WWE News: More Backstage Details On Controversial ‘SummerSlam’ Finish & What Randy Orton Thought Was Going To Happen

Over the last week, the WWE has made a concerted effort to blur the lines in their storytelling in an attempt to drum up controversy and create some buzz. The two most prominent examples of this came in the form of the SummerSlam finish between Randy Orton and Brock Lesnar and the verbal exchange between Daniel Bryan and The Miz on the latest episode of Talking Smack, the blue brand’s post-game show hosted by Renee Young.

While the shoot-style promo from The Miz could get Bryan involved in another specific storyline that will be resolved over the short-term, we’ll have to wait quite a while to see a resolution play out between Orton and Lesnar after their main event match at SummerSlam, if they even decide to put a bow on it.

We noted earlier in the week that the SummerSlam finish was scheduled to end with a bloody TKO decision, but the plans did not call for Orton to bleed as much as he did. The finish was designed to have people question what was scripted and what wasn’t, and it certainly hooked Chris Jericho. Y2J was so frustrated with Lesnar’s punishment of Orton that a scuffle ensued backstage after SummerSlam, requiring Vince McMahon and Triple H to intervene.

Brock Lesnar went home the day after SummerSlam, Jericho did not address the incident on his podcast, and Orton appears headed for a quick transition to Bray Wyatt, potentially leaving the door open for retribution on Lesnar sometime down the line. But there is much more to the SummerSlam finish than what was originally reported, especially in regards to Orton.

According to the Daily Wrestling News, Orton did not know how the match was going to play out until he arrived to the arena the day of SummerSlam. As far as he was concerned, he was prepared for a typical main event match but was informed by officials that it was going to be anything but. It didn’t quite play out this way, but Orton was told that the match was supposed to resemble the 2014 SummerSlam main event between Lesnar and John Cena, where Brock totally dismantled Cena in the most lopsided main event in WWE history.

Despite some major back-and-forth between Vince and Triple H as to who would go over in the match, Orton was told that the match was supposed to make Lesnar look incredibly strong. However, it was also supposed to come across as a shoot where Lesnar appeared to go off script and just totally destroy Randy in a fight that looked nothing like it was predetermined.

Once Vince made the final decision to put Lesnar over to close out SummerSlam, a meeting took place backstage between Triple H, top WWE official Mark Carrano, and Lesnar. No official word on whether Paul Heyman and Orton were there, but it is presumed they were. This meeting happened an hour before their match, so actually during the pay-per-view, where the finish was greatly debated and “negotiated.”

What’s also interesting is that Orton was told Lesnar would be able to make him bleed by grazing his elbow across his forehead, but as we witnessed at SummerSlam, Lesnar legitimately pummeled Orton with an elbow that resulted in a huge gash at the top of his forehead, with blood immediately rushing out. Apparently, Brock also hit Orton with real stiff punches during the ground assault. If fans thought that the referees and medical personnel looked confused, it’s because they actually were, but the TKO decision went off as designed.

Despite the reality of the attack, Orton still stuck to the script as the match was ending. No one would blame Orton if he wanted to legitimately fight back, but he took the punishment and acted like he was really knocked out as was booked so that the referees could make the call.

It’s apparently not the first time an opponent of Lesnar was unsure of what to expect going into a match with The Beast. Earlier this month, Dean Ambrose revealed on the Stone Cold podcast that he had no idea what was going to happen in his match at WrestleMania because Lesnar wasn’t receptive to any pre-match brainstorming, and WWE officials rejected all of Ambrose’s hardcore suggestions for the encounter. It’ll be interesting to see if anything changes with Brock moving forward.

[Image via WWE]