10 Wrestlers Who Stopped Trying (But WWE Pushed Anyway)

2. Randy Orton - 2017

No Try Zone
WWE.com

Randy Orton was beyond stale by 2017 - which made him a perfect fit for the “lesser of two evils” spot as ‘Royal Rumble Winner Not Named Roman Reigns’. Vince McMahon got his man under cloak of darkness.

Orton is an amazing heel in 2018. That isn’t an adjective used in place of “very good”; he is on astonishing career-best form as a voyeur who gets off on his own sadism, like a torture porn update on Rick Rude, and this in such stark contrast to his babyface schtick.

Orton would simply interfere in a match by dropping his next opponent with an RKO, wrestle said opponent as a defiantly boring, halfhearted parody of himself, and rinse and repeat the formula. Perhaps Orton was confused by WWE’s own boring, halfhearted set designs - because he wrestled on pay-per-view with all the verve and gusto of the last night of a European house show tour.

On SmackDown right now, Orton feels big league once again. His segment work in the Jeff Hardy programme, in which he sought to erase Jeff Hardy and then, failing that, eviscerate him - was outstanding, proving true the timeless wrestling adage that the best performers are simply extensions of themselves with the volume turned down.

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!