Stone Cold Steve Austin: Randy Orton is one dimensional and his promos need work

by Geno Mrosko on Sep 23, 2011 4:39 PM EDT in WWE

You can always count on good old Stone Cold Steve Austin to tell it like it is. He did just that when critiquing the current roster of "superstars" in WWE today in a recent interview with Power Slam:

"Of the other guys, I'm still waiting for Wade Barrett to grab me by the throat and let me know who Wade Barrett is. Daniel Bryan could continue to move up the card. I'm interested to see where Randy Orton goes next. His promos need work, and right now, he's a little one-dimensional. The crowds are digging him, but there's still another step on the ladder for him to climb to."

There was a time when Barrett was poised to break into the main event scene and become a mainstay at the top of the food chain. Except he quickly showed he wasn't quite ready for such a thing and has been relegated to glorified jobber status on Smackdown. Is it his fault? Sure, he holds some responsibility here, but the bookers also shoulder a lot of the blame here.

Bryan will never get over the hump if they keep treating him like garbage because he managed to get over outside of the WWE. It's hard to get behind the guy when Michael Cole is burying him on commentary week in and week out while he's booked to look like the weakest Money in the Bank winner in history.

Austin's comments about Orton are surprising, but also somewhat refreshing. He's solid when he has the stick but where he comes up short is his command of the crowd. He's charismatic but his promos just don't connect in the way Austin's always used to, or guys like The Rock and John Cena's still do.

For his part, Orton responded on Twitter:

"Austin is right, there is still room for me to move up the ladder. And I will. Watch me."

This was also a bit surprising considering how candid Orton usually is when he's on Twitter. That said, how far up the ladder is there for him to go? He's already an untouchable who will always be at or near the top of the card holding or challenging for one of the two major titles.

Or is there actually another level of untouchable for the golden child of WWE to reach? That's a scary thought.

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Comments

Randy Orton is not a baby face. Period. He never should have been turned and his value as a heel is higher than his value as a face. There really is no other way around it and I think when he gets to turn heel again, he’ll get to another level. The apex predator gimmick has run its course and its stale.

Freedom is a road seldom traveled by the multitudes...

by Major on Sep 23, 2011 4:58 PM EDT reply actions

I agree. I think the Orton that feuded with HHH a few years ago was the best Orton to now. Switch back to that, bring back the legend killer gimmick with it and then season it with something new and that Orton will be the most badass Orton ever. 100% Serious.

Orton vs Undertaker II at Wrestlemania with Orton killing the legend of the Undertaker. Book it.

by Sir Ingenious on Sep 23, 2011 5:22 PM EDT up reply actions

That’s the match I have been thinking. Of all the people that could take the streak, Orton is by far the most logical to carry the torch.

by Rawuncutnxrated on Sep 23, 2011 9:01 PM EDT up reply actions

As GM, I'll announce: Orton vs Undertaker at Wrestlemania in a Buried Alive match!

by Sir Ingenious on Sep 23, 2011 10:20 PM EDT up reply actions

I'd be so pissed if Orton beat the Undertaker

Like, no more WWE pissed.

"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!" Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.

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by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Sep 24, 2011 4:25 AM EDT up reply actions

I agree...

as a face he’s boring. But his anger management heel didn’t do it for me either.

Whenever Mike Ditka boards an aircraft, it changes its call sign to Bear Force One.

by Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. on Sep 23, 2011 8:15 PM EDT up reply actions

Of course there's another level

But I don’t see anyone pulling another Sammartino, and Cena seems to have dibs on the Hogan treatment.

Release...the KITTIES!

by GoForthAndDie on Sep 23, 2011 5:31 PM EDT reply actions

Color me skeptical!

It sounds like Austin is trying to build a feud, possible for WrestleMania? (Maybe Bigfoot Randy squeezed CM Punk out of that possible spot?) But if this is legit, yeah, Randy has a LOT of room to improve. He’s bland and has pubic hair all over his face – not exactly a winning combination!

by -CS- on Sep 23, 2011 6:15 PM EDT reply actions

No, in that interview Austin reiterated that if he was to come out of retirement to face someone, then it would indeed be CM Punk. Austin was just being brutally honest.

by Keith Harris on Sep 24, 2011 1:04 PM EDT up reply actions

Orton's boring. Every match is the same. Name a great Randy Orton match that didn't already have a better performer in it.

And while you do that…Thinks about chinlocks

by KalShadar on Sep 23, 2011 6:28 PM EDT reply actions

Or.....

How bout having HHH power? Meaning you can say who gets pushed and who doesn’t but I think he already has a bit of power like that? I mean after all he did get Mr Kennedy er Anderson released because “he was to dangerous to work with” or even Kofi who got kinda got demoted to SD! because of a match he was in with Orton didn’t quite perfect every single spot. Miz almost lost his spot in becoming WWE champion because of almost something familiar like this. Miz had to literally apologize to Orton or he might have whinded up like him. There’s another incident where Orton busted up a hotel but got pushed into being a world champion because he wasn’t happy with his current state at the time.

Sounds like a bit of bitching and complaining until someone feeds him a bottle to STFU which of course Vince was so easily to do but had it been someone else, I bet they’d be out the door. What a bunch of bullshit. Orton has nothing to complain about. Fans are behind him….maybe not as much as Austin but nevertheless, he’s been a world champ how many times alread and will continue have lots of reigns. Is there anything else you want Mr Orton besides WWE handing you a title shot whenever you want or you being the so called leader of SD? It’s not enough that Orton and Cena are the faces of the company? Apparently not but you know what they say about those with power……they only want more. What a greedy bitch.

What other kind of ladder is Orton referring to climbing? An imaginary one? The only way you’re going to move up anymore is if you sleep with Steph and ol’ Trips has done that already.

by congestedthoughts on Sep 23, 2011 7:02 PM EDT reply actions

HHH has been a power player for nigh upon a decade.

-He’s squashed the pushes of many guys he felt were threatening.

-Remember when they used to stop Brock’s matches because of the damage he was doing? HHH kiboshed that one as soon he saw it start to germinate.

-HHH also killed Cena’s initial push. He’s also stalled the rise of Shelton Benjamin. Athletes threaten him. Small athletic guys shouldn’t be in wrestling, by his thinking.

-HHH made no mention of his WM 17 loss to Undertaker during the build up to his match with him at this year’s Wrestlemania? They glossed over it like it never happened.

by KalShadar on Sep 23, 2011 10:32 PM EDT up reply actions

Partially Agree

Orton’s character, essentially a mix of Stone Cold himself and a modern Jake the Snake, is a great one. One big problem is less with Orton himself and more with the people who wrestle him…nobody’s AFRAID of Orton. He’s portrayed as a sociopath who has no problem ruining careers with the head punt and “goes to another place where he hears voices in his head” (or whatever Cole blathers) before he RKOes someone to hell. If I recall in January (and I’m paraphrasing here) he said 2011 will be different than 2010 because this year he won’t hesitate before punting his opponents’ skulls in. Yikes.

Again, a good character and Orton plays it well…but no body else plays well in supporting it. My girlfriend, who I’m slowly, but surely, getting into wrestling, pointed out that when Orton wrestled ~~glorified jobber~~ midcarder Heath Slater, Heath was all smiles and looked excited. She said that she would be scared crazy about getting in the ring with a psycho like Orton and she’s right.

One upside is his last feud with Henry showed weakness. He couldn’t RKO Henry and jobbed clean to him. If they play this fact up that Orton respects-hates Henry for being the one man the viper’s venom couldn’t bring down it could add more to his character considerably. Of course, if they pretend it never happened, or glaze it over, (which is more likely) they’ll just prove Austin was right.

by Nikhil Baliga on Sep 23, 2011 9:42 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs