[quote name='carthitup']You mention Cena... and therein lies the first problem. With Cena getting injured, Orton didn't get the rub from beating the 'man who held the title for a year'. They can claim all they want that Orton took out Cena, but anyone with half a brain knows that Cena took Cena out, and even if not, it was Kennedy. Orton didn't do a damn thing. Hell, they even announced it on WWE.com that he was injured *during* the match.
So, what... Orton doesn't get the rub from Cena, then gets handed the belt. He then proceeds to lose to HHH 10 minutes after gaining the title. Then, of course, HHH defends it successfully, only to lose to Orton after a (thanks, JR) hellacious match with Umaga. So... thus far, Orton has been handed a title, lost to the main face of the brand ALREADY, then regained the title by sheer virtue of the fact that HHH already got pretty destroyed by Umaga. That was the whole storyline... they'd never have HHH put over Orton clean at that point.
So, what... ok, he hasn't taken out Cena, gotten buried by HHH, and gained a title through being 'less tired' than the other guy.
That brings us to HBK. For 5 straight weeks, Orton got kicked in the head by HBK looked weak because of it. That's a strong heel champ there, huh? Then, of course, proving he's the better man, Orton FINALLY gets the upper hand on HBK... by adding in a ridiculous stipulation at the last minute. The match finish, of course, was booked in a way so that it was obvious HBK should've won, only to have Orton win because of the stipulation.
So, whether your post was in jest or not, there it is. Orton hasn't earned anything, and isn't a credible champion. Why was HHH a credible heel champ? He DESTROYED people. Demolished, buried, whatever. He won frequently and decisively, making his character all the stronger for it. When HHH got beat (before the whole Cena thing) it MEANT something. When Benoit made HHH tap at 20, it was a big deal. Not only did Benoit achieve the dream, he was put over cleanly by the guy who doesn't do that for anyone... and to tap, too! Benoit made HHH quit, and it was a huge deal.
Orton has none of that. He hasn't been destroying people, he's been sqeaking by... and I'm tired of this 'cowardly heel' shit. Look, WWE, you've already got one of those, and Edge does it WAY better than Orton ever could.
What they did last night worked... just have Orton start randomly RKOing people. Be dominant. As it stands, if Jericho goes over on Orton, will it really mean anything? When Cena comes back in the inevitable feud with Orton, does anyone think Orton has a chance?
So, that's the million dollar question. Orton's booking has been terrible thus far, and I don't see it getting much better with Jericho now in the picture. What if Cena had put him over? Would it have changed anything? Would Cena have still looked like Superman, and get pinned by chance? It really doesn't matter now, but from the moment Cena went down, Orton went with him. The build-up to that feud was great, with Orton really looking like a destructive bad guy... and that was all gone with a pectoral injury, and HHH.[/quote]
Did you watch Orton's post match reaction to HBK from Sunday? The character clearly acts as if he has a chip on his shoudler, regardless of whether he plays the heel. All you're doing is looking at the win/loss record and not watching the story told in the match. Orton is learning, improving, growing, and responding to the tactics of his opponents and looking smarter for it. HBK couldn't land any move a second time, because regardless of what the move was, over the course of the match Orton would learn the tactic HBK was using and quickly counter it.
Yes he did make HBK give up the Superkick, but he also didn't cheat to win the match. His character held true to the idea that he could beat HBK clean, if, and yes that is an asterick the Orton character is willing to live with, if HBK couldn't use the Superkick. Unlike Edge who is straight up a douchebag heel who doesn't care how he wins, the Orton character seems have some sense of pride to him, almost in the same way heel Austin had a sense of pride back in the day when Austin was taunting Bret Hart to return to the WWE freely proclaiming to anyone who would listen that he could beat Hitman clean.
Anyway, I hated the goddamn HHH era and I hate Superman pushes in general because they usually lead to stale match-ups. This is by far more interesting to watch.