Why is Randy Orton not a Top Player?
 

The guy is over right now more than anything. But he is relegated to Smackdown. He is often said to be the 2 or 3 guy in the whole business right now and his matches are always great.-

He can bring a fresh air of "I dont give a fuck" to Raw which would make the shows a lot better if he got some mic time.

Have him in a real feud against Punk or DB would be instant gold. Why try to use him to elevate Sheamus when you could have him in real feuds that matter?

He was stale on Raw last time and what better way to give Smackdown a shot in the arm than send your #2 guy over there and then have a tremendous feud with a freshly elevated Christian? Then he brought pace into his matches on top of everything and I really enjoyed it.

Although his feud with Kane was shit, he's been fantastic otherwise and there is no need to change anything up right now. Probably the best booked face right now since he's really the only one they've booked to not lose their edge once they've turned.

He's also on Raw most weeks, so I don't know what "changing brand" would actually do. Especially as one of the feuds you suggest is with a "Smackdown guy" in terms of Daniel Bryan.

This

He comes off as a generic face, he doesn't do anything special.

Hes brilliant, should be in Danielsons place on Raw.

Was gonna make a thread on Orton after watching Smackdown tonight. I can't see why the guy is so over. I'm not saying he's shit or anything, I just can't get into him, kinda like Kofi.

Lately he's been too injury prone to put a lot of stock in.

Pushes sometimes come in cycles. There can only be one world champion on Smackdown and Raw at a time.

He's being kept somewhat relevant until they decide to give him another World Title push. Same thing happened to Alberto Del Rio after WrestleMania 27. Push cooled down a bit to heat up at Money In the bank and Summerslam to capture the title.

He's been given every opportunity by the WWE to really take off and get to "that level" alongside Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Undertaker, etc (Legendary status). Yet he hasn't. I wouldn't even put him in the same category as John Cena, to be honest.

The guy is over and all that, but he's not at "that" level. And quite frankly, if he hasn't gotten there yet, I doubt he ever will. And I believe it's got to do with the fact his personality is somewhat bland.

He is extremely bland as a face.

It just seems like he's "just there". He's over no doubt, but I can't remember I said to myself" I really need to see this Orton match."

i agree with this..last time i was actually excited to see an orton match was last years WM vs. punk. since then it feels like hes just going through the motions

When you're feuding with Kane and doing segments with Jinder Mahal there's not much you can actually do to make it interesting.

Because, as said 100's of times, he clotheslines like Kelly Kelly :rofl:

gonna quote some bits that cover points I'd only post anyway

basically he's taking a back seat while guys like Punk, Sheamus and DBD are getting prolonged chances in top spots. Add those to Cena, Brock and Rock recently, Jericho etc and there's not enough pie to pass around, somebody has to feud with the Kane's of the world. As I quoted in the first part, he'll still be main eventing and winning world titles in 5 years if he so chooses, can't say the same thing with any kind of certainty about anybody but Cena really. A bit of time away from the top programs while other guys have a crack won't/hasn't hurt Orton at all.

I don't "get" Randy Orton. I understand that he's over, the reactions are undeniable. However, he bores me with his style of wrestling and promos. I don't think I have ever looked forward to a Randy Orton match since his match against Foley in 2004 or something. Maybe the match against Punk at Wrestlemania. In both cases, it was because of who he was against.

He just doesn't do it for me.

I've liked Randy since his debut, but never fully got into him until his feud with Christian last year, and his feud with CM Punk 'planting the seeds' for his stepping up.

Now, he's one of those names for me. He's not my favourite, but he's 'up there' as one of the big names that needs to be on every show.

His wrestling ability certainly stepped up in his feud with Christian, but his character really came into it's own over the last year. It's not so much that he has a 'character', he's often compared to as today's Steve Austin, and this is who he is. He's the badass guy that generally looks out for himself and takes shit from no one. He doesn't overly portray himself as a face, but his willingness and ability to stand up to heels whilst not being afraid to attack faces, gets him over with the crowd.

It's definitely the clothesline. I can't take him seriously until he either stops doing them or attends the "Stan Hansen's School of Lariats". It's fucking horrible.

I really liked him more during "The Age Of Orton", in his heel persona. Turning him heel won't really work I feel, though. People will still cheer him. He's in a tough spot, but I'm sure they'll come up with something to breathe life into him. He'll be a top player when the space is clear

He'll only ever be a top player as a heel.... he's 10x better that way.....but if he's heel, he'd only have Punk to feud with, as they've done Cena/Orton too many times already.....

I hate his clotheslines, I hate that shitty neckbreaker/backbreaker he does, and that hanging rope DDT is terrible.

Not to mention the pointless stomps and rest-holds.

Randy Orton will always be the runner-up with John Cena around. With CM Punk breaking through the glass, Randy will be the HHH of this generation.

The one thing I hate is when everyone dogs his 'mic skills' when he barely cuts a promo anymore.

Guy is the best wrestler in WWE no contest tbh.

there's a teddy long joke somewhere in here

I didn't know they had WiFi under bridges, Troll.

The problem is if you try to compare him to Cena on RAW, then it seems like the WWE isn't focusing on him when in reality Orton is a lot more flexible when it comes to placing him anywhere on a card unlike Cena.

Orton also tends to get stale pretty quickly if he gets a "super" push as a face which might be why he stopped becoming the sole focus of Smackdown months after arriving there in favor of someone new for the moment.

He was also injured for a while but according to the dirt sheets, the WWE had planned for him to win the belt shortly into Bryan's reign so it wasn't like the WWE wanted to ignore Orton.

<iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/N-kxxFjiD6s#t=0m19s" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I have never understood the appeal of Randy Orton. In ring, he's decent, but nothing special, and that's not including his ridiculous clotheslines or that elevated DDT that looks sillier and more contrived every time he does it. He's always been pretty middling on the mic, too. I guess he used to have "the look," but that was before he shaved his head and got that hideous orange Hulk Hogan tan. I didn't get why everyone was jizzing their pants over him back in '04, and I don't get why he's still so over now.

Everyone in the business seems to consider Orton one of the best working today. You hear it all the time. That being said, Orton doesn't really do too much for me. He's good -- fuck, he's great -- but I just don't care. I think I really want to see the guy in a proper story, where he as proper objectives and overcomes proper obstacles to achieve them.

I made a thread recently discussing bringing in Bray Wyatt to feud with Orton. Something like that would be great for, Randy, I believe. It puts him over as a top dog, since that's why he's being targeted, but it also allows him to make some new stars -- which is something the WWE should really take advantage of given how much more over Orton is than the rest of the SmackDown! roster.

Oh, I'm definitely wishing for Orton vs. Rhodes for the World Heavyweight Title at WrestleMania next year, by the way. I'd even go as far as to have Cody win the Royal Rumble after turning face (similar in the way Orton turned face -- nothing about his personality is really altered).

The problem is that The Viper/Apex Predator gimmick works better for a heel than it does a face he would be more over if he was more like he used to be like in "The Legend Killer" era where he was a lot more charasmatic and even though he's more bland promowise as of late I still enjoy him leaps and bounds more than Sheamus or John Cena.

The thing is, could Orton turn heel? I mean, he could technically play the role, but he's essentially a heel right now -- he's just so fucking over. If Orton turned "heel," he'd certainly still get cheered on par with most other guys on the roster. I am certainly enjoying the tensions developing between Sheamus and Orton, however. I would not object to Orton winning the title from Sheamus at Over the Limit and Sheamus needing to chase The Viper.

If the roster split actually mattered anymore, I'd say keep him on Smackdown. He also should probably be world champion to keep the belt credible. As much as I like the guy, Sheamus isn't doing that right now. Booking has a lot to do with that but Orton can overcome poor booking by just holding the title because he's over and he can put on a remarkable "WWE style" match any time he wants.

Orton as a face = so-so

Orton as a heel = greatness

Agreed, but I don't even think he's so-so as a face, he's very bland in the ring and on the mike. He's just one of those wrestlers that won't work as a face at all. I would really like to see him return to his "legend killer" roots. His promos with the mick foley spitting incident was, in my opinion, one of the highlights of his true talent.

He's kinda the same on the mic as a heel. I love him as a face though. He's got that edge to him that a guy like Sheamus could probably use right now but he has also done a surprisingly killer job having fun with the crowd during matches at times. The "Christmas Smackdown" match with Otunga last November was a good example of that.

He can easily be a top face for the company.

Him losing cleanly to Mark Henry two PPVs in a row was way more effective in helping both of their characters out than most faces have had the capability of doing simply by losing in a long time.

Because....he's been one of the top guys for SO long. Time for some other guys to get a shot. He'll get pushed more in a later cycle....

You give other guys shots in the upper mid-card and let them seemlessly work into that spot. That's how they get to Orton's level. Putting them "above" Orton as a way to try to get them over is not a good method.