8 Bad In-Ring Habits That Randy Orton Needs To Change

3. He Can't, Or Won't, Control A Raucous Crowd

There comes a time for all superstars where the crowd turns on their match, and their rowdiness starts to get out of control. It's happened to Orton on a number of occasions and, not always, but more often than not, he's not adept at bringing the crowd back onside. A recent example is his match with Ryback and Reigns vs Rollins, Kane and Big Show on the post-Wrestlemania 31 edition of RAW. Watch the beginning of this clip and compare how Orton deals with the crowd to how Rollins does: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRDUCiTHKfA The crowd are audibly restless. Rollins uses his status as a heel to try and bring them back on side, talking smack to them as much as he humanly can. Granted he's a heel and has the luxury of being able to just bellow incomprehensible gibberish in the direction of the nearest mark, but at least it's something. What did Orton do? Instead of leaning forward and stepping on the gas, he seemed to take his foot off the pedal. He seemed somewhat baffled, and almost resentful of the crowd, hitting the prescribed moves but refusing to engage with the howling masses. He's done this a bunch of times, failing to get the crowd back during Cena vs Orton at the Royal Rumble 2014, Big Show vs Orton Survivor Series 2013 and practically any Sheamus vs Orton match. It doesn't completely fall on his (injury-prone) shoulders - no one wrestles on their own - but Orton has proven that if rubbed the wrong way, he's as likely to give up on a match rather than fight to save it.