With WWE Night of Champions right around the corner, Pro Wrestling Powerhouse is rolling out a full preview of the upcoming special event, along with covering the past events and celebrating the greatest champions in professional wrestling history through epic matches and memorable title reigns.
Well, this article somewhat connects to that theme. When we talk about great champions, several names come to mind like Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels (and I’m sure they’ll be talked about plenty on the site in the weeks to come), but we can’t have a serious conversation about the best world champions without including Randy Orton.
In the recent era of champions, where title reigns are more frequent, Orton is as decorated a champion as you can find.
It’s no secret that Orton is a multiple time WWE Champion, with victories over John Cena,Triple H and every big name of the last 10 years. But oddly, Orton’s reigns in the mid-card was short-lived. But it was the Intercontinental Championship that really propelled the career of Randy Orton, besides his alliance with Evolution.
In professional wrestling, some obsess with the length or amount of the title reigns the person has, instead of the impact of said title reign or what they do as champion. For example, John Cena is a 15-time World Champion, but how many of his title reigns do you actually remember? I can’t really think of one.
The same goes for Randy Orton.
I can’t remember one of Randy Orton’s title reigns, per say. I mean I remember moments in his title reigns, more than the reign itself. Of course the iconic moment in history, when Orton is sitting on top of Batista’s shoulders, with Triple H giving him the ultimate endorsement, but at the drop of a hat, turns on Orton, turning him into a mega-babyface. Or what about the moment of him actually winning the World Heavyweight Championship against Chris Benoit.
That’s what title reigns are about… a series of moments that turn into a memorable title reign.
This comes into play with Ryback’s current WWE Intercontinental Championship reign. So far, Ryback’s reign has been filled with injuries and disappointing matches, not to any fault of his own. His booking has been weird, and very stop/start (for obvious reasons), but even with all of that, it seems like WWE is invested in “The Big Guy”, and so am I.
I believe Ryback has improved greatly since returning in late 2014, revived and reborn. He seems to be getting better and better in the ring, as he continues to learn the psychology of a wrestling match/feud and understands how to get over with the fans. I also think he is now more patient with his character and WWE’s booking and understands what he has to do to move up the WWE ladder. Another aspect of Ryback’s return was WWE finally gave us a reason to care for him. Before this reincarnation, Ryback was a robotic character, with very little emotional attachment from the fans, other than the “FEED ME MORE!” chant. In all honesty, no one cared what happened to Ryback.
But WWE with giving him some microphone and promo time, he’s been able to connect with fans in a new way. And something that WWE seems to be doing more of is allowing guys to be themselves. Fans on the internet understand this common fact that when WWE allows their talents to be themselves and be involved in the creative process, they excel. Same goes for Ryback and his character.
But sadly for Ryback, his title reign is lacking a key moment or feud. I’ll admit the moment with Daniel Bryan endorsing Ryback on RAW was a cool moment, and could lead something in the future, when (if) Bryan returns. It’s well documented that Ryback and Daniel Bryan are pretty good friends and Bryan has expressed interest in working with “The Ryback”, as Daniel would say.
Back to the point.
Ryback is at this point lacking a key moment. Why not involve Randy Orton? At this time, the contenders for the Intercontinental Championship are slim for SOME insane reason, when you have Cesaro and others dying for a shot at any title. As much as I like The Miz, he’s just not a legitimate threat to Ryback, and Big Show has run his course at this time and needs some time off.
When I look at the current WWE roster and the guys that aren’t really doing anything, Randy Orton is at the very top of the list. He’s currently in some weird grudge feud withSheamus, which has produced good matches, but ultimately has no direction for either competitor. For Sheamus, it’s okay because he has the ‘Money In The Bank’ briefcase (WWE’s logic), but Orton on the other hand has almost nothing to gain from this feud unless said briefcase gets put on the line in a future match, which we’ve seen too many times before and I don’t think is going to happen.
With the current way he’s being booked and his 2015 so far, he next logical move for Randy Orton is to take a “step-down” and follow the trend of John Cena and Daniel Bryan and help build a mid-card title to meaning something again. In WWE’s current system, the title doesn’t make the man anymore. In the past, when fans saw the Intercontinental or United States Title on someone, it meant something. It forced fans to pay attention. Now, the title needs to be elevated by the superstar, and I think Randy Orton is just the guy to do that.
This might sound ridiculous, but why not do the exact same thing with Orton, that WWE did with Cena?
Place Orton and Ryback into a program, where they have a series of battles, when in the end, Orton finally beats Ryback and indirectly puts him over (similar to Rusev/Cena; here comes the hate). And JUST LIKE John Cena’s United States Championship reign, give Orton the same thing. Even go as far as to give Orton segments on RAW where he is issuing an “open challenge” to anyone in the locker and has great matches with guys likeDean Ambrose, Cesaro, Zack Ryder, etc.
Copy the same routine that of John Cena’s US title reign.
Randy Orton is someone who stills hold a TREMENDOUS value to the company. He’s a recognizable face, which WWE loves, who is a fantastic in-ring worker and performer that’s been around since the early 2000s. Orton is in that weird spot where he’s a 12-time World Champion, who’s been in WWE for 10+ plus years and a locker room veteran, but is still only 35 years old and in the prime of his in-ring career.
It would be a shame to continue to use Orton the way they are, which is as a filler for other guys that they want to push (i.e. Sheamus). Give Orton the Intercontinental Championship and let him run with it.
It all comes full circle for The Viper.
Thanks for reading, everyone!