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So, reports have come in that shortly after SmackDown Live and 205 Live were done this week, Randy Orton came out to the ring. He made a challenge to Roman Reigns and a brawl ensued between the two WWE veterans. The match was a no contest, and Roman Reigns' music brought the proceedings to a close. Why was this segment booked?
Let me try and make sense of the whole thing in the article that follows. Be sure to let me know your thoughts and views about this interesting segment. What possibilities do you foresee for the two men?
If you need a recap of all the events that happened, please read my 'Best and Worst' weekly column. I even did a special piece on Roman Reigns coming to SmackDown.
That said, I begin my article...
#5 An indication of Reigns' next feud
So, let's get the obvious one out of the way first. Randy Orton is certain to be Roman Reigns' next opponent and the two men must have brawled against one another as a way to get ready. Often two competitors are paired in dark matches to see if they have chemistry with each other before the big match is booked.
When Ric Flair came over to WWF in the 90s, him and Hulk Hogan worked a variety of House Show dark matches to gauge whether or not they had any sort of chemistry. And because they did not, the match never actually took place at WrestleMania VIII. So a dark match is a litmus test of sorts, conducted to see if the experiment will succeed or fail.
Flair and Hogan would have to wait till 1994, to wrestle on pay-per-view in WCW. Hopefully, this won't be the case with Roman Reigns and Randy Orton.
#4 Randy Orton is probably Vince McMahon's hired gun
I'm certain that by now, anyone who's reading this article knows that SmackDown went off the air with Roman Reigns knocking out Vince McMahon. So, the plan may certainly be for Vince McMahon to plan his revenge in the coming week, then. And who better for the boss to choose for revenge and retribution than the sadistic Viper?
In fact, if you think about it, Randy Orton is the perfect instrument of torture for McMahon to hire. Recall his feud with Jeff Hardy that involved Orton pulling on Hardy's ears first with his fingers and then with a screwdriver. It was probably the grossest thing I've seen on television in a while.
I mean the natural candidate for WWE to book in this role would have been Daniel Bryan. But Bryan is injured and Orton is just the right fit, in my opinion.
#3 The crowd will not boo Roman Reigns against Randy Orton
I mentioned Elias and Daniel Bryan on the previous page as possible candidates for Vince McMahon to hire in his current war against Roman Reigns on the blue brand. However, the problem with this is that I can imagine both of those men getting cheered if they do wrestle against Roman Reigns.
But Randy Orton is the exception in the sense that he belongs to the same class of individuals that the WWE Universe, at least the internet fans, don't seem to like. So, there's a far lesser chance of them turning Orton into a babyface.
Sure, the current WWE audience consists of trolls and they could possibly boo the whole match out of the building. But that's the risk that WWE runs every time Roman Reigns is booked in a match.
Let's hope that doesn't happen, this time around for WWE.
#2 Keeping both men away from the title picture
Many have said that Kofi Kingston winning the WWE Championship at WrestleMania was the greatest feel-good moment of the whole show. I'm guessing that the plan may be for Kingston to hold the Championship for the near future and have him mix it up with some new stars. They may want to keep Reigns and Orton out of the world title picture for this very reason.
SmackDown Live has a lot of goodwill and I know that a lot of our own readers have said that Reigns moving to SmackDown Live could be a very bad sign. They feel that it spells the end of Kofi Kingston's reign as WWE Champion. But they need not fear anymore.
From the looks of it, the next big feud for Reigns is against Randy Orton. And no, it's not for a title, or so it seems for now.
#1 Two veterans who are adept in ground-based offense
In the first four pages, we've spoken about the long term implications of Roman Reigns squaring off with The Viper, possibly on pay-per-view. So, let's depart from a macro perspective and take a look at what makes The Big Dog such a perfect opponent for Randy Orton's heelish and devious tendencies.
Almost every high-flier who squares off with Roman Reigns is certain to become a babyface, because Reigns works the brawler style and a lot of the 'internet smart fans' see the classic style of offense as dated and old-school. Randy Orton is one of the few men in the roster right now that works a ground-based offense and is likely to not overshadow Roman Reigns.
Plus, they have worked together before and they are likely to put on solid matches, if not great ones. And that's all we need, sometimes.
Do you agree?
