A unbiased look at Orton

[MushroomX]

I know I rip on Orton, along with the other brehs on the TSC for his blandness. So I figured while I am letting this query run at work, I give a certain amount of props to Orton.

Strengths

• He has the look of a legitimate champion
• Very technical wrestler, plus he is very athletic when not banged up
• Convincing finisher
• Has a strong individual presence, where he obviously needs no one to front for him.
• Great theme songs, especially burn in my light
• Stands out away from his father, in his own right

Weakness

• Standard mic work, as his wrestling is what does the talking.
• Dependent on other wrestlers to help him draw a reaction. He is far from boring, but he needs people like CM Punk, HHH who can ignite him. Especially when Randy DDT Stephenie, if the story works, Orton will draw a good reaction.
  
• Lost his edge when he became the Viper. The legend killer gimmick was his best work, because it was fluid for Orton.
• Starting a storyline with Randy can be a bit hard. Randy is best used as a stoic, predator like persona right now. At Summerslam, the WWE Universe would have been easily convinced that Randy could steal the title away from Bryan, WITHOUT HHH's help.
• The "face of the WWE" will never work with Orton. Because in a sense, Orton's predator persona is too present. In my opinion, Orton just wants to wrestle at the big stage but not be involved with the Social aspects. He has a family, and really wants to spend time with them more than getting involved with BE A *.

 

[Nintendough]

Orton trash

 

[714562]

Really the only problem is that the predator persona is long past its expiration date.

They can't book him as a persistent monster because he doesn't have the build of a Kane or an Undertaker. So whenever he's not constantly winning and directly chasing the title, the predator persona is whatever.

That, and the fact that he seems incapable of being interesting with a belt around his waist.

 

[Rarely-Wrong Liggins]

Orton is one of the worst booked champions in over a decade and it's really not his fault.

 

[Jmare007]

When he was a face he could pop any crowd with his DDT/stoker pose/RKO combo


But seriously, Orton has nothing "technical" about his style. Come on now.

 

[ML29]

he doing the best he can with this terrible run, thier main goal seems to be to make him look inferior to The Authority. All this Paranoid whining is not what people want out a heel Orton. Even when he does do something badass its quickly undermined by him being Punked out or crying about something. this shyt is brutal.

 

[Rarely-Wrong Liggins]

Imagine the outcry if Bryan or Punk were booked like this

 

[HipHopStan]

I was a big Orton fan during his Legend Killer run in 03-early 04. Then, he became a babyface and I was just like for a while. He managed to regain my interest a few times. I liked his stuff with Edge in Rated RKO and his punting psycho gimmick. Of course, they ran into a few roadblocks along the way that stopped them from going to their full potential. I don't really hate him or like him at this point in time.

And since this is a thread about Orton here's my top 10 Orton matches:

1. Randy Orton vs. Cactus Jack (IC Title Match, Backlash 2004)
2. Randy Orton vs. The Undertaker (WrestleMania 21)
3. Randy Orton vs. Nobody (World Heavyweight Title Match, Summerslam 2004)
4. Team Bischoff (Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, Scott Steiner, Christian, and Mark Henry) vs. Team Austin (HBK/Booker T, The Dudley Boyz, and RVD) (Survivor Series 2003)
5. Evolution vs. Chris Jericho, Edge, and Nobody (RAW 2004)
6. Randy Orton vs. Christian (SummerSlam 2011)
7. Randy Orton vs. HHH (WWE Championship/Last Man Standing Match, No Mercy 2007)
8. Randy Orton vs. HBK (Unforgiven 2003)
9. Randy Orton vs. John Cena vs, Edge vs. HBK (WWE Championship Match, Backlash 2007)
10. Randy Orton vs. Edge (IC Title Match, Vengeance 2004)

 

[Jamal514]

I loved his work as the Legend Killer and the early stages of the Heel Viper(I marked the fukk out when he punted Vince). Even as a face, he was decent because he was about the only badass face the WWE had. His current heel run has been absolutely horrible due to the McMahons using him as a puppet. I hope he breaks away from them soon and becomes a standalone heel.

 

[JBone4eva]

Good heel.
Boring face.

The end.

 

[Pinyapplesuckas]

i agree with most of those points. he has alot more at his disposal than alot of other guys on the card. if he didnt talk like a robot i think he'd be alot bigger. that holds him back, especially when he's a face. cant be a good guy but talk like a serial killer.

 

[AquaCityBoy]

In before Gizzle comes in here dikkriding.

 

[Mikael Blowpiff]

Mickey Mantle hit 580 something home runs but he could have hit 700. Ken Griffey Jr prolly could have hit 800 if he didn't have health problems. Nas made Illmatic, It Was Written and Life Is Good but he had a bad double album and a former double album that got compromised. Craig Robinson is great but he's usually the best part of a trainwreck(save for most of The Office and I guess This Is The End). Steve McQueen was the highest paid actor in Hollywood when he was alive but no one remembers any of them shyts he was in except for Great Escape, Thomas Crown Affair, Bullitt and Inferno. There have always been underachieving greats in every field of sports and entertainment.