Opinion: What WWE should do with Randy Orton

The 'Viper', Randy Orton has been one of the biggest and best superstars in all of WWE for well over a decade now.

After a troubling main event start due to not connecting with fans as a top babyface, and his own immaturity off-screen costing him opportunities, Randy finally got where he needed to be in 2007, and has maintained his spot, for the most part, ever since.

While Randy never fails to erect a thunderous response from the live audience as a face in recent years, and as popular as Randy is today, something still needs to change. So what should WWE do next with one of their most seasoned stars on the roster today?

Why a heel turn makes sense

Quite frankly, Randy has been rather stale as both a babyface, and a babyface on Smackdown for over a year now. So what the company needs to do is simple, Randy has always shined better and felt more at home as a heel, and a heel turn is needed for 'The Viper' today, more than ever before for him.

Randy has also been on Smackdown since the second brand split in 2016 and even though the roster has changed since then, he has always seemed to run out of heels to feud with.

Randy has always proven a more effective heel

At the time of writing, Randy is yet to compete since his unsuccessful United States Championship match with Jeff Hardy at Backlash back in May, and is still inactive following his successful surgery to repair a medial meniscus tear in his left knee - which saw him sidelined without a known timetable to return.

Potential for plenty of fresh feuds

However long it takes for Orton to get back to the ring, as for what happens next, I would like to see him have one final babyface feud with top Smackdown heel Shinsuke Nakamura, followed by a big pay-per-view WWE Championship match with AJ Styles.

Amazingly, since the brand split we have only had one match between Orton and Styles, on an episode of Smackdown in early 2017. These two are destined for a big Championship match on pay-per-view!

Following an unsuccessful WWE Championship pursuit, I think it will be time for Randy to jump ship to RAW in either some kind of trade between the brands, or at the next roster shift, where he will not only have more fresh stars to feud with, but he should make his return to the "A show' with a big angle to see him turn heel.

With Brock Lesnar likely to leave WWE by this summer's end, I can't think of anyone better as the show's top new heel than the man who has already been successful before, Randy Orton.