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Not very long ago, it came to light that Randy Orton had suffered an injury at a WWE Live Event. And then, rumors began to arise that the injury was, in fact, a work.
This week on WWE RAW, he came out in crutches, as the crowd chanted his name and delivered the bewildering news that he may never wrestle again. And then AJ Styles came out to mock him, doing a spectacular job as a heel.
But when Styles was about to leave the ring, Orton called him back and delivered an RKO, proving that his injury was staged. Why was this whole storyline carried out on RAW?
I can think of 5 interesting reasons for the same, and you can also weigh in on them in the comments below.
#5 To prove that he's not a 'pure' babyface as many had assumed
Randy Orton is one of the greatest heels in the history of the business. And lately, he's been showcasing a babyface side, which is natural because he's one of the most naturally gifted WWE Superstars and hence, has the respect of the WWE Universe. In my personal opinion at least, he's a much better heel than he is a babyface.
This is why I love the fact that he's not a pure white-hot babyface but instead is a babyface who has shades of gray in his persona. John Cena would, for example, never work the crowd and make them believe that he was quitting only to get one over his heel opponent, I do believe.
In fact, I have a feeling that Randy Orton may be turning heel in due course of time and the reason for the same may be the following point that I will outline here.
#4 To set up a match with the legendary Edge
During the course of his promo, Randy Orton mentioned that he might never get to wrestle in a WWE ring again. One of the names that was mentioned during the course of the segment was WWE Hall of Famer 'Edge', who was forced to retire thanks to an unfortunate injury.
There has been a lot of buzz about Edge possibly returning to the ring sometime soon, and we actually saw him get physical at SummerSlam 2019 when he delivered a spear to Elias. I am not going into detail about why Edge's comeback is a reality now, but I've noted down my thoughts right here.
Randy Orton would be the ideal opponent for Edge at WrestleMania, and we could have seen the first step towards a heel turn on this week's episode of WWE RAW. It's hard to dispute that this would be a huge match!
#3 To actually add stakes to the feud with AJ Styles
How do you add stakes to a match without a title on the line? I mean you have two seasoned veterans in AJ Styles and Randy Orton but they're in a feud seemingly without anything on the line.
With this angle, which reminded a lot of people of the Mark Henry retirement angle, which was also repeated by Sasha Banks not long after, WWE may have made the feud a lot more interesting. Randy Orton and AJ Styles have fought in the past in a WrestleMania match that was okay at best, and they would want to up the ante this time around.
Now, I'm guessing that AJ Styles, Karl Anderson, and Luke Gallows will be out for retribution on next week's episode. Randy Orton will have to find two other Superstars to watch his back.
One wonders if he'll be allied to the Viking Raiders or The Street Profits.
#2 To mislead news outlets
Today's fan tends to trust websites like Sportskeeda over WWE's official website because our team of writers tends to go beyond storyline alone and examine events behind the scenes. And hence, they decided to work news portals and convince them that Randy Orton is out of the game for a while. They knew that it would lead to a lot of speculation and convince people that it was real.
WWE is trying to peel back the fourth wall and bring up 'behind-the-scenes' details in their storyline. Is it any wonder then that this era has been dubbed the 'reality era' of WWE programming? They are doing pretty much the same thing with Becky Lynch's contract situation as well.
The only problem with this whole plan is that fans came to know that this whole angle was a work long before RAW even aired, undermining WWE's plans.
#1 Yet another variation of an 'RKO Out of Nowhere'
Randy Orton has been one of the most consistent performers in the WWE roster and his finishing move - 'The RKO' is a major component of his appeal. What has made the move so popular over the years is the 'out of nowhere' aspect that it is known for.
I mean, we've seen some sensational RKOs even in 2019 which is amazing if you consider how long Randy Orton has been doing the move. To keep the move fresh, Randy Orton faked his injury and delivered an RKO that very few people actually saw coming.
This was one of the most exciting aspects of the show for me, at least. The rest of RAW has been very hit and miss, but the RKO to AJ Styles is something that fans will definitely remember.
Were you fooled by Randy Orton's injury on RAW, ladies, and gentlemen?
