WWE News: Vince McMahon Extremely High On Randy Orton
The WWE’s rookie class of 2002 is perhaps the most talented group in the history of sports entertainment and professional wrestling. The successes of Brock Lesnar, John Cena, Batista and Randy Orton under Vince McMahon’s watch are well-documented, and their places in the WWE Hall of Fame are already reserved on the first ballot. 14 years later, three-fourths of the group remain heavily invested in the WWE while Batista’s stock continues to rise outside of the ring.
The schedules of Lesnar, Orton and Cena aren’t what they used to be with the WWE, but their impact remains as strong as ever. The last time we saw Lesnar, he was pummeling Orton with his forearm in the main event of this year’s SummerSlam. Cena disappeared from television after that night, returned to challenge for the WWE World Championship at No Mercy and will resume his hiatus for the rest of the year shortly after.
Randy Orton has been back for roughly two months after being out since last October dealing with a severe shoulder injury. He reached an agreement with Vince last year, reducing his workload somewhat by lightening his non-televised house show schedule. Ironically, however, he and Brock Lesnar are slated to face off in a a SummerSlam rematch this Saturday as part of WWE’s live event tour in Chicago. That show takes place one night before the Clash Of Champions pay-per-view which neither Orton or Lesnar are scheduled for.
That pummeling we referred to above resulted, not only in Orton laying in a pool of his own blood at the end of SummerSlam, but also in a concussion. Randy entered a program with Bray Wyatt immediately after the Lesnar match, but was unable to be cleared for their advertised match at Backlash. He’s since been given the green light by WWE doctors which will reignite the physical side of the Wyatt feud and allow them to wrestle at No Mercy.
Once the dust settles on the Wyatt angle, it’s been rumored that Orton will slide into a program with AJ Styles, presumably over the WWE World Title. Styles is expected to have a lengthy run with the belt, but it might be difficult for Vince McMahon to see Orton come out on the losing end of a championship feud.
According to Daily Wrestling News, Vince remains as high as he’s ever been in 14 years on Randy Orton and wants to see him have another run as champion in the near future. Vince believes Orton’s return back in July came off fresh and revitalized, but it was the match with Lesnar that really had Vince’s pride on display for his prized Apex Predator.
As has been discussed and reported ad nauseam, the SummerSlam finish was controversial as it was real, but that was by design. It was Vince’s idea to end the match with the TKO decision to protect both superstars. It wasn’t supposed to be that brutal, but Vince was extremely impressed how Orton took the beating. He felt Randy acted like a professional after the match and did not complain even though things were somewhat chaotic backstage at the time.
We’ve seen how Chris Jericho was so upset by the finish that he confronted Lesnar afterwards, in an incident that continued escalating until Vince and Triple H stepped in and assured Jericho that it was a work. Orton even assured Chris when he finally made his way through the curtain.
Whether Vince’s feelings on Orton result in a 13th World Championship reign remains to be seen. The feeling among many of the WWE officials is that the title picture on SmackDown is mostly written for the next several months. As noted, AJ Styles is expected to carry the title through most of, if not all of what’s left of 2016 and perhaps beyond.
Dean's got a few choice words for AJ Styles #deanambrose pic.twitter.com/fIDiFqb57n
— danetmedia (@danetmedia) September 14, 2016
Carrying the title into WrestleMania has also been discussed where John Cena may be the opponent in waiting. Everything in WWE has a domino effect, and as we reported on Thursday, Cena will only enter the title picture at ‘Mania if the Undertaker is unavailable for the event. Those are the two storylines WWE is building towards for Cena next April. Either face the Deadman in the Undertaker’s final match, or tie Ric Flair’s record with a 16th World Championship victory.
Should the Undertaker decide to return to the WWE for one final sendoff, Orton would certainly be a viable contender for Styles in his place. But whether they’ll be able to hold off on that program for what would amount to at least four months is a big question.
[Image via WWE]
