What do we make of Randy Orton's Gradual Change?
 

To me, WWE is fucking up big time. They can put the belt on Randy, thats fine, but why are they changing his character? He could just keep walking out slow, little facial expressions, just doing his thing and get cheered for it but NOOOOOOOO, they gotta send him out now all reacting to the fans, and smiling. A smiling Viper. Wow. When his music hits with "i hear voices in my head...." Would you expect him to come out smiling?

Why do they have to change him all around.

Who's with me on this?!

As long as they get rid of his turret syndrome/spazzing out thing he does when he's getting "pumped up" during a match

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Dunno, I'd say he could do without the smiling as well, but at the same time... dude just won the wwe title, let him be initially happy.

I agree it makes little sense that a man who threatens to punt somebody in the head to intentionally injure them would pander to the fans and smile and show his title.

Then again I can't stand Randy, I'm biased.

Did anyone else notice at the end of NoC he was talking to a guy below the ring corner and saying something along the lines of: "You want me up again? Fine, I'll look down on you" or some such sentence. All the vids I can find atm end before that point, but I really found it silly... It looked like Orton found cheering to be a chore :)

it would be much better if they kept his character or else all of us would resent the guy and cheer Cena.

He said "you want me up here? you want me up here again? You're not gonna get any more outta me." because they wanted him to do one more in the corner to end the show

Yeah, it was that stuff. And it was just so obvious and meh... It really stood out to me. Like he was all "I gotta celebrate more? Come on maan..."

He needs to punt kick The Miz.

I don't see anything wrong with it. Stone Cold smiled a lot after he turned face.

Bad guys smile too. I think it's called a "smirk" or something.

In my opinion, this is the best Orton has been since his Evolution run which is my favorite Orton time period from September 2003-September 2004 is specifically my favorite. He's one of my all time favorites. His 05 run was abysmal as he just jobbed to the Undertaker the whole time. I enjoyed his 06 run teaming with Edge and feuding with Angle and Mysterio. His 07 feud with Cena was great and then him getting the title finally and establishing himself as a top guy in 2008 was good. His FEUD with HHH in 2009 was good in my opinion, and I actually didn't think the match was bad. The Legacy stuff was annoying, but I like that he is face simply for being the Viper. I like how he is the top face with Cena. I see Cena turning heel shortly with the whole Nexus thing as either there's going to be a major swerve with Cena laying down for Barrett or he simply takes over the leadership role in the Nexus if he Barrett does win.

I don't think smiling is such a bad thing. The great part about Orton is, he's learned how to look menacing and at times, evil. The way he smiles now looks more sinister than it did back in 2004.

And like people have said, let him have his moment. The character has been chasing the title for almost a year. It's not so bad that he relishes in the moment.

And to jump on Dr. Perfect's idea of punting the Miz, I hope Miz cashes in on Orton after is HIAC match with Sheamus, and we get another run of the angry Viper chasing Miz for the belt.

Orton/Miz feud would be solid if booked right.

I firmly believe so. The promos alone would see the feud. And Miz is at the point where he's seemingly ready to be elevated. They need to do this when the Miz/Daniel Bryan feud is closed.

they should keep Orton as a heel.when he was a heel, he did stuff( punting people in head, putting them on the shelf for a while) which was more believable .Now that he is a face he rko's evryone in sight (though when he rko'd Cena through the table while getting f u d was cool) and just spazzing out in a match.

Um...spazzing out, RKO'ing anything that bah gawd moves, and punting is what's got him over. Read the Raw spoilers in RP's thread. You will see what I mean.

And with the punt, the longer they take in between its usage, the more effective it will be for a "big deal" type of moment. If anything, what they're doing with Orton is smart. They're putting their hottest hand at the forefront of the programming.

I feel a bit like almost using the punt, is making it less effective. I don't know, might just be me.

I'm not following...

Look I am all for it the boy has been on fire lately. I couldn't stand him in 2007 you could tell he lost his passion.

It's not so bad yet, however every time Randy almost punts someone it drains the concept a little for me. It makes it seem like Randy has no idea when he has a chance to use it -and as such make it less threatening. It's like someone having a rocket launcher but being unable to hit a barn door from 2 feet away.

Like I said, it might just be me. I hope they wont be overdoing the near-punt.

– Randy Orton is not high on his current babyface character. The reigning WWE Champion feels he’s a natural heel and would prefer to play that role.

Randy Orton is an asshole in real life. He just realizes it's easier to be himself in the ring and not put on a fake smile for the fans.

I'd rather see him as the modern day scsa aka Viper then some full blown face or heel. I want to be shocked at what he does.

Like I use to be shocked when Austin would give The Rock the stunner for no reason.