7 Ups & 7 Downs From WWE Raw (Sept 13)

5. Randy Orton: Massive Babyface

Randy Orton
WWE.com

Don’t worry, fans will find a way to turn on Randy Orton and declare him a bore at some point if he doesn’t turn heel anytime soon, but for right now, crowds seem to be behind the Viper these days.

Orton battled Bobby Lashley for the WWE Championship in a pretty decent back-and-forth match that saw both men kick out of or avoid each other’s signature moves, with Lashley shoving out of an RKO attempt and hitting a spear for a very close 2. Then Orton elbowed out of a Hurt Lock attempt and nailed an RKO, but MVP saved him.

All throughout the match, fans rallied to Orton’s side, chanting and cheering for him, which isn’t what you’d expected from the crowd. But Randy played it up and worked the crowd really well, which made you wonder if he has the chops to do this for a while – be a babyface.

Either way, it was quite a surprise to hear how strongly fans backed him. You have to wonder if this will continue or if it was just a fired-up crowd.

Advertisement
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.