What a turnaround for the Apex Predator. Writing in December 2012, I placed Orton as the Ninth best wrestler in WWE. I said of him "He should be a top 5 guy but is at risk of falling out of the top 10 completely." The problem with Orton was that after years of being pushed as a heel he was used up and the company didn't know what to do with him. They lumbered him with a babyface gimmick and Orton clearly hated it. He seemed unmotivated and was just walking through matches. His promos had no spark and he had no real storyline. Even well into 2013 he appeared to be going nowhere in the WWE. He was put into a six man feud with The Shield over Mania season simply because the company didn't know what else to do with him. Half way through the year and 'The Viper' was stagnant. Writing in a June roster evaluation feature I stated "Lack of character and bland performances mean the talented Orton drops significantly. He needs to be given a character makeover and push to better exploit his talent, so far this year he has been used just as another guy and has just made up the numbers." WWE perhaps read that analysis - everything immediately seemed to change for Orton. He had an exciting series of face vs face matches with Daniel Bryan (far superior to their Autumn series), and he went on to win the briefcase in an exciting Money in the Bank match. That led to the experienced veteran cashing in on Daniel Bryan immediately after Bryan won the WWE title at Summerslam. It was the character re invigoration that Orton needed - he would spend the rest of 2013 as the top heel in the company and the biggest focal point outside of Cena and Bryan. The in-ring work was mixed, his matches with Bryan should have been brilliant but were mostly decent to good. Creative have to shoulder a lot of blame for that, and the booking of the WWE title as a hot potato did not help matters. Moving on from Bryan there was an average match with Big Show at Survivor Series, and then the historic unification match with Cena at TLC. Orton won that bout in a good effort that made him WWE and World Champion. He has gone from not being valued, to being the most highly invested in talent by creative. His promos in his new heel persona have been superb, and his tv matches have been very good as well. The night after TLC Orton had his best match yet with Bryan, and the signs are that Orton will further grow into his major role in 2014. All in all Orton has turned things around - he is a true star once again in the WWE. Highlight of the year: Beats John Cena fairly in an entertaining TLC match to become WWE Champion and World Champion
