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The Future: Randy Orton
July 25, 2005 by Thomas McCollen

Wrestling has been my passion for about eight years now and I loved the fact that the WWE has produced so many superstars during those years. I've loved many of the wrestlers, including; Steve Austin, The Rock, Mick Foley, Triple H, Undertaker, and many others that I have not yet mentioned. Even though I still love these wrestlers, it comes a time where each of them needs to let go of their spotlight. That is why I'm writing this article about "The Legend Killer" Randy Orton.

Ever since the creation of Evolution by Triple H, there has always been one wrestler that stood out in my mind. Randy Orton is the one that stood out, not only did he have the looks, but he had the skill that would carry him into the future. Evolution was the best place to put Randy Orton at the time. With Triple H as the leader, Randy Orton was the one I could see that would turn away from the group and carry on his own. With the help of Triple H, that is exactly what happened to Randy Orton.

When Randy Orton had the IC Title match again Mick Foley, people thought that Randy Orton couldn't hold his own. This match even surprised me; I didn't know that Randy Orton would go toe-to-toe with one of the toughest hardcore wrestlers in the history of the WWE. Even though Randy Orton was bloodied at the end of the match, he still came out the winner to retain his IC Title. All my friends who were watching this match were cheering for Foley, but I had faith in this young stud to gain his reputation as the "Legend Killer."

Chris Benoit was the champion, and Orton lost the IC Title to Edge at Vengeance. What a better way for Orton to broaden his horizons than to go after the man that Triple H can't defeat. Triple H would do anything in his power to make Orton win; this was a good way to push Orton, because this would prove that Orton would be better than Triple H. The match was set at SummerSlam, and if all of you know your history, you know what happened. Randy Orton once again proved without a doubt, that he is the future of the WWE.

Triple H would want the title and Orton refused to hand it over to the man that brought him into Evolution. I believe that thanks to Triple H, Randy Orton is where he is to this day. The whole feud between Triple H and Orton was what set Orton for his journey that he is now on. Even though Triple H beat Orton at Unforgiven, I still believe that Orton should've gotten a long title reign than what he was given. Orton is still young and I do believe he still needs a little work, but his gimmick is set and his wrestling abilities are there.

Randy Orton, the future of the WWE and probably would go down in the history books when the time arrives. I believe fans should give this superstar a chance and let him show everyone, like he showed me, what he is capable of doing. I've always enjoyed watching Randy Orton wrestle and I loved every promo he has been in, simply because Randy Orton has what they call "IT". The self-proclaimed "Legend Killer" proved without a shadow of a doubt, that he is a true legend killer. His matches are great and his passion for wrestling is running in his veins.

by Thomas McCollen ..

C.N. wrote:
Randy Orton will wash up just like his father did. I take nothing away from the man's talent. He is an incredible athlete with great poise. The microphone skills improve every time he enters the ring. He has an incredible finisher. He has the female half of the crowd "popping" for him whether he is a heel or a face. Why do I think he'll be a passing fad" Health! Every time you turn around, Randy Orton hits the injured reserve. Let us hope that this is just a bad streak and not bad genetics. I indeed believe Randy Orton can go down as a "legend" but not if his body doesn't hold up.

Dave Hanson wrote:
Finally! Another Randy Orton fan! Everyone jumped on me for supporting this guy, everyone says he's an asshole, but I don't care. The guy has talent and potential out the ass. I agree with every point on this article except one--you say that Randy Orton should have been given a longer title run, but I think that he was given the title too soon, which I think was the primary cause of the fan backlash against him--I was in attendance at the Royal Rumble this year for RKO vs HHH, and a big "Randy Sucks" chant went up, even though Randy was the babyface in that match. And to actually have people booing you and hoping HHH actually holds on to his title....well that is heat right there. Oh well, I always thought Randy worked better as a heel anyway. I can't wait for him to come back and continue building his legacy!

Erkka Järvinen wrote:
I have thought the same way as you are for quite a while now. Randy has gave us some of the best matches in 04 including Edge vs Orton, Foley vs orton, benoit vs orton and of course HHH vs orton. Now when he is back heel, he will do better again. Only if Undertaker could job to him...

John Sothern wrote:
The absolute WORST thing that could have happened to Randy Orton was winning the World Heavyweight Title from Chris Benoit at Summerslam. This killed all the momentum both Orton and Evolution had accumulated over the previous 15 months. Evolution was, by far, the best thing going on Raw. Although segments involving HHH dominated the Raw broadcasts, the progression of Orton and Batista's characters carried the remaining portions of each show. As Orton's "Legend Killer" persona continued to cement his character as one of the top heels in the WWE, he slowly began to become a fan favorite. Orton's acceptance from the fan's escalated after his hardcore match with Cactus Jack at Backlash and it was, if it wasn't already, crystal clear that Orton actually was the future of the business.

However, it was here that the WWE creative team dropped the ball. Orton was stripped of the I.C. title and then was thrown into a quick 3-4 week Heavyweight Title push. Orton then won the title in a lackluster match against Benoit, which made very little sense because the two of them are very gifted in-ring performers. Things continued to spiral downward the next week as Orton was attacked a forcefully removed from Evolution. (Don't get me wrong, I thought this segment did everything it set out to do...shock.)

The problem wasn't that Orton was removed from Evolution, but rather how his character was portrayed immediately following his dismissal. Now, there's no doubting Orton's new character had a purpose that the fans could get behind...avenging a betrayal and savage beating, but his character was given absolutely no direction. There was no real transition period that would allow him to ease into and build his new character into a babyface. Overnight, Randy Orton went from being a complete asshole who could generate tons of heat by spitting in the faces of the superstars fans loved to a kiss blowing, arm raising, pirouetting, crowd interacting, attention whoring babyface. To make matters worse, he was hugging and back slapping wrestlers he had feuded with in the previous months. On top of that, Orton's title run was over a few weeks later at Unforgiven, which snatched the spotlight away from him and once again placed it on HHH.

Orton was involved in a few mediocre storylines but he began to fall by the wayside as his new babyface persona was not catching on with the fans. His involvement on Raw became minimal, as he spent a few weeks wrestling on Heat. Next thing you know, the creative team began grasping at straws as they tried to rebuild the "Legend Killer" persona with little success. His angle with the Undertaker began to help his character pick up steam heading into Wrestlemania 21 and breaking the Taker's Wrestlemania unbeaten streak would have brought him back into the limelight. However, the injury bug came calling again which caused him to take it on the chin from the Undertaker. The losses to the Undertaker at Wrestlemania 21 and to Batista the next night on Raw, completely sucked the wind out of Randy Orton's sails.

His time away from TV. is the best thing that could happen right now. Let the fans forget about the last year of character debauchery and allow him to come back with the same formula that made him a success in the first place...arrogance (just don't hold any signs that say "Bring Back Arrogant Orton" or they will be taken away). During his recovery time, the creative team should bring back the RNN News Reports and let him piss people off by allowing him to do what he does best...talk about himself. When it comes time for him to make his in-ring return he should feud with fan favorites like Undertaker, Batista, Benoit, Mysterio and Booker T, as well as, pass out RKOs to any legend he can get his hands on (i.e. Hulk Hogan, Rowdy Roddy Piper).

Randy Orton has a ton of talent and endless potential. Regardless of his knack for injury, he has the ability to be on top of the sports-entertainment for a long time. However, if Orton is to actually leave his mark on this business, he is going to need help from the creative team. They need to get behind him and focus their attention on making him the man Vince McMahon believes he can be...the future.

Scaryguy0685 wrote:
One thing that I am against is Orton's draft lottery pick to Smackdown! He should have been kept on Raw, because there could have been an epic feud between him and Cena. He would be the most worthy opponent to Cena, and I actually believe that Orton could defeat Cena in a match.

Chris Greenfield a.k.a Purgatory wrote:
They call him the "The Legend Killer", when really all he is is a thorn in wwe's side. He has forced some of the best wwe divas to either quit or move to smackdown. Now because of the draft he is on smackdown poor girls gotta feel sorry for them. But i must say he is an alright wrestler most of the time. The backlash match with The hardcore legend Mick foley was a good one. I would have liked to have seen Mick win but if the wwe writers want a "Pritty boy" to inflict his massive ego on wwe then go ahead. As far as the WM21 match with The Undertaker goes Randy diserved to lose big time. Firstly he had his father Bob "Cowboy" Orton interfer in the match. The secondly he tried to do the tombstone to undertaker big NO NO. It is my opinion that Randy Orton should be taken off of wwe and put some where like TNA or he should go back to OVW.

Freddy Sturguess wrote:
Randy Orton is one of the best at being a heel I've seen in a long time; he makes you hate him with his cockiness, and that's one of the major qualifications. But since this is a Randy Orton column, it gives me a reason to say something I've wanted to say for a long time: simply giving a legendary wrestler the RKO (suspiciously similar to the Diamond Cutter) when you're not even in a match does not kill that wrestler's legend. And I saw Harley Race's name on that special T-shirt Orton had printed in his promos before his match against the Undertaker at Wrestlemania 21; spitting in someone's face does not kill their legend either. And I sure wish Orton would make up his mind: Is it Undertaker who caused his shoulder injury or Batista" i.e. "Undertaker you took advantage of an injury I sustained in the match against you" and previously saying from a hospital bed "Batista, you did this to me." Well, they're all on Smackdown now so anyone who thinks the Undertaker doesn't job enough...get ready to see Orton handed a victory over him.

Patricia wrote:
Hey, about the article. Its true Randy Orton's a jackass and that will eventually hurt his career. But I recently found out that the story of Randy shitting in that diva's bag is not true. Just so u have the right info. If u don't believe me, search for "Randy Orton and the Diva Search" on google. Or "Randy Orton and girls." You may also find the article on fhwrestling.com A girl named Rochelle Loewen I believe tells the real story in an article and admits he vandalizes her clothes and belongings. But no crap in the bag.

Jess Thompson wrote:
You have to admit it, Evolution was the BEST place to put Randy Orton to boost him into the "Big Legue" of The WWE. I personally was absolutley shocked when Randy was kicked out of evolution but it definitely achieved what it set out it do, and that was shock! And set Randy Orton out on his own. At that point Randy had become a "good guy" and that simply didnt go down so well. Randy Orton is better as a "bad guy", a character that the audience would either love, hate, love to hate or hate to love we saw that with the reaction he would get when he was in evolutuion, and it seems that the WWE relised that, which made them have Randy RKO Stacey Keibler (which I might add I LOVED!!!!) and turn Randy back into the arrogant prick that he always has and always will be best at. Also I beleive that Randy Orton is the future of the WWE, he has the works! He has the unmistakable looks of a movie star, The natural talent of a true WWE superstar and excellent mic. skills. It was a great idea to give Randy the World Heavyweight title even if it was for only a month, it showed the audience that he really could make it on his own. But I think that it has been just long enough that Randy could handle the World Heaveywight title again and rocket him back into a top superstar again. Right now randy has fallen down into a second rate spot in the WWE and seems to been losing one match after another after another. The WWE are obviously trying to boost him back up into a higher statues with having him win the Survivor Series match for Smackdown. And he should be put back into the title chase by having him win at Royal Rumble.

ROTCSergeantE4 wrote:
I think Randy Orton is an amazing superstar with amazing potential. I've been a Randy Orton fan since he first came to the WWE. He's proven that he is an amazing athlete. I know we've heard this from him before, but he does make a good point, he is the youngest World Heavyweight Champion in history. Maybe being like Ric Flair and having 16 time is a bigger accomplishment to some, but Randy Orton took the title from Chris Benoit. He's been a wrestler for many years. I remember watching him on WCW. I'll admit it, Randy Orton does do some things that make me think he is an ass, but he is my favorite wrestler. Yeah, I agree he should stop bringing old man river to the ring with him all the time, he could win matches by himself without father time there. I think Randys rise didnt really start until he became part of Evolution. That did help make him who he is, he wasnt that well known before then. His mic skills could be a little better, but he was an amazing champion. I definitley see him as the World Heavyweight Champion again, and a future hall of famer. He is the future of the WWE. I don care what anyone says.

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