A year ago, Randy Orton was being hailed as the next big thing in the wrestling business. As the former next big thing, Brock Lesnar, was on his way out of the wrestling business, Orton was the shining light of Evolution, the top young star on the Raw brand, and at the beginning of a program with Mick Foley that would catapult him to the next level.
One year on, and Orton is a former Intercontinental and World Heavyweight Champion, and the number one contender to Triple H's crown. But for me, he's no longer the legend killer.
Like a lot of people a year ago, I was impressed with everything that Orton did. He carried himself well in the ring, had great matches with everyone he faced, and was one of the best talkers in the WWE. He was spitting in the face of tradition, taking himself to the next level. Indeed, he really was a killer of legends.
When Orton defeated Chris Benoit for the World title at Summerslam last August, everyone knew he was heading towards a main event showdown with his mentor and Evolution leader, Triple H. But just a day after defeating Benoit, Orton's Evolution buddies turned him face, and three weeks later, he was an ex-World Champion.
It had been rumoured for ages that an Orton/Triple H feud would headline Wrestlemania 21 in Los Angeles. We all thought that the rivalry between the two would last quite a long time, that Triple H's jealousy of his young team-mate would be a brooding one, that the affair would last up to six months, with Orton dumping Triple H out of Evolution, replacing him as leader, then facing his former mentor at the big one. But the creatives apparently had other ideas.
Orton played the role of the legend killer to perfection. He was the heel we loved to hate. There was no doubt that he would end up with the World title around his waist. We just thought that his title reign would be measured in months rather than weeks.
Since he joined the baby-face ranks last year, Orton just seems to have lost his edge a little. He's still a great wrestler, capable of putting on good matches with everyone he faces, but now he seems to have entered the generic baby-face mode. He is no longer the legend killer. He is still capable of talking a good fight, but there's something about the man that just seems a little bland these days.
I don't think I'm the only one that thinks that perhaps the wrong member of Evolution was turned face the day after Summerslam. It would have been a lot better if Orton had remained a heel, and had set his sights on killing the legend of Triple H.
You only have to look at how Edge's career has gone in the past few months. He's gone from generic baby-face to the heel obsessed with winning the World title, getting crazier by the week as he continues to fail.
In their rush to find the new Stone Cold or Rock, the WWE creatives may have bombed by turning Randy Orton so quickly after Summerslam. The WWE seriously needs another breakout star, but at the moment, it looks like Orton isn't the man.
One year on, and Orton is a former Intercontinental and World Heavyweight Champion, and the number one contender to Triple H's crown. But for me, he's no longer the legend killer.
Like a lot of people a year ago, I was impressed with everything that Orton did. He carried himself well in the ring, had great matches with everyone he faced, and was one of the best talkers in the WWE. He was spitting in the face of tradition, taking himself to the next level. Indeed, he really was a killer of legends.
When Orton defeated Chris Benoit for the World title at Summerslam last August, everyone knew he was heading towards a main event showdown with his mentor and Evolution leader, Triple H. But just a day after defeating Benoit, Orton's Evolution buddies turned him face, and three weeks later, he was an ex-World Champion.
It had been rumoured for ages that an Orton/Triple H feud would headline Wrestlemania 21 in Los Angeles. We all thought that the rivalry between the two would last quite a long time, that Triple H's jealousy of his young team-mate would be a brooding one, that the affair would last up to six months, with Orton dumping Triple H out of Evolution, replacing him as leader, then facing his former mentor at the big one. But the creatives apparently had other ideas.
Orton played the role of the legend killer to perfection. He was the heel we loved to hate. There was no doubt that he would end up with the World title around his waist. We just thought that his title reign would be measured in months rather than weeks.
Since he joined the baby-face ranks last year, Orton just seems to have lost his edge a little. He's still a great wrestler, capable of putting on good matches with everyone he faces, but now he seems to have entered the generic baby-face mode. He is no longer the legend killer. He is still capable of talking a good fight, but there's something about the man that just seems a little bland these days.
I don't think I'm the only one that thinks that perhaps the wrong member of Evolution was turned face the day after Summerslam. It would have been a lot better if Orton had remained a heel, and had set his sights on killing the legend of Triple H.
You only have to look at how Edge's career has gone in the past few months. He's gone from generic baby-face to the heel obsessed with winning the World title, getting crazier by the week as he continues to fail.
In their rush to find the new Stone Cold or Rock, the WWE creatives may have bombed by turning Randy Orton so quickly after Summerslam. The WWE seriously needs another breakout star, but at the moment, it looks like Orton isn't the man.
And now on to this week's television.
The Wrestling Channel really disappointed me this week. It seemed that whenever I tuned in to watch a particular television show, it was an exact repeat of what was shown the week before, and a week ago, that was a repeat of a show that was shown a couple of months ago. Am I confusing you here? Well, you wouldn't be the only one then, would you? I wouldn't be surprised if the channel has lost quite a few viewers in the past month or so.
The only new show of the week seemed to be the FWA Classics show. Show two wasn't as good as show one, but it was still entertaining in it's own right. It was good to see Flash Barker back on TWC as well.
The WWE continues to move forward to the Royal Rumble, which in itself the beginning of the road to Wrestlemania 21. I've already mentioned Raw's Triple H v Orton feud, but once again we were teased by a possible face turn for Batista. It also looks like we'll be getting Edge v Shawn Michaels at the big one as well.
Smackdown also teased us with a possible face turn, this time for Kurt Angle, but it seems that Angle and fellow heel JBL are just playing mind games with the Big Show. I'm left to wonder though just how many times the Big Show will be pushed as a title contender. We also saw new tag-team champions as the character-less Bashams defeated RVD and Rey Mysterio for the titles.
All in all, apart for a couple of things, the WWE creatives are turning it up a notch leading to the big one.
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