Was Orton vs. Sheamus A Litmus Test For An Orton Face/Tweener Role?

[CH David]

For quite a while, Randy Orton has been getting some good pops from the crowd. Even when he was in his feud with Cena, he would still be getting a decent pop, probably much to his chagrin. Then he couldn't get a rematch for the WWE Championship, and feuded with Kofi. Still getting a fairly nice pop. After that ended, he was able to become the #1 Contender against the new champion Sheamus, as we all know. Sheamus would get the upper hand a few times, and Orton would get his own shots in as well. However, at the Royal Rumble, it was pretty clear to me that the fans were behind Orton in the match.

So during the previous months, the WWE had to notice he was getting quite a few cheers, right? Could they have used this match at the Royal Rumble, in a heel vs. heel setting, as a testing of the waters to possibly make Randy a face or tweener? He didn't really need to be in the match, as they could have extended Cena vs. Sheamus, and gotten us to where we are now anyway. From what I see now, Orton and the WWE seem to be accepting the cheering, unless I am totally lost. So...was it a litmus test, or just him getting his normal reaction and the WWE finally accepting it?

 

[The Aussie Invasion]

You make a good point. I Don't think that they used Sheamus vs. Orton as a "Litmus Test", but they would have to start noticing the pop's that the crowd is giving him. On RAW last Wednesday (I Live In Australia, I Get RAW Wednesdays) when It was
Orton vs Triple H , Orton's pop was almost equal to Triple H's pop. I don't think they'll turn him face, after being a monser heel (A VERY Good monster heel too). Maybe he'll be a Tweener, in which the older fans will cheer for, and the younger fans will boo. I've always loved Orton, even as a monster heel. In his most recent fued against Cena i was cheering for Orton all the way, I Don't "Hate" Cena, I like his gimmick, I just hate how he gets the hell beaten out of him, then uses 5 or 6 moves to turn the match around. But back to the Orton topic, At the start he probably will be a Tweener, than maybe Turn Fully face, but i wouldnt expect that until around June/July. That way if WWE decide to make Orton a Tweener they can see if he gets more of a positive or negative reaction for the crowd. If it's a positive one, they'll probably turn him face, if it's negative probably turn him heel again.

But im hoping for a face turn, not a Mega face turn, just a face turn.

 

[Mustang Sally]

But im hoping for a face turn, not a Mega face turn, just a face turn.

Good point. Yet, if a Mega face turn comes, it may be turned off just as quickly. Or not.

The writers must be having a great time with Orton's character. Contrary to the traditional "good guy" vs "bad guy" scenario used in professional wrestling since the beginning of time, we have no idea right now where to place Orton.

When he squares off against Sheamus, you know full well you're supposed to root for Randy.

When he attacks Kofi, there's no question you're supposed to root against Randy.

When he goes against Triple H or Cena, you don't know what the hell the writers are aiming at in regards to Orton.

But the real fun starts when he faces Rhodes and/or DiBiase. They are the good guys and Orton is the bad guy.......or is it the other way around? Their actions often belie the traditional roles.

When Orton faces off against both at the same time, you know enough never to root for the two guys who are fighting the one. Or do you?

When that handicap match started, I admit I didn't know who the hell to pull for........and that's what has made WWE's characterization of Randy Orton so entertaining.

I hope this direction for Randy is continued for a long time. You often hear the writers criticized for not coming up with fresh ideas and sharp writing, yet here's one that's occurring right under our noses.

Get 'em, Randy.

Er.........or not.

 

[Nerf4]

i hate Orton as a face, his time feuding with Evolution was a joke, and before that he was a no body. then he went heel, and started drawing crowds. Sheamus vs Orton could have been a great heel vs heel match but having legacy interfere turned it into a heel vs face match. WWE is building it all wrong! they should have had Dibiase turn face and orton and cody stay heel, then kick cody, turning cody face and orton still heel, for the heel vs face match, not a face vs heel vs heel match.

 

[Doomsday Device]

Interesting point.

Vinnie Mac/ The E sure know what they're doing.

A good amount of people disliked Shaemus for 2 reasons: 1) He defeated their hero Cena plus taking his title and 2) Shaemus was perhaps seen as some rookie who got lucky and won the title.

By placing Sheamus and Orton at the Rumble, its obvious fans would root for Orton, just out of dislike for Shaemus.

Plus I would say, once a WWE superstar has been with the company for a period amount of time, and has delivered constantly, fans tend to start appreciating them. Same thing happened with Triple H and guys like Edge. They had been with the company for 6+ years. And even though they came out in the ring and bad mouthed the fans and whatnot, fans loved and accepted them because of their contributions. Its simple logic.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

I am not so sure WWE wanted Orton as a face/tweener. It seems they are shying away from any kind of controversial face character, and Orton is just that. I also don't think Orton wants to be a true face. I have heard him say in interviews that he loves being a heel. He loves making the crowd hate him.

I think during the Cena feud, Orton was getting face pops, but in very small doses. Whether some of you like it or not, Cena gets booed in a lot of buildings. So going up against a guy like Orton, who is a more respected wrestler (in terms of in-ring ability and having a really interesting character), Cena was bound to take some booing. With Kofi, I think it happened because was not nearly as over as some of you like to believe. With Sheamus, Orton was cheered because Sheamus is clearly not as over as a heel as the WWE would like him to be. Orton could have punted Sheamus' mom in the ring and gotten a cheer.

I think the WWE was clueless when it came to his face-reaction. Because he isn't a face. In the age of faces like Cena, Kofi, Rey Mysterio, etc., the WWE was probably caught off guard by an Attitude-Era-Style tweener-reaction for Orton. And now, I am worried they are going to mess up his character. I have a feeling they are going to see this guy as another seller of t-shirts, and water down his character. I hope that isn't true, but I'm still worried. Randy Orton is my favorite wrestler going today, and to water down his character would be really upsetting.

 

[kenobi5]

the heel vs face orton turn is a good question, usually you can see one direction it will be going, but on this occassion i dont think the creative team know which way to make orton follow.

he has good rep as a face, he has good rep as a heel, he can literally go whichever way he wants, its almost that position where he can be a heel but loved because they way it goes sometimes. lets face it, who doesnt love seeing the arrogant one punting legends in the head?

 

[Whistler 619]

In some ways yes, because look at it now, you have Randy Orton being the Face vs Legacy being the Heel at WrestleMania, I think like you said it was "Trial Run" of sorts to see if the cheers for Orton were just random groups here or there, or if people want to see him Face again.

I think because hes getting so many cheers, thats why now you have Legacy portraying the Heels/asshole type guys turning on Orton as a group instead of Rhodes/Orton against just a Dibiase Face turn. The fact that Orton got cheered and is getting cheered I think pushed WWE to make him the face not Dibiase or Rhodes.

 

[JBK2008]

Honestly I think we all love seeing Orton RKO the hell out of someone then beat the hell out of them afterwards. We just wait and wait and then BOOM RKO! RKO! RKO! The male adults love to see him just lay his opponents out just like that! I'm a fan of his and I love seeing the RKO hit everytime! Also, everyone is just annoyed of Sheamus and how fast he's risen in the ranks and we're tired of him being shoved down our throats. Forget the litmus test. Just let Randy lay everyone out!

 

[RKOlegendkiller]

Or maybe fans are just sick of cenas you cant see me I never back down crap and started cheering orton since he's a more in depth character. Orton does have that stone cole character type in him I just hope he doesn't take the stone cold face turn. It doesn't matter to me if He is heel or face I just hope that they don't make him John cena face. Leave him how he is with every once in a while going after a legend. I would looove to see Bret hart get rkoed. Orton is a phenominal wrestler and I think it was really only a matter of time before people started cheering him even though he plays a heel character just for the dedication he has and how well he sells shit.

 

[Rhonda Rousey's Sports Bra]

Or maybe fans are just sick of cenas you cant see me I never back down crap and started cheering orton since he's a more in depth character. Orton does have that stone cole character type in him I just hope he doesn't take the stone cold face turn. It doesn't matter to me if He is heel or face I just hope that they don't make him John cena face.

You're kinda contradicting yourself, you don't want him to be a face but you'll cheer for him either way? So you would rather cheer for him being the bad guy than the good guy but whichever it is won't change whether you will cheer for him?

Why wouldn't you want him to take the Stone Cold face turn though, because if he had a Stone Cold face turn then he would have the potential to be the face of the company and the biggest draw in the history of the WWE.

If he had a Stone Cold face turn that would most definatly replace Cena and that would be almost every smarks dream, not to mention that if Orton turned into a Stone Cold type face then Cena would probably turn into a Rock type heel, probably going the exact same route Rocky went when he first turned heel, and that would be just fucking amazing.

But to answer the OP no I don't think it was a test to see if Orton could get a face reaction. He has been getting good pops for awhile and you could have put almost anybody who was remotely over agaist Sheamus and they would have gotten a face reaction. If anything the match was a test to see if Sheamus could get some heat facing someone like Orton being a tweener, and I think he passed. Sheamus has finally been getting heat on a regular basis and it's not the "Who the fuck is this jackass?" heat or the "I'm only booing this guy cuz I like the other guy " heat, it's more of a "Fuck you Sheamus" heat, which is good for him and I'm glad he's finally getting over.

 

[Tastycles]

I really don't think anyone wanted Orton to be a fulltime face until quite recently. Throughout that feud they kept him doing heel things, and I think when it became apparent that absolutely nobody was going to get behind Legacy that they changed tack. Orton may makea better face than expected, but I don't think the change was planned. The Sheamus match was just the latest in the long tradition of throwaway Royal Rumble world title matches, and there's not much else to it.