Despite being a WWE champion many times over, lately it seems like Randy Orton has been delegated to the status of jobber, with the current goal to promote Roman Reigns rise to the top so he can take on Brock Lesnar for the WWE Heavyweight Championship belt at WrestleMania 31.
In a related report by The Inquisitr , some say Roman Reigns’ WrestleMania 31 moment may be in doubt, while others claim the Samoan Superman is a replacement for The Undertaker . It’s claimed that Triple H is pushing for Reigns for a title fight while Vince McMahon wants Brock Lesnar Vs. The Rock as the main event for WM 31.
You can just see how WWE creative is setting up the situation for the big match of 2015 even when it comes to things the wrestlers do through social media. First, we have Roman Reigns making Randy Orton his water boy , and then, Orton is tweeting out how he’s “owed” a title match against Lesnar . In the lead up to SummerSlam 2014, the Reigns and Orton feud had them brawling in the crowd on Monday Night RAW episodes in order to build up Reigns.
When some of the writers at The Inquisitr watched SummerSlam together, we noted how underwhelming the Randy Orton Vs. Roman Reigns match was in comparison to others, almost delegating it to undercard status. We actually enjoyed Seth Rollins Vs. Dean Ambrose in the Lumberjack Match more, partially because the outcome was too predictable. In fact, some tweets from that night seemed to underscore the jobber status of the match.
Reigns should buy Randy Orton several beers tonight, helped him tremendously
— Robert Littal (@BlkSportsOnline) August 18, 2014
The trend continued more recently on WWE Smackdown. Randy Orton marched out onto the ring to announce that he’s never been called a loser before, and Roman’s victory at SummerSlam doesn’t mean it’s over between them. He threatens bad things like an RKO through an announcer table, but it’s mostly just posing before the match with RVD. Both men are counted out by the referee, but Orton uses the match, and a steel chair, to make the point that he’s just waiting for Reigns.
When Reigns takes on The Miz later on, Randy Orton is already doing his Apex Predator bit at the edge of the ring. As soon as The Miz is down, the Viper strikes and the fight spilled out into the floor. They go back and forth a bit, but out comes the Superman punch and Orton is left to slither out of the ring while Roman Reigns is left standing tall in the ring.
So, there we see Randy Orton as the jobber. The Viper’s history of holding the WWE title 12 different times is pushing Roman Reigns’ star status higher. The question remains as to whether or not Reigns is the best option for taking on Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 31. The fans seem to like the idea of pushing him so far, unlike the failed attempt with Dave Batista turning into chants of “Bootista.”
Do you think Roman Reigns will become “the guy” for WWE or will his short term success transform into repeating chants of “Reigns sucks”? Do you think Randy Orton should have a serious chance at a re-match?