MAILBAG: What Is With All The Internet Hate For Randy Orton?

SEScoops Mailbag for January 6th

(please submit YOUR questions to sescoops@gmail.com)

Q: Why is it that so many people dislike Randy Orton? He is regarded as one of the best (if not THE best) in-ring performers in WWE. Yet, despite this praise, he continues to be vilified by the internet wrestling community and is regarded as being on the same level as John Cena. What’s with the hate? Is it because he’s had too many championship reigns? Is it because he transitioned from a heel to a face? Or is it a different reason altogether? Please explain. – Gary

A: Let’s not get carried away now. I don’t believe the hate for Orton is quite as intense as it is for Cena. Some people feel Orton is dull and monotone in the delivery of his promos, some people resent him for being pushed to nine World titles and hogging the spotlight, and some people are bored by his matches. I happen to think his matches have been among the best on WWE television the last few months. I also think he did a great job of helping to put over Mark Henry with two straight, clean wins on PPV to help get the big guy over as a monster champion. Believe me, if he didn’t want to do that, he could have pitched a fit. Orton also took the losing fall at Survivor Series to further his feud with Wade Barrett, another guy WWE has been trying to bring back to life of late. The idiots celebrating his recent injury need to get a life.

Q: Since Kane came back, it looks like a different character. Do you think it still is the same Kane or [someone else]? – Devin

A: Aside from the hair, he looks exactly the same. Reason being it is the real Kane. For the record, it has always been the same person playing the character. Same goes for the Ultimate Warrior who, if rumors are to be believed, first died in a car crash 20 years ago. He looks good for a dead guy.

Q: This may sound stupid, but having been a life long fan of Triple H, I have to ask this. Do you think we will see HHH holding any championships again? Also, with talk of HHH vs. Taker 3 with his career on the line, do you think he will actually retire? – Ravi

A: I honestly believe we have not seen the last WWE or World Heavyweight Title run for Triple H. Even if it is just a token title win at some point for a few days or weeks, he will hold gold again. As for a potential retirement match in Miami next year, that is the word going around. He may be finished as a full-time performer, but the Game will wrestle again, mark my words. As soon as WWE experiences the next rash of injuries to a bunch of main eventers, he will be back in action.

Q: Besides Undertaker, Rock and HBK, has there been anybody else who spent their entire career with WWF/WWE without jumping ship to/from WCW/TNA? Also, after the Undertaker, who are the next longest tenured wrestlers with WWE? – Jay H.

A: Aside from Undertaker and Triple H, who both spent time in WCW prior to their WWF arrival, the longest tenured active star to have spent his entire career with the company would likely be Mark Henry, who made his debut in 1996. The next longest tenured wrestlers would be Kane and Big Show.

Q: Between the Nexus and the CM Punk leaving WWE with the title storylines, which one do you think the WWE dropped the biggest ball on? I think the Nexus storyline was one of the best ones WWE pulled off in the last 10 years. Great name, look, theme song, and so on. Did they end the Nexus thing too soon? Or was it time for it to go? I could have seen the original Nexus still going strong as a unit way past its breakup. As far as the Punk storyline goes, not much too say there. Clearly everything was ruined by putting Punk back on air so soon. Or was it? – Jeremy County

A: The Nexus was killed dead once they lost to Team Cena at Summerslam. Even back during the 2001 Invasion angle, they at least were smart enough to give Team WCW/ECW a win over the WWF guys at the Invasion PPV before going on to screw things up. They couldn’t even do that with Nexus to at least make them look strong and keep things interesting. As for the Punk angle, keep him off television for one week before bringing him back was clearly a mistake. Having Kevin Nash punk him out every week without getting any retribution and then losing to Triple H on PPV didn’t help his cause either. But in the end, it doesn’t matter because he’s a main event player now and in a much better position than he was six months ago.

Q: My question concerns Triple H. Why did his COO character suffer a premature death? Everybody in the world of wrestling thought it would last for a year or so. Why did WWE pull the plug on it so quick? – Trust S.

A: Perhaps we each live in different “worlds of wrestling” because I, like most people, figured it would die out quickly, which is exactly what happened. Why? Because WWE is like a small child who suffers from attention deficit disorder. They just cannot help themselves. Patience is not a virtue of theirs. In fairness, Hulk Hogan works for TNA and has made similar comments about how the world is different now and you can’t have storylines and angles that progress over the course of several months because people’s attentions spans are much shorter. I do find it funny how WWE tends to botch storylines by ending them too quickly, yet they dragged out the Anonymous GM angle for a year without giving us any payoff, and they’ve committed to this Michael Cole character for over a year now, which has actually done significant damage to their product.

Q: Was it intentionally planned for [Shawn Michaels] to retire at WrestleMania 26? – Tyler D.

A: No, he simply forgot to come back. I’m sure if you Tweet him about it, he’d appreciate the reminder.

Keep those questions coming to sescoops@gmail.com and remember to include your name!