At SummerSlam, two champions were crowned.
Daniel Bryan defeated John Cena in a grueling match which cemented him as a main event player in the WWE. However, Randy Orton cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase to initiate another WWE championship match. Triple H then Pedigreed Bryan to allow Orton an easy win.
The next night on Raw it was explained the reason was because Bryan isn’t an ideal champion while Orton is.
It’s pretty obvious what they are doing with Bryan. They are taking three elements of the Attitude era and combining it to try and create the ultimate underdog. Bryan is Steve Austin’s anti-establishment, anti-authority character. He’s also Chris Jericho, the smaller sized mouthpiece insulting Stephanie McMahon and getting in the way of McMahon-Helmsley. Finally, he’s Mick Foley. The hero of the Internet and the underground who worked his way from gyms to arenas while looking like he’s homeless and nothing of what you expect out of a WWE champion. Bryan works all three formulas quite well. It works for him to be the working class hero.
What’s more interesting to me is Randy Orton. A lot of fans quickly pointed out how Triple H and Orton had a heated feud which involved Stephanie at times but even HHH brushed it off, saying he pushed his differences with Orton aside to choose him. Orton at first glance does not look like your corporate champion. He’s covered in tattoos and we all know he has two strikes to his Wellness resume. He could be fired at any moment. However, let’s go a little deeper.
Orton was called the Viper both due to his mannerisms in the ring and as a way to get him over with fans. The other two famous snakes in the WWE were anti-hero Jake “The Snake” Roberts and anti-hero Steve Austin, known as “The Rattlesnake”. Orton has played off of not being clean cut like John Cena for years, especially after his heel run.
Orton has also received a reputation for the last year or so of being lazy and just going through the motions in the ring. A part of this reputation was “The Headlock Era” of Orton where he’d work countless headlocks for heel heat. If you go a bit deeper, the reason is because Orton is extremely smart in the ring. He’s quite possibly one of the most old school style performers in the company and veterans of the business are first to recognize. Orton could have fit perfectly in the old school Rock and Wrestling era with his mannerisms, gestures and how he builds momentum in a match. When I watch say matches featuring Nick Bockwinkel or Harley Race, I can see Orton fitting perfectly. Orton can be as technical as they come and it’s sometimes hard to recognize when he’s 6’4” and does not have the background of guys like Punk and Bryan.
When you put the pieces together it makes more sense why the McMahon family would support Orton. He’s the choice of an old school veteran. He wrestles like one, he cuts promos like one and his rough exterior is a modern update to the classic tough guys. Maybe not as obvious as say a Bray Wyatt but Orton calls back to a great like Rick Rude. The McMahons are playing the role of being out of touch and when you list Orton’s attributes on paper, no wonder they would go with him.
But are the McMahons really out of touch? The truth is, there is a large segment of the WWE audience now that’s adults who have been watching across two, sometimes three decades that criticize the product for most of their time but still support their indie darlings. They still get behind the people they like but when their pushes fail they shout and scream the loudest in the vast space of the Internet. And now that their hero became WWE champion and had it snatched away, they are now being told that Randy Orton is the champion they deserve. The McMahon’s may be out of touch but they know that no matter what they shove down your throat, be it the Divas, John Cena, Great Khali or Foot Locker paid promotions in between a colossally slow three hour Raw, you’re going to keep watching for the small things you enjoy. Small things like Daniel Bryan.
For every “If Cena wins we riot” sign displayed, no riots erupted. The most fans have shown is that they are willing to compromise a broadcast of Raw to get themselves over. They certainly have never shown any sense of quitting a program that hardly ever caters to them. Now Cena is gone from injury and their bingo hall darlings in Punk and Bryan are the top babyfaces of Raw. Yet neither are champion because the WWE knows no matter what they do with them? You will watch. The champion is a man who was raised on the business, stood up to the veterans of the company (in 2008, Orton put HHH and HBK in their place in Iraq due to HBK complaining that Umaga’s tights were too close to the colour of HHH’s tights and making him get them re-designed) and proved he’s more than willing to do things his way. He’s beloved by the old school of the industry and connects to several different demographics without turning one away. He has all the attributes one would want in a champion without sacrificing legitimacy. He’s Randy Orton, and while he isn’t the champion you picked? He certainly is the champion you deserve.
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Main photo via WWE.com
