10 Most Overpaid WWE Stars Of 2017

4. Randy Orton

Brock Lesnar Loves It
WWE.com

Randy Orton has amassed an obscene number of WWE/World Heavyweight Championship reigns, a deadening number of WWE main events, and is marketed as something of a living legend. It stands to reason, then, that the man has long since sailed well past the seven-figure mark (to the apparent tune of $1.5M) and into the luxury traveller's club.

Is he worth it? Notwithstanding the fact that WWE can easily afford it, it's tempting to receive that (realistic) figure with some gall. Randy Orton was a major fixture of WrestleMania season, nominally earning his numbers - but in reality, the gloss of the WWE Heavyweight Title picture, hardly the show's feature attraction, coated the paint-by-numbers year he experienced elsewhere. Ultimately, Bray Wyatt didn't benefit from the rub, and once the irredeemable Jinder Mahal programme ground to a halt, the Viper resumed his role as midcard inconvenience.

With too much currency and value to remotely consider letting go, yet profoundly overexposed to what is arguably an unprecedented extent, there's little of anything for Orton to actually do in WWE anymore.

It shows in both reactions and performances, the latter of which are firmly in the category of forgettable - and too often phoned-in.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!