the title picture or atleast get some valid intercontinenal opponents.

 

[ZAPX4V1]

Short title reigns are making Orton look weak. Orton should keep the title for about 9 months at a time because he is clearly better than the other main eventers on Raw:

HHH and Cena need to stay out of the title picture
MVP isn't good enough
HBK is out
DiBiase isn't ready
midcarders like Matt and Kingston should stay there

That leaves Miz, Big Show, and possible Regal. They are all heels, but Big Show could turn face and get the title for a few months. Other than that, what else could they do with the current roster?

 

["Cool Guy" Jensen]

I've always been a fan of Randy Orton, but you have to admit that WWE has really never really done a great job of giving Orton a real push. Every single push he gets, it seems like his opponent almost always gets the last laugh at some point. Whenever Triple H is around, Randy Orton just gets knocked down below him. For the brief time that Orton was on Smackdown, from 2005-2006, Orton finished up his fued with The Undertaker, won the U.S. Championship for Booker T, and challenged for the World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania 22.

Sure, he didn't do much on Smackdown during his short stint, but he had so much potential to shine, since Triple H was nowhere near him. It seems that Randy Orton can do a lot of things to cement his legacy, but it seems that his former Evolution members continue to bring him down. Every single one of his World Title reigns was either ended by a member of Evolution or ended because of Evolution.

I like Orton's character, but WWE really does not need to have a Triple H/Randy Orton fueds every chance they get. If Randy Orton can remain WWE Champion and not be involved with HHH, whether they are on the same show or not, then he'll be fine. If it wasn't for Triple H, Orton's career probably could have been a lot more successful.

 

[ratedRKO17]

pretty much what you said was true..
they did have orton look lik thhhhheeeee most evil twisted superstar in the wwe
but then when he won all that went away..maybe its cuz its the mind games tht orton plays.juss lik undertaker''USED'' to do..orton iz 1 of the most best superstart ever..yes!!
ever!!
and he needs 2 be pushed more and not run away alot
even tho tht iz wat a heel does..
but they need 2 make him more of wat he is..
the best!!

 

[hArdyPUNKmArk]

If they want the whole leader of Legacy thing to work and for him to be a decent champion he needs to beat people like HHH and Cena legit and one on one. No hand from Rhodes or Dibiase. Then after he beats Trips cleanly they need to get HHH as far away from Orton as possible.

Orton can be great but to be honest I couldn't care less about him any more. When Legacy started I was very into it but now I don't give a shit. Hell, La Familia was a better faction, at least they got shit done. Legacy are worthless at the moment and need work. Keep Orton away from Trips and Batista and Cena and finally something good will happen for him, unfortunatley I don't see WWE keeping those 3 away from him...

 

[zags]

Well he was what seemed to be in a big push until Extreme Rules last year when he broke his collar bone in that match. Now was HHH supposed to win that match before the accident I don't recall, but I think that to some degree along with HHH's powers and Orton's lackluster mic skills are the reasons it seems to be weak when he's champion. I do like Orton better chasing the title as it seems to make him be stronger and mor einteresting as someone else said, but at the same time he deservs a title. Just push the mute button when he talks.

 

[lwm.rko7]

I think the WWE should bring back the 'cocky' Randy Orton from his Evolution days. As i recall he was entertaining on the mic back then and his programme with Foley was gold.

By having this monotone Orton, it really brings his character down. Why should he need DiBiase & Rhodes all the time? If they wanted to solidify him as a credible champion they should bring back the cocky Orton that knew he was better than everyone else and allow him to go over clean against the likes of HHH and Batista.

 

[Tenta]

For a while, I somewhat wondered the same exact thing, thinking that it had to do with the way that he was booked. But you know something... I can't completely blame WWE Creative for this one. Sure, they played somewhat of a role by having the following things happen:

1. Having him lose to Batista clean in the cage. This, to me, really didn't make too much sense. All it did for me was show that Randy was incapable of winning a clean one-on-one match, and that he was inferior to Batista. That, coupled with the fact that he won the WWE Title back two weeks later, makes this an overall puzzling decision by WWE Creative. It's almost as if they were unaware of Batista's injury, and that they couldn't change plans to suit the impending departure of Batista.

2. Having Triple H completely squash Randy Orton at Wrestlemania. Now, I can't completely blame Creative for this one. To put it simply, the storyline was designed for Triple H to go over, and get his vengeance on Randy Orton for all of the chaos he has caused, and all he had done to his family, especially his wife. No, I can't blame WWE creative for that one. But I can blame them for allowing Trips to, more or less, squash Randy. If it had been an even battle fought by two wrestlers of equal stature, I'd have less of a problem in the matter. But as it stands, it wasn't an even battle, and the larger struggle seemed to be between Triple H and the rules. The conflict was certainly not between Triple H and his equal within the ring, Randy Orton.

Now, with all of this in mind, that's the only extent to which I can blame Creative for Randy Orton's turn to what seems weakness. The only true problem with Randy Orton is how his character works. The Orton character is better suited as a chaser, someone who demonically strives for his wants, without much care for how others view him. He would attack anyone and anything that gets in his way, using cunning and uncouth nature to attack his opponents. As a matter of fact, it was so uncouth, and played as a villain so well. But once he has power... Well, what more does he really need? What more can a power hungry-power character when he has power? All that he wants is already in his grasp, and there's not too much he can strive for. In this case, Randy had already done all that he could have wanted. He won the WWE Title, sidelined Triple H for months, and effectively tore the McMahon family into pieces. What more is there left to do?

As a matter of fact, I've placed an actual diagnosis on the matter, which I have deemed "The Scar Syndrome". Let's make the comparison:

Both of these men's characters are egomaniacal characters driven by a hatred and a lust for power. They are characters that are driven by hatred, and also have been cast out from their respective socieities, leaving them as those that yearn for vengeance. Randy will do anything he can in order to get into a position of power, as would Scar. Both are manipulative individuals, extremely cunning, and able to use their minions to the best of their abilities. Both convey an air of arrogance to them, and can show just how evil they can be by speaking.

Consider this promo from Randy Orton, and this classic moment from The Lion King:

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Granted, Orton isn't going to sing in a manner like Scar, but it's a similar message of terror, and also of arrogant rage. From there, we go their action that brings them to lengths of evil, and begins their ascent to power. For Randy, we'll go with his punting of Vince McMahon, and for Scar, the death of Mufasa.

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[youtube]vdjn_85h1Ow[/youtube]

So what wound up happening to Scar? Well, for most of whatever time he has on screen, he's forced into comedy scenes with Zazu, and pretty much a prissy prima donna. All of the evil he use to embody is no longer needed, and we now have scar the King. He's not nearly as menacing, nor is he half as evil as he use to be. And in short, he doesn't have to be. Why be evil still when you've already accomplished all that you could hope for? How much more evil can you get when all of your goals have been achieved? No, a character like Scar can't go any further, because he's already concluded his chase, and there's nothing more for him. And neither can Randy Orton. He's already achieved what he's desired. He's taken out his biggest rival, taken his title, and destroyed his legacy (no pun intended). What more can he really do?

A character like Orton is better suited for the chase. It almost makes him boring when he's finally succeeded in his chase, and there's nothing left for him to accomplish. In short; don't blame Creative too much. What makes Randy so great as a chaser, makes him completely weak as a champion.

 

[ronjoewill16]

just a note. jericho requested a long fued with rey. so ww didnt just put him there, he wanted to be there fueding with rey. just a note. its all his idea. if he wanted to, he could go to vince and say i want punk at summer slam. and he'd put him there.

 

[legendkiller6]

Totally agree with everything you said. I wonder what the plan was if Batista wasn't injured?? I'm sure we will never know, but I would love to hear people's ideas.

 

[TwistofRKO]

You are obviously correct on the booking of his character (though great strides were made the last two weeks on making him look capable of defending himself) but I wouldn't classify his actual push as crappy. When you define his push you are looking at his actual journey to where he is at, and overall it was quite impressive. The problem lies with his 4th title reign, where he jobbed out every week. When you look at his current push there is much more involved than just the title reign.

So far his 5th title reign is off on the right foot.

 

[Kingdoug]

the only thing i think they are doing wrong with orton is having him fued with triple h....orton should be the top face of the company not Cena...orton would be a good character as a face.....but the one thing you have to agree with is when orton goes to kick someone in the head or even rko them you can or at least seems like you can see his whole eye color change from what ever color it is to black.......i am not an orton basher and never will be orton will be a legend one day.. he can wrestle, sell, and have

 

[AndarielHalo]

My thoughts are the crappifying of his push began way before EXTREME RULES. It began around that Benny-Hill Yakkety-Sax-esque Triple H chasing Orton around the arena with a sledgehammer several months ago time.

It began when Legacy began to be sold as Orton's Gerald Brisco and Pat Patterson---stooges to be tossed to a rabid monster to buy time to escape or cheap shot the good guy.

It began when Orton said he had Intermittent Explosive Diarrhea and threatened to sue the WWE and stop Wrestlemania because he wanted to be a bitch.

It began when Orton started dribbling and drooling like a cretin and delivering stilted, monotonous, boring promos with no real substance beyond "Generic I'm a Bad Guy and I hate the Fans Despite Them occasionally Cheering Me and Buying My Merchandise"

 

[HHHDiedForOurSins]

I think Orton has been given every opportunity possible to become the next Cena-Batista level megastar but it's just not working, guys like Edge and Jericho got far less of a push than Orton to work with but they made the most of it becuase they are far better in the ring and on the mic and just overall more entertaining, Orton's promos the past 2 months have been awful and he's barely had a good match in the past year.

He's been given the biggest push a heel has ever gotten since Brock Lesnar, during his 07/08 title reign, he went over Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Jeff Hardy & John Cena all cleanly, that's almost unheard of for a heel who isn't being pushed as a monster.

He should of beat HHH at WM, but still he pinned him clean at Backlash to win the title, kayfabe put HHH, Batista, Flair, the McMahon's on the shelf and won the title again last week, I don't know how they can push him any harder than they are now.

After all they've done to try and push him over the years he still doesn't seem credible as the "top guy" the way Cena, Batista, HHH, Edge, Taker do when they're holding the title.

 

[Ben-Phillips]

Now, the point of this thread wasn't like "Why doesn't Orton have a better/bigger push?" or anything like that.. I guess I messed up on the title. It's more like an empty-ended push. Randy has a great angle leading to the championship, wins, then all of a sudden... When he was able to beat the company's best faces when he was just some cocky, out-spoken heel... Can't beat up a 60+ year old man without help, and he's this sadistic monster heel that can do anything prior to being champion... It's almost as if the main event championships are Orton's kryptonite, not Triple H.

The WWE relies so much on Randy, as he's only 29 years old and is arguably the biggest heel in the promotion. In my opinion, he is the #2 heel behind Jericho, as he is an actual villain, unlike Edge.. Who in my mind, is just a bad ass that outsmarts everyone. Regardless, arguably the biggest heel in the company, and easily on RAW ("A show"). Yet, he goes from an ideal main eventer that can get the crowd in the palm of his hand whether it be on the mic or in the ring. Orton draws ratings, the week after he punted Vince McMahon, the ratings were so high, highest they have been in years (With the exception of this previous broadcast), he's a good in-ring worker, despite being "Slow and boring." It's called psychology? He does the headlocks for a reason, other than "It's all he knows!" He doesn't wreak charisma, but he has learned how to deliver his lines very precisely and does wonders with what he does have.

Back to the point.. The WWE rests so much on his shoulders, yet, the youngest of the big stars right now, is having his credibility tainted by booking turning his menacing and twisted character into a cowardly heel...

 

[GameOver]

But thats a classic heel. They can't do shit for themselves or win without some assistance and then when they win a title it takes every ounce of cheating or bullying to keep it.

Hogan is a classic example, as he stated. As a face he was champ for 3yrs straight and was never pinned. As a heel, the only way he could win was with help from NWO

Stone Cold - As a face he was virtually unbeatable without having the odds stacked way over him, then as a heel the 2nd time he was made to look the fool alot.

 

[Steamboat Ricky]

The point of pushing a heel is making it so the crowd will boo him. Now, if I'm not mistaken, RKO was getting quite a few cheers through his Rumble victory and up to Wrestlemania. I imagine a chord struck in Vince's head once he realized that his proclaimed top heel was competing with some of his top faces for biggest positive crowd reaction (I'm not saying the faces were getting monster pops...because they weren't).

So what does Vince do? He makes RKO a coward. Even the smarkiest of fans can't stand the cowardly heel. And alas, those positive crowd reactions turned into unquestionable heat and Vince accomplished what should be accomplished in the process of making a heel...you hate Randy Orton.

Sounds like a good push to me.

 

[The Palace of Wisdom]

They have tried their hardest to get Randy to the top, and I just don't buy it anymore. They build him up as a bad ass, and they he gets beaten up by Flair, or Shane, or whoever. They give him the title just to have him drop it, and to me, Orton is a lost cause. His matches are boring, his promos are terrible, and his stable has been turned into a parody. He happened to debut, get a solid push, and end up in a stable that elevated him beyond recognition. And it happened way too fast. Now, he can't lose because he's so high on the card, but they aren't ready for him to be dominant and win. He isn't the next Austin (a heel who gets so popular and is so fresh you HAVE to turn him face). They just haven't had him feud with anyone where the crowd would decisively boo him. A lot of people dislike HHH. A lot of people dislike Batista. Split crowds. If you had him in there with Jeff Hardy, he would get booed out of the building.

 

[ZAPX4V1]

They have tried their hardest to get Randy to the top, and I just don't buy it anymore. They build him up as a bad ass, and they he gets beaten up by Flair, or Shane, or whoever. They give him the title just to have him drop it, and to me, Orton is a lost cause. His matches are boring, his promos are terrible, and his stable has been turned into a parody. He happened to debut, get a solid push, and end up in a stable that elevated him beyond recognition. And it happened way too fast. Now, he can't lose because he's so high on the card, but they aren't ready for him to be dominant and win.

You can't blame Orton for the bad booking.

He isn't the next Austin (a heel who gets so popular and is so fresh you HAVE to turn him face). They just haven't had him feud with anyone where the crowd would decisively boo him. A lot of people dislike HHH. A lot of people dislike Batista. Split crowds. If you had him in there with Jeff Hardy, he would get booed out of the building.

He was ready to be the next Austin several months ago, as they were building towards Wrestlemania and he won the Rumble. He was getting megapops. Like someone said earlier, Vince got upset because Orton was being cheered, so he started to sabotage Orton's push by booking him weak. I'm pretty sure that they are piping in heat too, because it's obvious that they don't want the fans to choose who to cheer for.

 

[Ben-Phillips]

Can't believe I just now went back to this old thread.. But I read though it.. Jericho has creative control. He writes everything he's in. He made this new character, it's the whole reason he came back.. He wanted to use it... He wrote the HBK feud, he wrote the Legends feud, as well as the Mysterio feud.

Chris Jericho is an immensely talented individual, but he's one of the biggest advocates for creating new stars.. And what is he doing? He put Kofi over on RAW, and he's rarely in the main event, giving other people, such as CM Punk, the chance to step-up and move into the lime light.

He's my idol, and I respect the hell out of him for being the phenomenal worker he is.

 

[Freddy4190]

He's not that great of a champion. His first reign was badass because it was like.. ABOUT FUCKING TIME!! But now it's like.. oh, Orton's champ? cool. He's just not relevant as champion anymore. The whole Legacy thing isn't helping him either. It's gotten to be annoying with them running out, even old stables didn't do that shit. He needs to go back to chasing the title, and just being a sadistic, insane, maniacal bastard in doing it.

 

[TheBigCheez-It]

I fully agree with Fred here, if Orton is to be takin as a credible wrestler again he needs to start losing Legacy bit by bit and focus on himself. Being the evil, psychopath that he once was. Not a former shell of it.

 

[Southwind]

I'm an Orton fan but people have said what I thought Orton is the rare unique heel that is a much better chaser then he is a champion.

Yeah creative (and HHH) have stunted Orton's growth with lots of mixed in dominance and cowardice it confuses the fans.

They are thinking is this guy this scary or is he just a wuss that runs away from every fight ?

I guess we really shouldn't expect anything different I mean HHH is the only heel who ever goes over clean consistently anyways.