After “The Fiend’s” sudden appearance in Randy Orton’s corner during his WWE Championship bout with Drew McIntyre, costing him the belt, Orton has been a man on a mission. He wants not just payback, but to find “The Fiend’s” weakness, and manipulate it to his advantage. Haunted by his past with Bray Wyatt, Orton is driven not to be enslaved by the dark power that “The Fiend” has exhibited over others in WWE, such as Alexa Bliss. After appearing on Bliss’s segment “A Moment of Bliss,” appearing to threaten Bliss, and triggering “The Fiend’s” appearance at her side, Orton has been confident in recent weeks that he has found the weakness he sought in the preternatural menace: Bliss, herself.
Armed with this knowledge, Orton is set to face “The Fiend” at Dec. 20’s event TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs. First, he had a request: to face Bray Wyatt on Raw. Wyatt relished the challenge, appearing virtually from his Firefly Fun House, and dissecting his plans for Orton with his puppet accomplices.
Later, alone in his own personal locker room, contemplating the upcoming match against the man who had once mentally dominated him, Orton was taunted by one of Wyatt’s puppets, Ramblin’ Rabbit. Despite his fears of being mentally dismantled by Wyatt, it was clear that the ringmaster of the Funhouse was getting under his skin.
The two men met in the ring, Orton smoldering with barely contained fury, Wyatt with manic relish. Orton dominated, inflicting punishing stomps and blows to Wyatt, who seemed to enjoy the pain. Quite apart from being intimidated, Wyatt was vivified by Orton’s punishment, and descended quickly into gleeful chaos, at one point seizing the announcer’s mic and announcing the commercial break.
Orton, however, did not come to play games. He came to end the torturous specter of Wyatt and “The Fiend,” the emblem of enslavement, and the face that cost the 14-time champion the WWE Championship to former rival McIntyre. As his frustration grew, Orton kept Wyatt underfoot and against the ropes with a series of punishing stomps, and then slamming Wyatt through the announce table. As much as he seemed to be sadistically enjoying Orton’s punishment, Wyatt reached the end of his compliance with Orton’s assault. As if strengthened by the pain “The Viper” had dealt, Wyatt came to life and attempted his brutal finisher, Sister Abigail.
Orton was also at the end of his rope, and willing to play dirty. He went for Wyatt’s eyes with his thumbs and seemed set to put Wyatt away with his own finishing maneuver the RKO when the lights of the WWE ThunderDome began to go dark.
Red lights flared, and the pulsating entrance music that heralds “The Fiend’s” arrival resounded like a demonic heartbeat. When the two men in the ring were revealed, the man in Orton’s grasp was not Wyatt, but the diabolical visage of “The Fiend.” His reddened eyes trained on Orton, with a savage smile, the entity held him down in a submission hold, and forsake victory for punishment, holding Orton down, with his fingers in his mouth. “The Apex Predator” growled and snarled, but could not escape “The Fiend’s” grasp.
Heading into TLC, The Fiend has not only the advantage but has surely struck terror into Orton’s heart. This will inevitably translate to fury on Orton’s part, directed towards “The Fiend” when the two meet again.
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