Randy Orton's WWE Title Reign - the Age of Orton

[PullMyFinger]

I think after Orton lost his steam a couple years ago, he's back and better than ever at this moment. He's definitely the most exciting and best champion on Raw that we've had in years. For the longest time the title scene on Raw was hogged up by Cena, and prior to that Triple H who was growing quite stale as a heel act in Evolution (though now I'd like to see him with the title on a face run). Edge was a good champ, but it seems like WWE just made him a filler champion for Cena to feed off of.

His mic skills and heel tactics make him one of the most exciting heels since 2000/2001 Triple H era. On top of all that, I'd say that my favorite heel tactic thus far was his cheapshot at the referee in his match against Cena at No Way Out. I found it hilarious, Cena lost, and the whole thing was just totally dick on his part.

For once WWE is making a good decision by putting the belt on him, and the age of Orton is by lightyears better than the "Super Cena domination era." This thread will most likely be worthless though after Backlash when Super Cena wins though and restarts Super Cena domination.

[Rammsteinmad]

:y: to Orton so far. I've enjoyed his title reign. It makes a change from Cena and Triple H. I'd like to see him lose at Backlash, but then win it back at the next PPV, just to add a bit of spice to the title scene.

[St. Jimmy]

Orton deserves a long program with the belt until he eventually jobs to Trips.

[St. Jimmy]

so around Survivor Series.

[Jordan]

I feel like he will lose at Backlash, I really hope he doesn't. They have a good thing going with him, they could really make him into a drawing heel champ, and thats hard to come by, isn't that right Triple H?

[Heros Welcome]

I feel like he will lose at Backlash, I really hope he doesn't. They have a good thing going with him, they could really make him into a drawing heel champ, and thats hard to come by, isn't that right Triple H?

I'm feeling the same way.

[Londoner]

Totally agree, really enjoying this title reign especially after that shocking win at wm. Haven't been that surprised due to a result of a match in a long time.

[Jordan]

Yeah that was great booking.

[RP]

I love the guy. When he came out at the beginning of the Flair tribute show, i marked like a little girl. And i like that they have JBL coming at him hard now. Kinda adds a tad bit of a face side to Orton.

[The Optimist]

This is like a joke right? I'm suprised by the fact that he's kept his title so long, that's about as exciting as it's gotten. I figured he'd lose eventually to pretty much every pay-per-view opponent he's faced. I guess that's better than beating the odds every month, but it's far from being genuinely exciting. To actually be . . . good, he'd have to actually do something interesting. The only thing that really even comes close is injuring Matt Hardy, which still came across like "Ha-ha! In an act of evil brilliance I've kicked your brother, what are you going to do about it!?!"

[Good Ol JG]

I don't get it. Orton is bland, he's a shade above awful in the ring, his promos are dull and without meaning and sometimes direction. He's only slightly better than he used to be, which is still worse than most wrestlers out there. Yeah, Cena and Triple H both suck and I wouldn't want to see either of them as champion. As much as I hate to give anything to Cena or Triple H, Orton is the least entertaining of the three, he may be the second best worker but that's only because Cena is so god awful a wrestler that he doesn't have to do much to beat him in that area. God I hate the Raw main event scene.

[Johnny Vegas]

Orton has actually picked up his speed from about Dec. of last year. He's not the "main of 1000 rest holds" anymore and i like how he sells. Sure, he doesn't have all of these catchphrases and shit, but c'mon, the guy is seen as a legitimate threat against who he faces and i LOVE that shit where he stomps on all the major body parts while the guy is down. I enjoyed his reign because he has room to be a tweener. He's not one of those 'Santino' type of heels. He earns respect from people because no matter what, he comes out on top.

The only thing with me is that I just wish that he was cocky like he was with the whole raising the arms, and having that smirk on his face all the time. Other than that, i see him as a main-eventer now and quite frankly, i love Cena to death and i know half of what is becoming of him is writers, but that title needed to come off of him. I mean who could be champ right now besides a face HHH/HBK.

The Age Of Orton = :y:

[Londoner]

The people criticizing him in this thread seem to be stuck in the past a bit and obviously haven't been watching closely enough.

[St. Jimmy]

Orton has worked through his issues and started putting a sold work effort in. He's a 9 to 5 champion who comes out and does his best. He deserves what he has right now.

[Good Ol JG]

Nope, not stuck in the past. He still sucks. I've given him chances, he still is as entertaining as a box of owl shit.

[St. Jimmy]

Nope, not stuck in the past. He still sucks. I've given him chances, he still is as entertaining as a box of owl shit.

Owl Shit must be in HDIMAX3DDVDQUALITY, because from where I'm sitting it's pretty great.

[Good Ol JG]

Owl Shit must be in HDIMAX3DDVDQUALITY, because from where I'm sitting it's pretty great.

Then it can't be that hard to entertain you.

[Londoner]

Nope, not stuck in the past. He still sucks. I've given him chances, he still is as entertaining as a box of owl shit.

You must be really hard to entertain then.

[The Optimist]

He sells hits, sure. That's basic wrestling, you don't generate excitement as a main eventer by holding up your half of the match. And I haven't seen as many rest holds lately, so that's progress. He's better than owl turds or a broom, but this isn't main event quality by any means.

[BigDaddyCool]

long heel reign are always better than long face riegns.

[Heros Welcome]

Its still a breath of fresh air because its not Cena or Trips as champ. To me thats a big plus, and I also think that Orton has been doing a great job as of late. So if you don't like Orton as champ, who do you want as champ? Its either him, Trips or Cena, pick your poison.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I pretty much agree with Mr. Welcome on this. In a perfect world, Shawn Michaels or Chris Jericho would be WWE Champion, but if it comes down to John Cena, Triple H or Randy Orton, I'd have to go with Orton. I think putting the WWE Title on Cena at WrestleMania would have been the right move to make (there was money in an undefeated at WrestleMania Heel Cena in the future), but Orton winning has made me like the guy a whole lot more.

They seem to be going for a "Honky Tonk Man" type run with him. Not saying Orton is a joke, or anything, but he's getting the longer-than-expected heel reign where he does anything to keep the belt, but at the same time, you can see him losing it on any night.

It seems unlikely, but I am still sort of anticipating a World Title show swap, with Randy Orton and The Undertaker trading places in the upcoming draft. It was about three years before the World Heavyweight Title and WWE Title swapped places last night, and the WHT has become more and more of a focus of PPVs, beating out the WWE Title. The Undertaker also just seems like the stronger champion.

At Backlash, I'm hoping that Orton pins JBL after an RKO, or a Concussion Kick out of nowhere, and retains the WWE Title. Then he goes to SmackDown!, has a few matches with Matt Hardy, Rey Mysterio (when he's back), and even Big Show. Then he finds himself challenged by CM Punk to a match at Summerslam, using Punk's MITB title shot. Orton then loses the WWE Championship to Punk. Actually, it'd be interesting if Punk didn't use the MITB title shot, and earned an opportunity another way (2008 King of the Ring Tournament?), and was then WWE Champion, but also had a shot at any other title he wanted whenever he wanted.

[Innovator]

Its still a breath of fresh air because its not Cena or Trips as champ. To me thats a big plus, and I also think that Orton has been doing a great job as of late. So if you don't like Orton as champ, who do you want as champ? Its either him, Trips or Cena, pick your poison.
He has been going a great job, why he did a GREAT job last night...and almost every RAW

[Heros Welcome]

Of course Noid, in a perfect world I too would have either HBK or Jericho as champ.

As for the idea of switching shows and everything you have transpiring, I would REALLY like that to happen. Gives Orton some fresh feuds which I think he needs big time, I really hope Punk does challenge him. Also getting to see Taker on Monday nights would be pretty cool, but I feel it won't happen because to me it seems like Trips owns Raw, Taker owns SD, now if they go on the same show what would happen? I think Taker reigns supreme which is why Trips would oppose him coming over. I do like the idea though.

[Good Ol JG]

You must be really hard to entertain then.

Not really, I just expect to see good wrestling out of a World Champion. I'll admit it's pretty much futile that I will, given the last few years, but if a guy is going to be a world champion for a long reign than I expect it to at least interest me somehow. Hell, JBL couldn't wrestle worth a damn, but at least he entertained during his run. He did what a good heel does, which is make you want to see him lose. Orton makes me want to switch channels. He's stiff in the ring, not like shoot stiff, but robotic stiff. He has very little ring psychology and charmisma, he just kinda fills space.

Someone said it's better than Cena or Triple H as champion, which I do agree with to some extent, as a heel reign has always been better for the long term than a face reign. But even that argument for Orton isn't great, it's pretty much saying, "well, he's better than 2 guys we can't stand because they were so forced down our throats that we would rather see anyone hold the title." So that's not doing Mr. Orton any favors.

I'll admit he's come around some, like I said before, he's gone from being a total waste to only about 1/2 of a waste, so that's progress. He's got time to improve, but for now he's just another guy who looks the same as pretty much everyone, his interviews are boring, he's boring and robotic in the ring, he's just not an entertaining guy. But if you like him, to each his own.

[dablackguy]

I'm pulling like hell for Orton, but it doesn't help that Hunter cuts this guy down at every chance possible.

I think Orton isn't there yet, but I do feel like he's earned the chance to 'grow into it'

Yet, we have instances like last night:

HHH: What big move was it that you hit to get the win at Wrestlemania?

And then jobbing to HHH later on. I think Orton could actually be bigger than he is right now, except for being cut down by HHH everytime he gets some steam going. (Let us not forget his 1st title run)

[Loose Cannon]

I'm a big Randy Orton fan. Have been for about 5 years now. Most of you who were part of the boards a couple years back knew how much I loved the guy. But I'm going to be honest. His run has been ok. Not great, not awful, but ok. It's a couple years late and it came after a couple horrendous years he's had. The guy had no direction for so long after his program with Trips in 2004/2005. He was lost in the shuffle for a while and was never protected. He jobbed a lot before his title reign, which kind of killed his heat in a way.

I still think he's got a long way to go to get the heat back he had in 2004. But the good thing is that he's still young. The storylines today are so boring and dull that it's hard for any run to be really entertaining. I never got the whole kicking in the head thing because Orton does not come off as some crazy psycho who wants to hurt people. That's a Kane gimmick. Orton has a pretty boy face and attitude about him. He should be The Model, The Ravishing One, The Narcassist and The Great One all rolled into one. He shouldn't try to be a tough guy. He's not one. That's my whole problem with his character right now. Too much worrying about beating his opponents and not too much worrying that he's going to miss his flight to Vegas because he's got a main event match. That's the character Orton plays best.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I'm a big Randy Orton fan. Have been for about 5 years now. Most of you who were part of the boards a couple years back knew how much I loved the guy. But I'm going to be honest. His run has been ok. Not great, not awful, but ok. It's a couple years late and it came after a couple horrendous years he's had. The guy had no direction for so long after his program with Trips in 2004/2005. He was lost in the shuffle for a while and was never protected. He jobbed a lot before his title reign, which kind of killed his heat in a way.

I still think he's got a long way to go to get the heat back he had in 2004. But the good thing is that he's still young. The storylines today are so boring and dull that it's hard for any run to be really entertaining. I never got the whole kicking in the head thing because Orton does not come off as some crazy psycho who wants to hurt people. That's a Kane gimmick. Orton has a pretty boy face and attitude about him. He should be The Model, The Ravishing One, The Narcassist and The Great One all rolled into one. He shouldn't try to be a tough guy. He's not one. That's my whole problem with his character right now. Too much worrying about beating his opponents and not too much worrying that he's going to miss his flight to Vegas because he's got a main event match. That's the character Orton plays best.

I'd like to see an uber-cocky Randy Orton that snorts cocaine before his match and when confronted about violating the WWE's wellness policy, he just laughs and asks "What are they going to do? Fire someone as good as me?"

Of course, that was more a metaphorical example of what his character could be like, but he should have that attitude he apparently has backstage. He's the future, the future is now, and now is his; why the fuck shouldn't he be an arrogant cock?

[Mr. Nerfect]

Of course Noid, in a perfect world I too would have either HBK or Jericho as champ.

As for the idea of switching shows and everything you have transpiring, I would REALLY like that to happen. Gives Orton some fresh feuds which I think he needs big time, I really hope Punk does challenge him. Also getting to see Taker on Monday nights would be pretty cool, but I feel it won't happen because to me it seems like Trips owns Raw, Taker owns SD, now if they go on the same show what would happen? I think Taker reigns supreme which is why Trips would oppose him coming over. I do like the idea though.

The Triple H/Taker thing is probably the biggest flaw with the idea, but who knows, maybe the two want to have a PPV series against each other, or something?

The other possibility is that Edge actually wins the World Heavyweight Title from Taker for the purposes of the move, and then Triple H wins it from Edge quickly, and Taker could chase Orton and the WWE Title.

[Loose Cannon]

I'd like to see an uber-cocky Randy Orton that snorts cocaine before his match and when confronted about violating the WWE's wellness policy, he just laughs and asks "What are they going to do? Fire someone as good as me?"

Of course, that was more a metaphorical example of what his character could be like, but he should have that attitude he apparently has backstage. He's the future, the future is now, and now is his; why the fuck shouldn't he be an arrogant cock?

exactly exaclty exactly. yes. someone gets it. This is Randy Orton. They need to take backstage Randy Orton and put him out on live TV. Pretty much what they did with Shawn in 97. it'll work and it'll get his ass over real quick

[Jaton]

exactly exaclty exactly. yes. someone gets it. This is Randy Orton. They need to take backstage Randy Orton and put him out on live TV. Pretty much what they did with Shawn in 97. it'll work and it'll get his ass over real quick


I don't know. I kind of enjoyed the first week or two of his face run with his first title reign. I like the cocky heel character, but it just seems to be overdone nowadays and for me, it makes me see him as just another guy playing the generic cocky gimmick.

[Juan]

The Age of Orton is upon us.

That is all.

[The Optimist]

I'd like to see an uber-cocky Randy Orton that snorts cocaine before his match and when confronted about violating the WWE's wellness policy, he just laughs and asks "What are they going to do? Fire someone as good as me?"

Of course, that was more a metaphorical example of what his character could be like, but he should have that attitude he apparently has backstage. He's the future, the future is now, and now is his; why the fuck shouldn't he be an arrogant cock?
I was thinking about something like that when there was talk of how "great" his personality is lately. It'd be cool if he just ran in on any match he wanted just for the hell of it, because he's world champ and he's at the top of the buisness and no one's got the balls to strip him of the title.

[Jeritron]

I was really sick of his title reign quick. I really got sick of it when he beat Jericho and Jeff Hardy and he just seemed so boring.

But, ever since he went over at Mania that came as a huge shock and a genius move to me. They've invested this much in him, put him over returning stars, the most over stars, and even had him go over their top 2 priorities at the biggest show of the year. Theres no reason not to keep going with it until he gets WAY over. He should go over at Backlash, and go over a few more challengers until summerslam or even the late fall. With what they've already put into him, and the belief that he may actually win the big match clean when everyone expects him to lose, it could really mean something and be unpredictable when a face gets the big win over him.

As credible as a well fought title run by a face can make the title, an equally well fought title run by a heel can do much better. It not only gets the face who finally wins it over huge and makes the belt they capture mean something due to how hard it was for anyone to capture, it also can be a huge draw because people shell over money every month to see a guy like Orton finally lose the belt. The longer they hold off, the bigger a payoff it could be

[Jaton]

Now if only they'd go back to the old WWE title instead of the John Cena Memorial Abomination™ that they're using now..

[Hanso Amore]

I have been warming up to him lately, and his match vs Matt Hardy really had me marking. That RKO out of nowhere was such a surprise.


I want him to retain for 2 reasons.

1) it keeps the title off Cena/HHH, really neither even needs a title to be on top, but if Orton loses, he will take a huge hit in the heat department. Part of his current gimmick is that he has beat everyone, so why lose now in a 4 way. He should retain, a la Kurt Angle in the 6 Pack Challenge. It is the old flair route, the Heel champ everyone hates always squeaks out as champ, not because he dominated and won, but because he just gets "lucky" kind of.

2) Why put him over at WM only to lose at the next PPV. if your going to change hands, why not do it at the shwo that made more sense?

[Londoner]

I got a feeling Orton wont be dropping the title until he faces cm punk.

[Hanso Amore]

I got a feeling Orton wont be dropping the title until he faces The guy who takes the MITB from CM Punk.

[Loose Cannon]

I don't know. I kind of enjoyed the first week or two of his face run with his first title reign. I like the cocky heel character, but it just seems to be overdone nowadays and for me, it makes me see him as just another guy playing the generic cocky gimmick.

I enjoyed the first week too. But it was the first week of a long painful couple months.

and I agree all the cocky heel characters are generally the same today. That's why you go another level with him and actually take Orton backstage, who I've read time and time again is a dickhead, and you put that on camera.

[The Mackem]

Yeah show him knocking on people's dressing rooms and running away. I can picture it now. John Cena is in his dressing room warming up for his match but Randy Orton keeps on knocking on his door and running away. Cena loses his match because he hasn't warmed up properly maybe after lifting someone up for the F-U he pulls a muscle and can't execute it and loses the match.

Next week Cena comes to the ring:

Cena: Randy Orton, I want a match for your title nobody knocks on my door and runs away!

Orton is backstage

Orton: John you don't deserve a shot because you lost last week, it would be unfair to the guy who actually won.

Cena: :mad:

Orton is standing outside Cena's dressing room knocking on the door continuously

Orton: How do you like this Cena!! Ahahahaha

Cena: :mad: :mad: :mad: Right I'm coming after you

By the time Cena gets backstage to his dressing room, Orton has run away.

Cena: Nuts :mad:

[AJHayes]

Orton is good stuff. He's an old school champ. He can carry the company. He has my seal of approval

[Kane Knight]

Age of Orton, the Rated R Era...They're trying hard to add taglines to programs where the ratings are down, the buyrates are down, and the attendances are down. Nobody gives a shit, but they're trying to pretend they still have the prestige of the Rock or Austin.

[Kane Knight]

I can hear the moron bridage now: There you go, KK, hating on people by using things like facts to demonstrate disinterest...

[thedamndest]

KK's title reign would be the reign of the Party Pooper.

[The Mackem]

I don't know, I couldn't see him getting past heat. No offence intended KK but I could see you disagreeing with any angle or push they scheduled for you. It would be like 'OK KK we are going to put the title on you after the Orton/Cena programme involving the knocking doors situation - you win a 100 man elimination rumble for the belt' and you'd be like 'Nah, don't think so.' They'd eventually lose their rag with you and keep you on Heat because even if you might be a frustrating personality backstage they'd couldn't risk you going to TNA.

You have to take your chance when it's given to you KK.

[Kane Knight]

KK's title reign would be the reign of the Party Pooper.

More like the Era of Queer-Ah...

[Tranny]

The only thing with me is that I just wish that he was cocky like he was with the whole raising the arms, and having that smirk on his face all the time.

I agree with this. I watched is match with Undertaker at Summerslam, I think it was '05, again recently and it was great through and through, especially with Cowboy Bob interfering and then the father/son pose at the end was a huge mark out moment for me.

I do tend to get bored with him at times, but I think that if the WWE plays it right, he could be great

[Mooияakeя™]

What most have said above.. I too believe he's dropping at Backlash to Trips. - Though I do think it would be better if they got them both involved in a one on one program. Both mind manipulators. As trips said a few weeks back "I tought u everything u know". he could play on that. "I'm the ONLY cerbral assasin here" etc. etc.

Buidl them as a new Rock / Austin. But some deeper segments in (brawls backstage. Random trashings etc.) - Make it fun again! lol.

But seriously, I want trips as heel already. He and randy would actually make a good team together.... "Яevolution" - good play on the name imo. it's like "RE-EVOLUTION" and well, "revolution". latter being self explanitory.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Age of Orton, the Rated R Era...They're trying hard to add taglines to programs where the ratings are down, the buyrates are down, and the attendances are down. Nobody gives a shit, but they're trying to pretend they still have the prestige of the Rock or Austin.

I'm not completely disagreeing with you. Ratings are down, buys are down, and all that jazz, but Edge and Randy Orton are heels. I'd place the blame more on faces like John Cena, The Undertaker and Triple H, who are meant to be leading the company.

[Mr. Nerfect]

What most have said above.. I too believe he's dropping at Backlash to Trips. - Though I do think it would be better if they got them both involved in a one on one program. Both mind manipulators. As trips said a few weeks back "I tought u everything u know". he could play on that. "I'm the ONLY cerbral assasin here" etc. etc.

Buidl them as a new Rock / Austin. But some deeper segments in (brawls backstage. Random trashings etc.) - Make it fun again! lol.

But seriously, I want trips as heel already. He and randy would actually make a good team together.... "Яevolution" - good play on the name imo. it's like "RE-EVOLUTION" and well, "revolution". latter being self explanitory.

Didn't really read everything too intently in this topic, but does anyone think Triple H is going over Orton at Backlash? I think the general consensus is that Randy Orton goes over.

If the WWE Title changes hands at Backlash, I think JBL will be winning it. It's just the perfect environment to do a heel to heel switch, and the other three guys all have reasons to lose: Triple H is expecting a kid, Randy Orton is expecting a kid and John Cena has his movie. Besides, if Cena was going to go over, why couldn't they have pulled the trigger at WrestleMania?

Also, as far as the Randy Orton/Cowboy Bob relationship goes, I was sort of hoping that Randy would "kill the legend" of his father, and look like a real bastard. Orton should be angling to get himself placed in the WWE Hall of Fame (in kayfabe) for 2009. He shouldn't get in, of course, but it seems something an arrogant prick like him would want for himself.

[The Optimist]

Also, as far as the Randy Orton/Cowboy Bob relationship goes, I was sort of hoping that Randy would "kill the legend" of his father, and look like a real bastard.
I'm sure they'll do that when they run out of ideas for him and he doesn't have a strap.