10 Biggest WWE Creative Success Stories Of 2018
4. The Renaissance Of Randy Orton
This time last year, Randy Orton was very far removed from the living icon he was portrayed as on WWE television; almost defiantly boring, Orton, who loathes the modern wrestling style, phoned in several basic performances in only slightly above-average midcard fare.
Orton in 2018 excelled by putting real effort and zeal into his own style.
Orton is a natural heel. We hear that he petitions to turn heel the very instant he turns face. Randy Orton stains the hands of terrified low-rung staffers with smegma - and thinks it's hilarious. Randy Orton is a piece of sh*t who rather enjoys being a sh*t. In 2018, SmackDown portrayed him as a piece of sh*t, and Orton, with relish, starred as an awesome heel in a year in which everybody turned heel. One of the most forgettable acts on the roster became one of the most memorable, and the creative team on SmackDown deserve much credit for, and what a concept this is, being creative.
Orton, an assured if droning promo, didn't cut many of them; instead; he destroyed and sought to erase Jeff Hardy's identity (and earlobe) in a lowkey contender for feud of the year, before snapping Tye Dillinger's finger and ruining his Perfect 10 gimmick (or at least formalising Dillinger's divorce from relevance).
Orton, currently terrorising Rey Mysterio, lived down to his reputation - and, in wrestling's weird old way, enhanced it.