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On the most recent episode of Smackdown, Shinsuke Nakamura and Jeff Hardy were having a great match over the United States Championship. Hardy all but had the match won, but Randy Orton struck from out of nowhere and cost him the match. Orton then viciously attacked Hardy.
Making his presence known and ambushing Hardy at Extreme Rules, Orton followed it up with another assault. This time, he went even further. He smashed Hardy's head against the steel steps, threw him over the announce table, gave him a DDT onto the floor, and most importantly, stuck his fingers into the holes where Hardy's ear disks used to be. Nasty.
If you weren't watching the attack because the whole "fingers through the ear" thing was too much, or even if you were just too caught up in the moment, then you could have missed one tiny detail. That tiny detail reveals there's so much more to Orton's recent angry mood.
If you watch the timestamped video, you'll notice that Orton says two words that change everything.
"Where's Shinsuke?"
What exactly does Orton want with Nakamura? This was the second time in three days that the Viper showed up during Nakamura's match and attacked Jeff Hardy. What's the plan?
We know both men have a history of mutual respect for each other. Nakamura beat Orton in September to earn a match for the WWE Championship against Jinder Mahal at Hell in a Cell last year. The two men also teamed up at Survivor Series 2017 as part of Team Smackdown, and again at Clash of Champions against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. The two men had chemistry in the ring, and they were a solid team.
But what's the deal now? Does Orton not approve of his former friend's nefarious ways and want to teach him a lesson? Then why attack Hardy? And why do it so brutally?
Perhaps he wants to regain the United States Championship. By attacking Hardy, Orton is reminding Nakamura how dangerous he is and how dangerous he can be. Maybe he's playing mind games with the King of Strong Style. He wants to let Nakamura know that no matter how dangerous Shinsuke thinks he is, Orton is more dangerous. Much more dangerous.
There is another possible scenario. Perhaps Orton wants to team up with Shinsuke. Together, they could go on a two-man power trip and absolutely destroy and dominate Smakckdown. After all, they are two of the top superstars on the blue brand. They could be the two most dominant superstars on Smackdown, and they would be nearly untouchable and unbeatable.
There's a whole lot of different ways that this storyline can go. Just like that, Randy Orton is one of the most interesting superstars on Smackdown right now. We can only speculate right now just what Orton wants and what he is planning.
Over the next few weeks, all eyes will be on the Viper as he will no doubt make his intentions clear. We'll all be watching to see just what he does next.
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