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After about five years, Randy Orton is finally back to his heelish ways. There was much speculation about what direction he was headed after he interfered at the end of the United States title match at Extreme Rules. Following the July 17th episode of SmackDown Live we can all but confirm that Randall is back to flexing his best character traits.
Randy Orton’s past heel runs have painted him as merciless, maniacal and even psychologically unstable at points. Hi matches against Batista, John Cena, HHH, Undertaker, HBK and Mick Foley all saw him in the heel position and he excelled in his character work every time. Orton’s heel traits makeup a force far better than the veteran babyface character he’s been lazily displaying for the past few years. It’s great to see that fire back in his eyes as he gets back to what made him such a megastar for the WWE in the first place.
It’s almost insane to think that Orton changed his entire career with only three appearances in the past month, but since all were executed so well, Orton is now revitalized and refreshed for a big run at the top. This is how he got there.
The Jeff Hardy Assault
If you haven’t yet seen Orton’s attack on Jeff Hardy from the most recent SmackDown I strongly suggest you watch it. The assault was like none we’ve seen before; in addition to slamming Hardy’s head against steel steps, throwing him over the announce table and ruining his chance to regain the US title, Orton also put his finger in Hardy’s earring hole and wrenched the life out of it. That’s something new.
Not only did the ear spot look incredibly painful, it got us to question why Orton was doing this and why Orton has such a bone to pick with Jeff Hardy of all people. Orton even kept saying to Hardy “Ask me why I’m doing this, just ask,” while his finger was in Hardy’s stretched ear lobe. Orton then dropped Hardy and yelled, “Where’s Shinsuke?!” Leading to even more confusion.
The most interesting thing about Orton’s continued assaults on Jeff hardy, was that we had no idea why he was even doing it in the first place. That was a great storytelling device to get the audience to tune in each week. Unpredictability, confusion and the unknown are elements that have been sorely missed from WWE storylines in the past few years.
Next Page: “Healing via Heeling: How Randy Orton Revived His Career” (cont.)
