Orton's fall from glory: his fault or WWE's?

azrael

IMO majority of the blame should lie with Orton.... its not WWE's fault that his workrate in the ring still lags behind The Rock's when he was at a similar point in his career within WWE. Its also not WWE's fault that he can't deliver a decent promo without putting all the audience to sleep... I'm sure most would rather watch paint dry. However I do also think that WWE did a poor job handling his character once he turned face. Its been like a year & half since he's been shoved down our throats, and he's still not over. Its so sad that now he's aligned with Stacy Kiebler in yet another attempt to get the fans to cheer him.

better to live in sin than nothing else to choose

Danny Diamond

Founder/Admin

Agreed. I was wondering is the "concussions" will lead him to go a little loco and go heel again. Maybe the WWE finally realized what a bonehead move it was turning him face.


BTW, Welcome to the board. Take off your coat and stay a while.

AudioSavior

I think Orton is just fine in the ring and I also think he is pretty good on the Mic.I disagree with your post %100 and put all the blame on WWE and the way they booked him. He should go back to heel. If you recall, The Rock went face and wasn't until he was a heel and repackaged that he became the star he is today.

Welcome to the forum and keep posting!

Blitzkrieg

Ida, I agree with what you said about the rock but Orton is not the rock. Orton is good in the ring and I think he is excellent on the mic, but only as a heel. He doesn't have the same abilities on the mic when he is face as the rock did. I can tell that already.

That's why I agree with everyone who says Orton should still be "The Legend Killer" heel character that got him where he is. Orton can be a decent performer as a face, but I believe he can only truly reach Mega Star status as a heel or a face that acts like a heel ala Stone Cold.

azrael

Thanks all!

Yeah The Rock was a generic face as Rocky Maivia... but after his successful heel gimmick, he turned face pretty quickly (against the Undertaker if my memory serves me right) and never looked back. The Rock was never monotonous on the mic, which is exactly what I think Orton is suffering from. Even as a heel, I thought Mick Foley carried him through their promos.

better to live in sin than nothing else to choose

Gothgirl

Orton, much like Triple H, is getting very monotonous on the mic. It was great when he won the title and then turned face, but his feud with Hunter went nowhere...fast. As for who's to blame, part of it is Orton's fault and part of it is WWE's fault. The WWE has a history of underutilizing some very good performers. This is just another example of it.

Spinoff90

IMO Orton is one of the wrestlers that is the future of the company. His in ring skill is good and there is nothing wrong with his mic skill. The problem is the fact that he does nothing but feud with HHH just to be yet another HHH jobber. And when you keep feuding the same guy anytime you pick up a mic you will start to get boring because you will have to keep repeating the same crap. So to answer the question of who to blame........ 0% Orton and 100% WWE.

Dr. Giganto

Although Orton has some short-comings, he's also very young. He has plenty of time to correct his defeciencies (most notably his boring mic style), and it seems like WWE is willing to give him the time to do so.

As for whose to blame for his staleness, I've gotta go with WWE on this one. They rushed his title push, just so that they could stick it to Lesnar, and now they're paying the price. Plus, the fact that he went from a ****y heel to a goody-two-shoes face hurt his image with the fans

Cena went through the same thing, but it seems like he's starting to get back some of his "attitude" and the crowd is loving him again

Lynch

WWE's fault. Hotshotting his face turn was a huge mistake and it cost them a great character that had a following. They don't seem to realize that a well liked heel can still be heel and still well liked. And the Rock never picked up in the ring until he knew he had to work with Benoit, who woulda made him look like crap if he didn't take it up a few notches, which he did. Orton carried his heel character just fine, so I blame Vince, and the democrats, damn politicians.

"What the hell is an aluminum falcon??!!"

K Jay

Orton should be doing what Shelton Benjamin is doing, indeed even himself did early last year. Carrying and fueding for the IC championship and learning his trade. The guys good but part of me feels he only wore the strap to take the presteige from Brock Lesnar as being the youngest champ. Currently RKO should look like the best and hungriest Mid Carder and should be ruling the middle section of Raw week after week and be honing his Mic skills. It`s not hurting Cena now is it?

And I think comparisons with Rocky just hurt him. Yes they`re both "third generation" but lets face it Rocky was special and it`s hard for anyone that age to live up to that hype.