8 Ups And 6 Downs From WWE Raw (Aug 10)

by Scott Carlson

1. The Viper Bites Hand That Feeds Him

Randy Orton Ric Flair
WWE.com

If you’ve been following the rebirth of the Legend Killer, then what happened at the close of Raw should not be a surprise.

Randy Orton dispatched with Kevin Owens, and then announced that he wanted to celebrate in the ring with Flair. The Viper then proceeded to turn on his longtime mentor, talking down to him and hurling personal insults to really drive it home as he called Ric a liability in his quest for the WWE Championship. Rather than ratchet up the aggression, Flair tried to tamp it down by talking about his near-death experience, which led to the two hugging.

But just when it looked like things had been smoothed over, Orton hit a low blow and then set up for a punt. A well-placed blackout covered the kick, but Flair was left laid out. Drew McIntyre rushed the ring and swore revenge on Randy, closing the show.

This was pretty well done, with Orton proving that he would turn on anyone in his quest for the title. Flair was the last legend that might have appeared safe, so now Randy really is an island unto himself as he heads to SummerSlam for what could be a really good match with McIntyre.

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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.