He's Not the Legend Killer, He's a Naughty Boy

Was it really surprising that Randy Orton got suspended from WWE?

Without a doubt, Randy Orton is one of the most gifted wrestlers of his generation. Having suffered a severe shoulder injury early on in his WWE career, Orton came back strongly as part of Triple H’s Evolution group, bringing renewed prestige to the Intercontinental title, cementing his spot as a bright young heel, and becoming the youngest World Champion in WWE history.

But even as far back as 2004, there were rumours. While Orton played the brash, arrogant, cocky heel on television, life was apparently imitating art, as Orton played his character backstage as well, and it didn’t sit too well with many people.

News hit the internet that Orton had played a major role in the departure of Amy Weber and other women WWE  employed after the first Diva Search contest, and rumours of untoward behaviour to other female members of staff continue to this day.

Then there were instances away from the ring and outside the arenas. Even when Orton was a baby face between September 2004 and the summer of 2005, Orton apparently rubbed numerous fans up the wrong way, treating them with utter contempt, and telling autography hunters where to go. There was also a reported incident with a disabled driver who drove across Orton’s path as he left an arena.

Orton’s brash demeanour did not sit well with the veterans of the locker room, most notably Ric Flair and the Undertaker. When news broke of Orton’s suspension the day after Wrestlemania 22, it wasn’t a surprise. In fact, WWE managed had originally wanted to suspend Orton two months ago, around the time of No Way Out, but decided to keep him on the road to save their Wrestlemania main event.

In a statement on the WWE website, Orton appeared very humble, admitting he had made mistakes that could cost his career dearly in the long-term. This past Tuesday, Orton wrestled Kurt Angle in the first round of the revived King of the Ring tournament. Watching him walking down the aisle. Orton looked like a man taking his last walk to the electric chair. Orton tapped out to Angle’s ankle lock, and sold a severe broken ankle in the process, which is now the storyline reason for his absence.

But before this week’s edition of Smackdown aired, news broke that Orton wasn’t being suspended for sixty days, he was being suspended indefinitely. So now there’s the distinct possibility that Orton may never appear in a WWE ring again, that they’ll continue to pay the minimum amount required by his contract until it expires. If they fired him outright and put in the usual no-compete clause, he’d end up in TNA by August. But by only suspending him, they’re making sure that TNA don’t get their hands on a bonafide superstar.

It really is a sad state of affairs for Bob Orton Junior’s baby boy. Before the untimely death of Eddie Guerrero last November, Orton was being groomed as Batista’s successor as World Champion, and with Kurt Angle’s ongoing neck problems, the Undertaker’s part-time schedule, and the fact that Batista won’t be back from injury until June at the earliest, Orton would have been a viable alternative to Rey Mysterio should his World title reign falter.

But sadly, none of this will ever happen, unless Orton looks deep within himself and realises that his brash, cocky behaviour could cost him one of the most promising wrestling careers of the 21st century.