Triple H kicked off Monday’s episode of WWE Raw to do a promo in the ring. This was done to create buzz around the show following the news that WWE Champion Drew McIntyre tested positive for COVID-19 and had to pull out of his non-title match with Randy Orton on the same episode. 

This segment saw Triple H welcome everyone to the show before being interrupted by Orton, who said the office decided to show up because McIntyre couldn’t. Orton asked him whether he will rule that he will enter the Royal Rumble Match last or hand him the WWE Title. Triple H wasn’t interested in doing either. Triple H brought up Orton’s history with attacking and talking down to various legends over the past few months. Triple H called him a prick for doing so. 

Orton challenged him to a fight and Triple H said no because there’s no benefit to him. Orton threw a jab at Stephanie McMahon for having Triple H’s balls and she wasn’t there for him to get them. Triple H punched him then accepted the challenge. 

Triple H fought Orton in the main event of the show. It started with six minutes left in the show. They brawled around the ring with no referee. Triple H grabbed a sledgehammer then as the lights started to go out, it was put on fire and then Triple H disappeared. Alexa Bliss showed up and threw a fireball in the face of Orton to end the show. 

There had been a rumor earlier in the day of this happening. It turns out that the future WWE Hall of Famer hadn’t worked a match on Raw since 2016 when he went over Dolph Ziggler in a singles match. 

Since 2010, Triple H has greatly reduced his in-ring schedule. He worked 9 matches in 2016, 14 in 2017, 4 in 2018, and 4 in 2019. 

Before this match on Raw, the latest contest that Triple H competed in was in June 2019 when he teamed up with Shinsuke Nakamura to defeat Robert Roode & Samoa Joe in a tag team match.

Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt’s alter ego, The Fiend, answered questions that were about what a Firefly Inferno Match would look like. 

The first-ever match took place at Sunday’s WWE TLC pay-per-view event. There was a video package recalling their history. The contest was not shot in a cinematic way, but rather in the arena.

The fire was outside of the barricade. The only way to win was to light any part of your opponent’s body on fire. Orton had a hoodie and pants on while Fiend was wearing his jacket. Throughout the match, the flames increased. The Fiend put gas on the old rocking chair and it went on fire.

The finish saw Orton push The Fiend into the fire back first while he was in a chokehold. Orton got into the ring and Fiend rushed him so Orton hit him with an RKO. The show closed with Orton pouring gasoline on Wyatt then set it on fire.

Monday’s Raw featured Orton putting Wyatt in a box and burning it until The Fiend attacked the former WWE Champion. The two stars have somewhat of a history as in 2017, Orton joined The Wyatt Family before turning on Wyatt. Orton later faced Wyatt for the WWE Title at WrestleMania 33 in a match that was heavily criticized by fans. 

The two stars have been feuding since November when Wyatt was sent to RAW from SmackDown during this year’s Draft even while Orton was in a feud with WWE Champion Drew McIntyre. 

WWE Hall of Famer and co-host of SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio Bully Ray recently discussed the RAW interactions between Drew McIntyre and Sheamus. Ray would compare the two British Superstars to Randy Orton and Edge; saying how their real life history gives the potential upcoming storyline feud ‘real life’ legitimacy.

Bully Ray on Orton vs Edge

“Randy [Orton] and Edge have characters and personalities that are carved out” Bully Ray began on Busted Open. “That’s why you will stay invested in their story. They had a history, that’s why you will stay invested in that story. They talked about real life relationships, but their real life relationship? That’s why you will stay invested in that story.”

Edge and Randy Orton had a run of bouts earlier in the year. These would include the Last Man Standing match at WrestleMania and ‘The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever’ at Backlash.

“Sheamus and Drew [McIntyre] are very similar” Bully Ray would continue. “They’re friends in real life. They have story, characters and personalities that are carved out and definitive. That’s why you’ll be invested.”

Drew McIntyre and Sheamus go back an extremely long way. The two men were featured members of the Irish Whip Wrestling promotion, back in

• WWE Bringing Back The Slammy Awards

Bully Ray would then use a movie analogy to finish and elaborate on the point. “This is why being into the character or the personality first? Is so important. When you watch a movie, what’s the most important thing a movie can do within the first half hour or so? Build the characters.”

Do you agree with Bully Ray? Do you think that Sheamus vs Drew McIntyre could be a strong feud given their British/Irish links? Let us know in the comments

Good Brother and co-host of the Talk n’ Shop podcast Karl Anderson recently touted the success of the TalknShopaMania 2 show. Whilst the PPV was successful, it didn’t draw as big a buyrate as the first one, leading Machine Gun to (jokingly?) say that they now don’t have to do a third show.

Karl Anderson on TalknShopaMania 2

“It’s kind of like The Matrix. You don’t expect it to be that good then all of a sudden it makes 100 million dollars” Anderson began on the podcast. TalknShopaMania 2 was successful right but it wasn’t as successful as the first one.”

TalknShopaMania 2 had some interesting names on the card. Scott Steiner, Shane “Hurricane” Helms, Teddy Long, Gangrel, Heath. As well as JTG, Brian Myers, The Rock N’ Roll Express, Taya Valkyrie, and Mark Jindrak were among them. The main event for the show was a ‘Ball For A Ball Match’ between Sex Ferguson and Chad 2 Badd.

“Not a blockbuster, but it still did well” Karl Anderson would continue, before saying how it got rave reviews from some big names. “And it got rave reviews as well; as in like Randy Orton texted us and said ‘dude blew part one away, oh my god, amazing.’ Scott d’Amore pulled us aside at work (IMPACT Wrestling) last week and said, ‘guys I watched it from start to finish, it’s so much better than the first one. It’s unbelievable. You should be proud!’ That kind of stuff.”

• WWE RAW Results (11/30): Title Match Set For TLC, Randy Orton & The Fiend

Karl Anderson would then state that the group (Gallows, Rocky Romero and Anderson) now don’t need to make another PPV with the TalknShop name. “Machine Gun’s thought on this? It was good, I loved it. It wasn’t as successful as the first one, which means we don’t have to do a third one now. Thank God it’s over.”

Did you watch Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows and Rocky Romero’s TalknShopaMania 2? Did you enjoy the show? Let us know in the comments

The opening segment for this week’s episode of Raw turned a lot of heads and the segment featuring Randy Orton, Alexa Bliss and ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt got a lot of people talking.

Dave Meltzer talked about the segment on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio and he claimed that WWE intends to book Wyatt and Bliss as the babyfaces in their feud with the former world champion.

He noted that while the duo has not shown any glimpse of being faces on Raw, the officials believe that Randy ‘is the master heel’ and the Viper will help his opponents complete this turn slowly over the next few weeks.

On an interesting note, PWinsider is reporting that Vince McMahon was behind this segment and the whole thing is 100% a product of the Boss’ vision.

The site also claims that several people had even argued against this spot. The feeling was that it was a weak opening segment for the show which needed to be overhauled but their objections were obviously overruled.

• Backstage News On The Current Creative Flow In WWE, Bruce Prichard’s Position

The opening segment of Raw saw Alexa Bliss holding her “A Moment of Bliss” show with Randy Orton as a guest. During the segment, Orton suggested that Alexa is The Fiend’s vulnerability.

The lights then went out and Wyatt appeared in the ring but the female star was seen in Randy’s arms. The Fiend begged Orton to hand Bliss back to him which he did. The segment ended with Randy Orton leaving the ring:

After having several matches over the last few months on pay-per-view, WWE decided to book a rare WWE Championship bout on Monday Night Raw. 

Randy Orton put the gold on the line against Drew McIntyre during the main event of the show. Midway through, Orton teased leaving ringside until Adam Pearce announced that it was no disqualifications.

They tried to do a table bump, but the table wouldn’t break. They moved onto a normal table instead of the announce table. Orton was pushed off the apron crashing to the floor through the table, which sliced open the back of Orton.

The finish saw McIntyre hit the Claymore Kick for the win to begin his second WWE Championship reign.

McIntyre will move onto his next match, a non-title match against WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns. This bout, which is being touted as champion vs. champion, is slated to take place at the Survivor Series pay-per-view event.

This feud dates back to August. McIntyre successfully retained the WWE Title over Orton at SummerSlam with a backslide before going to the Payback show where McIntyre beat “The Viper” in an Ambulance match thanks to outside interference from a few legends. 

The future WWE Hall of Famer dethroned McIntyre as WWE Champion at last month’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event. 

CM Punk, Rey Mysterio, Randy Orton & More Pay Tribute To Eddie Guerrero

Randy Orton added another impressive achievement to his long list of accomplishments when he defeated Drew McIntyre at tonight’s Hell In A Cell PPV to win his 14th world title.

The new WWE Champion was interviewed backstage after the show where he was asked if the 14th world title is the sweetest yet. Replying to it, the Legend Killer mentioned how he has put many legends out to pasture.

Orton then discussed how there is a very short yet impressive list of competitors who have won the world title for 14 times in their careers and claimed that if this win doesn’t make him a legend, at least it’s sweet:

“There is a very short yet impressive list of men that have held this title for 14 times or more. My mentor Triple H, my mentor Ric Flair, one of my greatest opponents, John Cena.

That’s a short list I am now a part of.” said Randy “So yes I would say if tonight’s win didn’t make me a legend, well at the very least it definitely is sweet.”

This title change with Randy Orton makes the upcoming few weeks very interesting considering the fact that Survivor Series is the next big show in WWE’s yearly lineup of PPVs.

The company has focused on the rivalry between brands for the last few years of the Survivor Series PPV and fans are waiting to see if officials continue this approach this year as well.

Check out the complete Hell In A Cell results here

The third match between Drew McIntyre and Randy Orton ended up serving as the main event of the WWE Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event. 

The contest was held inside of the Hell in a Cell structure. It was a long match with them using various weapons.

Orton used bolt cutters to get out of the cell only for them to climb the cell and brawl on top of it. They crawled down the cell until Orton sent him flying through the air and crashing onto the announce table. Back in the ring, McIntyre missed the claymore kick and Orton hit the RKO to win the title. Orton is now a 14-time world champion. 

This feud dates back to August. McIntyre successfully retained the WWE Title over Orton at SummerSlam with a backslide. 

Orton would then drop a loss to Keith Lee at Clash of Champions. So, WWE decided to have three separate singles matches with the winners of those bouts advancing to a Triple Threat Match later in an August 31st episode of RAW.

Orton beat Kevin Owens to advance to the finals where he would defeat Lee and Seth Rollins to earn a second title match. However, at Payback, McIntyre retained the WWE Title in an Ambulance Match. 

The third match was set up with McIntyre wanting to get revenge on Orton, who attacked Big Show, Ric Flair, Christian, and Shawn Michaels on an episode of RAW. These legends got involved in their Payback match with Orton blaming them for costing him the title. 

• Reported Reason Major Angle Was Moved From RAW To Smackdown

What are your thoughts on Randy Orton winning the WWE Title? Was this the right call by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.

Eddie Guerrero would have turned 53 on Friday. The 15-year anniversary of his death will be next month on Friday, November 13th, 2020. Numerous wrestlers and people involved in the wrestling industry posted tributes to Eddie online recently.

Randy Orton wrote a tribute to Eddie on Instagram.

“He saw a young newcomer to the biz who was excited to work with him and he took the time to make me feel comfortable. I take that with me these days, the understanding that the new guys aren’t anything more then exactly how I USED to be. He made me feel welcome,” wrote Orton.

CM Punk posted the following in tribute to Eddie Guerrero:

Rey Mysterio also posted about Eddie. Sasha Banks re-tweeted his comments with a series of heart emojis.

Mysterio also commented about Eddie to BT Sport:

Kurt Angle wrote the following:

“Happy birthday to one of the absolute greatest performers I’ve ever known, Eddie Guerrero. You were a brother to me, but in the ring, you were my fiercest enemy. You continue to be Loved by everyone every day,” Angle wrote.

Kevin Blackwood, who has been on AEW Dark lately, got an Eddie Guerrero tattoo earlier this month:

Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre has been announced for the upcoming WWE Hell In A Cell PPV.

WWE did so during Monday’s episode of RAW. Just last week, Orton attacked Big Show, Ric Flair, Christian, and Shawn Michaels to close the show. 

This week’s show saw Orton open with a promo in the backstage area where he talked about the attack and issued a match challenge to the WWE champion. 

This led to McIntyre attacking him to get some revenge. In the second hour of the show, McIntyre cut a promo and accepted the challenge issued by Orton. WWE also confirmed that this will, in fact, be a Hell in a Cell Match. 

So far, this is the second Hell in a Cell Match to be confirmed on the card. McIntyre retained the WWE Title over Orton at SummerSlam and Clash of Champions. 

WWE presents the Hell In A Cell pay-per-view event on October 25 in Orlando, Florida at the Amway Center that will air on the WWE Network. 

Updated WWE Hell In A Cell Card

• WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso – Hell in a Cell Match
• WWE Champion Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton  – Hell in a Cell Match

Paige’s Statement On Her Twitch Account After WWE Take Over Report

The rematch between Drew McIntyre and Randy Orton was a memorable Ambulance Match. 

McIntyre put the WWE Title on the line against the longtime WWE star in the co-main event of the WWE Clash of Champions pay-per-view event. 

The match featured the return of The Big Show, but it was at the beginning of the contest. Big Show came out while wearing a mask and hit a chokeslam to Orton through the announce table before leaving. A notable spot was when McIntyre went for the Claymore Kick, but Orton moved and kicked the door off.

While backstage, Christain attacked Orton and then left. Moving along, Shawn Michaels appeared to hit Sweet Chin Music to Orton off the top of the ambulance. As a result, it sent him through a crash pad. Orton had previously attacked all three guys and it wrote them off TV at the time. 

The finish saw McIntyre connected with a Claymore Kick and the Punt Kick. Ric Flair drove the ambulance out of the arena. 

McIntyre successfully retained the WWE Title over Orton last month at SummerSlam with a backslide. 

• Vince McMahon Didn’t Make This Year’s Forbes 400 List Of Richest Americans

WWE Superstar Randy Orton has shared his thoughts on old school versus new school pro wrestling. He opened up about the subject during an interview with Vicente Beltran of Vibe and Wrestling.

Orton argued how, although in-ring styles have changed over the years, the core goal of telling a story and engaging fans hasn’t.

He highlighted how, although wrestling schools take a different approach now, “psychology has not changed.”

Orton stated that the basic premise of a good guy versus a bad guy remains constant within wrestling: “It’s the good guy, and the bad guy, and you play with the emotions of the audience.”

Randy Orton On Telling A Story

Juxtaposing his argument with his recent SummerSlam bout, Orton explained how he wanted to tell a story with his match against Drew McIntyre. He wasn’t interested in it being a 4 or 10-minute story. Instead, he wanted it to “be a novel.” 

“I’m going to be out there for 25, 30, 35 minutes, or maybe more, and I think that’s when magic can happen – when you get comfortable and you can build, and build, and build, to a point in the match where you put people on the edge of their seat. And that is the goal that we all pursue, and it does not happen every match.”

Orton shared how he thinks wrestling’s new school is a reflected “mentality of independent wrestling.” He explained how a lot of WWE and NXT talent who are signed from the indies can tell a good story. However, he noted how “They are perhaps counted in a faster way, it is a little more – I think the most careful way to call is ‘dangerous’.”

He highlighted the dangers of the faster new school approach. Orton pointed to the speed, bumps, false finishes, and non-stop action of the new school mentality. He added how it, ultimately, “hurts the story you’re trying to sell.”

“The Viper” then acknowledged how modern-day athletes are “more and more athletic” than those before them. He praised their physical abilities and in-ring skills, highlighting how “They do things that have never been seen before, especially in the past, and are reaching heights unknown to date.” 

According to Orton, he enjoys watching wrestlers from the new school. He added how he can recognize when one can tell a captivating story with that new school style. Orton then stressed how the importance of psychology remains the same regardless of approach.

Prior to facing off against WWE Champion Drew McIntyre during last night’s SummerSlam pay-per-view, Randy Orton expressed his interest in eventually feuding with “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt.

Speaking with Sportskeeda Wrestling’s Riju Dasgupta, Orton discussed his interest in feuding with Wyatt. He stressed how “[…] if The Fiend has a bone to pick with anybody, it’s the Legend Killer.”

“I think the potential would be there for it to be a good feud. The Fiend is a character that’s really hard to figure out because I know, at first, he was supposed to be comparable to the devil and a bad guy through and through, obviously. But times have changed, and I think a lot of people really enjoy the Undertaker-like magic that The Fiend brought to the table.”

Randy Orton On Bray Wyatt’s Storytelling Skills

Randy Orton pointed to how the two have previously clashed at WrestleMania 33. At that time, Orton defeated Wyatt to claim the WWE Championship. He believes this gives them ample history to set up a new rivalry without ignoring their past. He confessed how he tends to perform best with a “certain type of character, certain type of WWE superstar.”

According to Orton, Wyatt doesn’t really fit that mold. However, Wyatt’s ability to convey a story makes Orton believe they could create something special with a renewed rivalry.

“[…] I think with his ability to tell a story and his ability to portray the characters he’s come up with so well, I think that it’s something that we would have to do in the future. Hopefully The Fiend is around for a long time yet to come, and he’s the new Undertaker, so I don’t see how we’d miss each other if that is the case.”

Randy Orton lost his WWE Championship matchup against Drew McIntyre last night during SummerSlam. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt managed to best Braun Strowman and once again become the WWE Universal Champion. He was then attacked by a returning Roman Reigns.

Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton was built as one of the top matches on the SummerSlam card and delivered in the main event. 

Orton challenged and wasn’t successful in his attempt to become WWE Champion as McIntyre was able to retain the title at the pay-per-view event in Orlando, Florida.

This was a typical big title match with a slow start and the heel dominating early with the babyface battling back before going back and forth. Orton was slightly bleeding from his forehead.

The finish featured McIntyre going for the big boot, but Orton blocked it then he went for an RKO, but McIntyre rolled him up for the win. 

WWE set up this feud back on the July 27th episode of Monday Night RAW when Orton did a promo where he challenged McIntyre. 

He said that the accomplishments between himself and McIntyre are much different. Orton stated at the end of the promo that McIntyre has what he wants and vowed to take it from him. 

WWE will continue this feud heading into the Payback pay-per-view event on August 28, 2020. 

• Edge’s Backlash Injury Impacts On Potential SummerSlam Plans

What are your thoughts on Drew McIntyre retaining the WWE Title? Sound off in the comment section.

Randy Orton took part in a conference call on Friday ahead of his match at SummerSlam. 

Around 4 minutes into the call, Orton was asked about his memorable segment on Monday Night RAW a few weeks ago that closed out the show. It saw him take out WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair with a low blow and punt kick.

This is where he revealed that original plans didn’t call for Flair to cut a full promo, but rather just to say a few weeks that the camera would pick up. 

“I’ll tell you what he was never supposed to grab the microphone from me that night. He was just supposed to say a few things under his breath that the hand held camera in the ring may or may not have picked up. 

You were supposed to see our facial expressions and get an idea that he was bringing me back in and eventually we had the hug. I turned on him but when he grabbed the mic I was thinking, ‘Ah, come on Ric you’re not supposed to grab the mic’, but then he went on to cut that promo and it was very touching.”

Orton stated that Flair meant everything he said and that’s why he’s so special to the business. Orton stated that Flair has always left his heart out there in the ring and every emotion you get out there from Flair, which is why Orton thinks it’s one of the reasons Flair is the best.

Orton will challenge Drew McIntyre for the WWE Title at SummerSlam. 

• WWE SummerSlam Betting Odds For Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton

There have been reports of Randy Orton wanting to work with NXT talents. His exchange with Tommaso Ciampa in particular have made many wonder if we can see the Viper going down to NXT for a feud with the former NXT Champion and other stars from the brand.

Triple H was asked about the possibility of The Viper coming to the Black And Yellow brand during a recent media call and the Game said that there are always conversations around this stuff. However, the former World Champion went on to explain that while they always have these options, getting them to fruition is a little bit more difficult:

“So changing things and trying to build in things on different days is very very difficult and a lot more challenging than people would think. While those options are always there and always discussed, getting them to fruition at this point in time, sometimes, is a little bit more difficult, but I can tell you this, Randy’s a little more public about it and puts it out on social [media].

I field calls all day long about talent wanting to do something in NXT and vice versa. There’s a constant there. I know from my end, as a performer, when you see talent and you see somebody that’s very good, and it peaks your interest. ‘Well, I’d like to work with them.’ That’s what Randy’s doing.”

• Also Read: AJ Styles Says Former NXT Champion Will Be A Big Name In Future

We have seen people like Finn Balor or Charlotte Flair moving to NXT for feuds in recent times so the possibility of Randy Orton going down there to work doesn’t seem too farfetched. With the Survivor Series PPV being not too far away, another possibility is that we can see a cross brand feud between The Legend Killer and the NXT star but whether or not it actually happens will be revealed in future.

This week’s edition of WWE RAW ended with Randy Orton turning on Ric Flair. The 16x World Champion had been serving as something of a manager for his former Evolution stablemate as of late. Orton said Flair was a liability to his career, as his ego was what led to his match Monday night against Kevin Owens.

Flair took to Twitter recently to send a message to both the WWE Universe and Orton regarding the events from RAW.

“I Wanted Last Night To Go Differently. What I Would Have Said Is I Don’t Know What Would’ve Happened If My Son Was In This Business. But I Do Know What Charlotte Has Done, And Like You Randy, She Is Much Better Than I Ever Was, Just Like You Have Surpassed Your Father. That’s it.”

Flair’s son Reid passed away in 2013 at the age of 25.

Ric Flair and Randy Orton

Flair and Orton have a long history together in WWE dating back to the formation of Evolution in 2002. Orton would be kicked out of the group shortly after winning the World Championship at SummerSlam 2004 in Toronto.

Orton and Flair have wrestled each other 6x (not including house shows). They have split their all-time series with 3 wins apiece.

• Unseen Footage Of Ric Flair After Randy Orton’s Attack On Raw (Video)

Randy Orton will challenge Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam. The Legend Killer has had an eventful year in the promotion. He has been involved in a feud with Edge that spanned 2 PPVs. He’s also punt-kicked legends like Christian and the Big Show and is arguably the biggest heel in the company right now.

Orton recently spoke to SI.com and said that having been bullied as a kid is one of the things he feels taught him to be an effective heel.

“When I was younger, I was bullied, I was picked on,” Orton said. “I know how that feels, so it’s just reversing that and being the bully, knowing what to do or say to get under somebody’s skin. Growing up, my younger sister just hated my guts. I took out being bullied at school on her. As far as where I get that motivation, I’m not sure there is just one explanation. I feel comfortable being the heel.”

Arn Anderson recently said that he feels Orton is the best heel in the business.

• Arn Anderson Says Randy Orton’s The Best Heel In The Business

“When he’s a heel and allowed to get heat, he’s the best heel in the business and I believe that,” Anderson said on the Arn Show. “Randy works old-school, Randy doesn’t do a one-and-a-half off the top. He doesn’t dive out on the floor, he doesn’t do any of those things.”

Randy Orton On Less Being More In Wrestling

Orton also spent some time during the interview talking about modern in-ring styles. According to Orton, wrestlers need to slow down and sell more.

“If two guys are going 100 miles an hour, and they never slow down and they never sell, it’s a big fireworks show and I’m not getting any drama,” said Orton. “I’m not getting invested, and I’m not wanting to see more. When it’s over, it’s over, and onto the next train wreck. It’s too much. Less is more, sometimes. Sometimes you do need to slow it down.

The full interview from SI.com can be read here.

As expected, WWE went forward with the initial angle to kick off the feud between Randy Orton and WWE Champion Drew McIntyre. 

WWE had been hyping that Orton would be opening the show to “announce his next target.” Orton did a promo in the first segment by talking about how he has the desire to become WWE Champion again. He said that the accomplishments between himself and McIntyre are much different. 

Orton brought up McIntyre’s background from being the Chosen One to getting fired and hustling his way back to the company to the point where he won the WWE Title by beating Brock Lesnar. 

Orton challenged McIntyre to a WWE Title match at SummerSlam. He said that McIntyre has what he wants and vowed to take it from him. 

Later in the show, McIntyre was booked to take on Dolph Ziggler in a non-title match, which had been originally announced with the WWE Title on the line but later changed. This was a rematch from the Extreme Rules pay-per-view event that saw McIntyre successfully retain the WWE Title. 

WWE holds the SummerSlam pay-per-view event on Sunday, August 23, 2020 from a location to be announced. 

• Reported Plans For Edge and Randy Orton At WrestleMania

Randy Orton didn’t let up on AJ Styles as he poked fun at the WWE Intercontinental Champion for his interesting belief. 

For a few years, there has been an ongoing joke about Styles believing that the earth is flat. Earlier this week, Orton made fun of Styles for the belief by writing the following in a response to RJ City: 

“They council me, they understand Multiple musical notes F**k you for doing this to me bro. As @AJStylesOrg  would say, ‘frick’…. also he’s a flat earther. Lets talk about THAT.”

Styles recently talked about this topic on his official Twitch channel.

“For instance, the whole flat Earth thing. I’m with you guys. Randy Orton likes to be a turd…I’m like, come on! There are some interesting things that come up, and I was like, wow, that’s interesting. You know? But it was never, ‘It’s flat! It’s flat! You’re gonna fall!’ It’s never been like that. Just because I said that was interesting I’m now a flat Earther? I’m like, alright then.”

Orton saw the latest comments made by Styles and trolled him yet again, as seen below: 

Jokes about Styles believing in this theory is due to Daniel Bryan, who shared it during an episode of Talking Smack. 

• Reported Plans For Edge and Randy Orton At WrestleMania

It’s been well documented that Randy Orton had a social media exchange with Tommaso Ciampa, but the possibility of that match happening could come true. 

WrestleTalk reports that the former WWE Champion wants a run with some of the WWE NXT Superstars. Per the report, Orton is said to be hoping to work with some of the NXT roster in the coming months. 

Orton has pitched the idea of working with some of the NXT Superstars including Ciampa and current NXT Champion Adam Cole. While Cole is on the list, Ciampa is one of the people he would be keen on working with.

The feud would not necessarily take place on RAW as WWE Chairman Vince McMahon has reportedly been unhappy with NXT ratings. As seen in the past with other stars, it’s possible that WWE sends Orton down to NXT to help boost ratings. 

At the time of Orton and Ciampa going back and forth on social media, it was reported that WWE had no plans to do Orton vs. Ciampa. That could change. 

This would also fall in line with Ciampa being against moving to the main roster full-time due to its brutal travel schedule. Per the report,  Ciampa is now more open to doing a one-off program with Orton on RAW because shows are being taped at one location – WWE Performance Center in Orlando – due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Randy Orton Talks Tommaso Ciampa’s Retirement Claims If Called Up To Main Roster

WWE Hall of Famer and co-host of SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio Bully Ray recently discussed the ongoing feud between Edge and Randy Orton.

Ray recently described the bout between the two, which was billed as ‘The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever,’ as being an “8 star” affair. Bully Ray would comment on not only the match itself, but how Randy Orton ‘needed’ Edge to help him get to the ‘next level.’

Bully Ray on Randy Orton

“It’s not about them putting him [Randy Orton] in a position to succeed. It’s about the WWE putting him in the ring with somebody that complements him well and that can he can work with and up to” Bully Ray began.

“Randy was in the ring with guys that were quote unquote beneath him. Meaning they were always trying to work up to Randy Orton’s level; or guys that were on the same level with him, where Randy could just do this blind” Bully Ray continued. “It’s just wrestling match after wrestling match. Generic story after generic story.”

Bully would continue, praising Edge massively for bringing out the best of Randy Orton. “Now we get to something completely different with Edge. We get backstory, we get history, we get friendship, we get family. We get all of this stuff coming to a head, and what do we have with Edge that we don’t have with almost the entire WWE roster? An emotional connection. A love, a relationship. We look at Edge with our hearts, not with our brains. This is our guy.”

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Randy Orton recently spoke with Brent Brookhouse of CBS Sports about his beef with Tommaso Ciampa and past comments made by the former NXT Champion. 

Last December, Ciampa came out and stated that if he’s ever called up to the main roster whether that be RAW or SmackDown, he would retire. The reason for that is due to his history of neck problems. 

Last March, Ciampa suffered a neck injury that ultimately led to him getting surgery and relinquishing the NXT Title.

Orton started out by talking about how he watched Ciampa’s  ‘Black Heart’ documentary on WWE Network that followed him around after his neck surgery. Orton admitted that he teared up a bit when he saw Ciampa wake up from surgery and his beautiful little daughter was sitting on his lap. He called it heartwarming. 

Orton stated that he wants Ciampa to have a long, healthy career and retire instead of going to get a new trade or work somewhere else to provide for his family. He stated that wrestling is a business and wrestlers need to make money. 

“I would think, no matter how much you love NXT, you’ve got to look at the bigger picture. If you don’t think you’re going to last on the road for Raw and SmackDown? Do something about it. Go and sign a contract that calls for you to only show up at TV.

They do NXT every week and they do a TakeOver whenever. They’re wrestling about as much as we’re wrestling, especially right now. With the future and no one knowing how many shows we’re going to be putting on, I think it’s a bit of a cop out to say, ‘I can get four years of NXT versus one year of Raw or SmackDown.'”

Orton continued by noting that the type of hustle Ciampa has shown makes him believe that Ciampa is capable of doing that. 

“I think he’s a big fish in a relatively small pond. I don’t mean that as a knock, to be clear.”

Orton noted that he wants to see Ciampa become a big fish in a bigger pond. He also wants to see Ciampa under the pressure to have something like the greatest wrestling match ever. He added that he would love to work with Ciampa. 

• Tommaso Ciampa Told WWE He’d Retire If They Moved Him To The Main Roster

WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray had high praise for this past Sunday’s Backlash main event. Speaking on Busted Open Radio, Bully Ray addressed “The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever” between Randy Orton and Edge. Despite having minor issues with the match going on last, that didn’t stop his enjoyment of the action, describing the clash as an “8-star match.”

Bully Ray argued how only World Heavyweight Championship matchups should go on last. He acknowledged that there were many extenuating circumstances heading into Backlash. He noted how, by not having Drew McIntyre defend in the main event, “all you do is give me a kink in the armor of Drew McIntyre telling me he is not good enough to go on last.”

Addressing the piped in fan noise that WWE edited in, Bully Ray stressed how it was an unnecessary addition. He didn’t feel it was needed as he doesn’t need to be informed of what to like or not like during a match.

Regarding the match itself, Bully Ray believes it was a “This was an excellent match. This was a very well performed match. This was like an 8-star match and I don’t put star ratings on anything.”

He spoke about how the match was presented as one continuous match, performed as if it was in front of 20,000 people. Bully Ray also highlighted how Edge and Orton went “straight through like two professionals would.” As far as he’s concerned, they approached the matchup with an old school mentality. 

Edge would unfortunately suffer a triceps injury during the recording of the matchup.

In 2016, Randy Orton was critical of Colin Kaepernick’s taking a knee during the national anthem. In a recent interview with CBS Sports, however, Orton stated it took him some time but he now understands that “until black lives matter, all lives can’t matter.”

“It took me a little time, but what I had to do was realize, Kaepernick, he wasn’t sh****ng on the flag. He wasn’t disrespecting the people that have given their lives for our freedom. He was taking a stand against police brutality,” Orton said during the interview. “As a white guy, I don’t see it. But then I started listening to my black brothers and sisters, especially the ones I’ve known for years and some for more than a decade. I was hearing first-hand accounts of interactions with cops that took advantage of the situation and the power they had because they maybe felt a certain way about the color of someone’s skin. That’s when the lightbulb went off.”

Orton has been posting several Tweets in support of the protests in the wake of George Floyd’s killing by police.

“The more that social media has allowed us to see these horrific videos — and it wasn’t just George Floyd. I’ve seen so many after I did a little digging,” Orton continued. “You realize it is tough to be a black person in this country, and we’ve got a ways to go before all lives truly matter. I think what we have to do is make sure black lives matter.”

Orton fell under criticism for the below Tweet and similar posts from 2016:

AEW owner Tony Khan noted on Twitter that Orton said the N-word during a video game streaming session last fall. The interaction came after Khan cracked a joke about the incident involving the WWE roster in Saudi Arabia for last year’s Crown Jewel event.

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A link to the full interview with Randy Orton can be found here.