6 Ups & 7 Downs From WWE Raw (April 19)

3. Telling An Actual Story

Randy Orton Riddle
WWE.com

When was the last time a wrestler selling an injury been worked as creatively as this in WWE?

Randy Orton faced Riddle in a bout that looked like it would just be the Viper playing to grizzled veteran beating some respect into the goofball. (His backstage promo pretending to not know Riddle’s name was gold.) And for much of the match, that’s what it was.

However, Orton injured his shoulder – which looked real enough because this writer knows about Randy’s history of shoulder problems – and it limited his mobility in the ring. Still, Orton was in a position to hit the RKO when Riddle countered the finisher with a crucifix pin. And because Orton’s shoulders were jacked up, he wasn’t able to kick out.

It really was a clever finish to the match, and while we’re not sure if there’s some actual direction here, you’ve got to applaud the ending, and take your hat off to Orton’s “grumpy veteran” coloring, which would be a nice shade if he keeps it.

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Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.