Rebooking WWE Bad Blood 2004 - 7 Ways To Make It Better

5. Randy Orton Vs. Maven - Intercontinental Title

Randy Orton, WWE's chosen one, was on a hell of a run in 2004 (before he ran into Triple H in the autumn). The Intercontinental Champion was really growing into his role and improving every week as an in-ring performer. He became legit in the eyes of the fans after suffering for his art against Mick Foley at Backlash. At Bad Blood 2004, Orton cut a great heel promo and had a decent wrestling match against Shelton Benjamin, in the style of matches from 1980s NWA. In fact, many of Benjamin's moves and sequences were borrowed from his idol Sting. As decent (if overall underwhelming) as their match was, it really should have been saved for a future show (perhaps next month's Vengeance). In its place, I'd have the up-and-coming Maven challenge Orton for the IC gold. WWE clearly wanted to do something with Maven in 04, but were undecided on what, exactly. He was pencilled in to be a new member of Evolution, he was a white-meat babyface, he was a cocky heel... I think that Maven should have gotten more time to develop as a babyface. He'd worked on his look and overall act and could have had a decent match with Orton. I'd give them no more than twelve minutes and keep the finish from Orton/Benjamin (Orton rolls through a crossbody attempt and holds the tights). A good performance here would do wonders for Maven and WWE could potentially have another upper-midcard babyface on the books.