So then your thoughts on Orton as champ?

Rjd2

Its being an interesting years for the legend killer. In the later part of the year their was some serious momentum behind Orton, he annihilated opponents and he became the undisputed second best heel in the business (Edge number one obviously) and was justly rewarded with a shot against Orton at Summer slam. The fact that for the first time since Cena regained his title from Edge their was a genuine belief that Cena would drop the belt proves the momentum behind Orton was huge. The feud was building up very nicely and then Orton’s first piece of bad luck occurred, he lost out on the opportunity to win the belt cleanly which would have got him over hugely due to Kennedy’s incompetence. When he was awarded the title at No Mercy by Vince again Orton’s luck was out as HHH cheapened the occasion by beating him cleanly and only losed it after he had a war with Umaga in his third match of the night. Then the feud which many have hailed as one of the best n the year occurred with HBK. However the man who had being built up a ruthless psycho was destroyed continuously on Raw and in Cyber Sunday after again being dominated won with one of those horrid dq finishes. The Survivor series the duo produced a classic but again as HBK was banned from using his super kick we were left in doubt that Orton was lucky that Regal had passed with many thought was a stupid stipulation. Again Orton was made look weak. Orton I felt was losing his aura and then he was entered witch a potentially excellent feud with the returning Y2J. Once again lady luck was not shining on Orton, Y2J’s return was hugely anticlimatic, his promos were dreadful and he entered their match at Armageddon with no momentum. It did not help that RAW werw focusing more on the HBK fued with Kennedy more. The match did however present the WWE with the opportunity to let Orton win cleanly, Y2J was heading back to midcard obscurity so a clean defeat was not going to matter but no yet again Orton was dominated and needed a rather unlikely run in from JBL to save him. Orton will probably lose his belt soon and sadly most will look at this reign like his last as a failure. It’s a pity because Orton has improved drastically in the ring over the years and deserves better.
I understand Edge being the ultimate opportunist cheats and wins most of his matches unfairly as that part of his character, but Orton in his reign should have being build up as an unstoppable monster and he hasn’t being. Anyway what do most think of his reign? Success or not?

fatal

Im a big orton fan.I think that making him champ was the right decision but it was a little overdue. In terms of his reign,I think that alot more could/can be done with it.I dont think that among alot of fans he is over as being a key main event player because of how he has been portrayed in alot of his matches.
So with regards to your poll question,orton as a champ has worked but when he got there,his storylines didnt work for me

flahavaj

When he stops looking like a nervous OVW trainee on the mic I'll be interested in his titke reign.

Double C

His run has been fine so far. Apart from the HBK DQ finish, all his matches have been of a very high quality. The Survivor Series match was excellent and I dont think the stipulation hindered it at all. In fact, we got to see a different side of Michaels, a more submission based style, which was great to see. The Jericho match had to end in some sort of run in. There was no way Orton was going to go over clean against Jericho making his return. I haven't seen that match yet but I hear it was great until JBL got involved.

The only bad thing about Orton is his mic work. I think his wrestling style really suits the character he protrays but he cant get it across with his mic work. He trips over his lines sometimes and he is given drivel to say for the most part. Lets not forget his RNN sketches from years ago, they were great, so he does have some ability, I just dont think he can protray himself as the cerebrial, stalker like character in his promos.

As for him being protrayed as a monster, I never thought that was the case at all. He's not big enough to be a monster. His character was developed really well from April onwards. He was protrayed as someone who would do anything to win, like the punt to the head. Once he got the title, that had to change. Who would want to see the champion kick someone in the head and get the win?

And for the record, I think Orton is a better heel than Edge. Edge is the cool heel like Austin and the Rock were. Some people cheer Edge because he is funny whereas Orton has just pure heel heat. There's a big difference.

Bubs101

I'm against it purely because I think he should have been handed a harsher punishment after the incident in Europe. Would have liked Vince to tell him that he wasn't getting the belt for a year or something.

As for Orton, it's the same old story. Really like him in the ring but not on the mic. I think an interesting compare and contrast is with The Rock during both returns. Obviously it's unfair to compare him to Rocky in terms of mic work but the way The Rock reacted to Jericho, patrolling the ring as if it was his own, cocky and confident. Orton stood there like he was genuinly surprised it was Jericho, despite seeing him on the moniter seconds before hand.

Mr.Nice Guy

I don't like him as a person but I've warmed to him in the last few months due to his excellent in-ring performances. I think his run as champion has been fine enough.

Double C wrote:

And for the record, I think Orton is a better heel than Edge. Edge is the cool heel like Austin and the Rock were. Some people cheer Edge because he is funny whereas Orton has just pure heel heat. There's a big difference.

I don't agree with that. I think Orton just lacks the charisma that Edge has. If anything, Orton tries to be the "cool heel" whereas Edge doesn't.

For proof of this you need look no further than the heel vs heel match which the pair of them had in 2007. Who did the fans take to as the heel? It was Edge.

Fozzy

I've really liked Orton this year. I'd agree with fatal about liking him but not so much liking his run with the title, but I wouldn't place the blame for that on him. There's been nothing wrong with his matches, but it's the feud with Jericho really that just wasn't that great. Hopefully this Jeff feud will be a bit better, which I think it will. I'd hate to see Orton lose the title before WM though, it would be a real waste to have someone else defend it there

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

For proof of this you need look no further than the heel vs heel match which the pair of them had in 2007. Who did the fans take to as the heel? It was Edge.

I thought that was basically because Edge was wrestling as the heel in the match. Orton was the one making the comeback, was he not?

Mr.Nice Guy

Fozzy wrote: »

I thought that was basically because Edge was wrestling as the heel in the match. Orton was the one making the comeback, was he not?

As the match wore on that's how they worked it but in the early goings they were both using heel tactics.