The Unauthorized Story of Randy Orton and The Viper's Strike on WWE (3 page)

"His flights of fancy with football and mixed martial arts are mercifully finished. They were always somewhat awkward fits, anyway. With his unique blend of size and natural athleticism, Lesnar could have been great at nearly any physical endeavor, but what he chose first upon graduation from the University of Minnesota in 2000 was professional wrestling. It’s the one thing he’s been consistently great at for more than a few fleeting years. Now he’s back to it and, while it’s impossible to predict how wrestling fans will react to him over the long term, it’s good to see ‘The Next Big Thing’ once again in his natural habitat."

The Viper is Coiled... But Will He Be Called On?

In the weeks leading up to the finalization of Lesnar's new deal with the WWE, Vince McMahon and other high-ranking executives and creative staffers were said to have been busy thinking about possible feud partners for Lesnar, despite the fact that the deal wasn't even yet inked.

On the short list of potential opponents was Randy Orton. And while few wrestling fans on the outside world were aware of the prospect, sources close to the WWE say there was even talk of Lesnar's first comeback feud being with Orton - not Cena.

Just days before the April 29, 2012 presentation of WWE Extreme Rules, where Cena would upset Lensar in a climactic finish to one of the best WWE pay-per-views in recent memory, F4Wonline.com reported the following:

The plan as of today, and this could change, is to build towards Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Orton at SummerSlam, which would be a big match and probably do a very good buyrate if promoted correctly.

"Randy Orton and Brock Lesnar will be one of the best feuds of the year if done right," says
Bleacher Report
columnist Sammy Sucu. "This battle between the two wrestlers who debuted in 2002 would be incredible. Lesnar owns the honor of being the youngest WWE Champion ever and Orton was the youngest WWE Heavyweight Champion ever. That should be enough to create an amazing storyline, but there is much more."

"The hype and match itself would definitely outshine the current feud between Lesnar and John Cena," Sucu believes. "The reason being because Orton is more reckless than Cena, and he won't allow Lesnar to do whatever he wants to him the way Cena did. Orton is not passive, he punts people in the head whenever he enters his 'Viper mode.' Orton, like Lesnar, really does not care about what the fans think either. Even though he has been a face as of late, Orton does not pander to the crowds the way other top babyfaces do. Orton can care less if people call him 'Super Orton' or if they chant 'Orton sucks.' The only voices that Orton listens to are the ones in his head every time he stands in the middle of the ring, in front of the world."

The only way a Lesnar vs. Orton feud wouldn't be given paramount attention by WWE's creative team and make the SummerSlam 2012 card is if Vince McMahon selects bigger plans for Orton and different fish to fry for Lesnar.

In fact, according to well-placed sources in the WWE, Randy Orton's biggest career achievement may come at WrestleMania 29. It would be on this occasion when one of wrestling's most enduring records could finally "rest in peace."

Part 4: Ending The Streak

Randy Orton just hasn't gotten over the hump yet within the WWE Universe.

Orton is, as some have noted, the Scottie Pippen of professional wrestling. Just as Pippen was perpetually no. 2 to Michael Jordan, Orton remains firmly in the passenger seat while John Cena drives the company to new financial and creative heights.

But that may change in the near future, as Orton stands poised and ready to replace Cena as the company's top guy should Cena become injured or lose his luster as the face of World Wrestling Entertainment.

So what can the WWE do to make Orton the company's top superstar? According to one industry veteran who weighed in on the matter, it's all about credibility. And Orton's mid-card feuds since dropping the WWE Championship to the Miz in late 2010 have compromised his superstar star power.

For Whom The Bell Tolls

The scuttlebutt inside WWE today is that Randy Orton is now first in line to be the man who finally snaps The Undertaker's undefeated WrestleMania streak.

But does that mean The Undertaker is actually willing to let The Viper end his incomparable WrestleMania record?

If so, it wouldn't be the first time that the "Deadman" put the company before his ego.

According to former WWE champion and current TNA wrestler Kurt Angle, The Undertaker has been willing to lose at WrestleMania for at least ten years.

In a 2010 interview with The Sun, Angle admits that Calaway wanted him to end his fabled streak in 2001 at WrestleMania 22.

“The person who wanted to do it was Undertaker himself," Angle candidly reveals. "I was flattered, for him to go to Vince McMahon and pitch it. Undertaker at that point never had a five-star WrestleMania moment match. He figured that the only one he could do it with was me, at the time. Thank God a couple of years later he had Shawn Michaels, and it worked. But Undertaker really wanted to have that match, he asked Vince to push our match back from No Way Out to WrestleMania and, since I was champion they wanted me to keep the title, Undertaker was willing to take the loss."

“To me that meant a lot because Undertaker had a lot of respect for me," Angle says. "And I had more respect for him than he did for me.”

Many fans will remember that Orton has already received a crack at the streak back at WrestleMania 21. At that time, the "legend killer" was never said to be a legitimate threat to the streak But just as WWE has done on more than one occasion, The Undertaker is put into situations where he has defended the streak against the same superstar on multiple occasions. Shawn Michaels, example, fell to the Deadman twice. Triple H, on the other hand, has now been defeated three times at WrestleMania at the hands of the Undertaker.

But Orton may have already suffered his one at only loss to the Grim Reaper on sports entertainment's grandest stage. Eric Kanes of the
Bleacher Report
suggests that Orton may not have gotten his last shot at The Undertaker.

"Randy Orton's incentive this time," Kanes writes, "would be this: He could come out during The Undertaker's return this year and say that the last time they faced off, he was the ‘Legend Killer’ but now, he's become sort of a legend himself. He has won the Royal Rumble, become a nine-time World Champion, main evented WrestleMania and basically been there and done that. Any other wrestler would dream of having this kind of career but he isn't satisfied."

"For all these years," Kanes goes on to say, "one thing has been killing him and that is that he failed to end The Undertaker's streak. However, the last time they faced off, he was young and stupid. Now, he is in the prime of his career and he wants just one more shot. From that point on, you can have Randy Orton one-upping Undertaker each week with mind games and basically putting over the fact that Orton is in his prime while Undertaker's days are numbered and his streak is in serious jeopardy. Randy Orton vs. Undertaker could be a very hyped up and anticipated matchup. Plus, with the way Orton is usually booked, it would not be hard to convince people that he could very well end the streak."

"There is also one other reason that this match would be great," he closes. "Even if some people don't want to admit it, Randy Orton is one of the best workers on the roster. He can definitely carry The Undertaker through his injuries and make him look really good in his last match."

An increasingly commonplace view around WWE, however, is that The Undertaker character will never officially retire. At some point, likely within the next twelve to twenty-four months, Mark Calaway - a.k.a. The Undertaker - will stop wrestling forever. But the WWE won't necessarily work a retirement angle.

"One idea I keep hearing," says an industry veteran, "is that The Undertaker will simply fade way. But I doubt that scenario very much, because there's too much potential in a final match-type situation for Taker. I could see the character 'dying' or being put to rest in some fitting fashion - like a buried alive match. He won't have a Ric Flair-esque WrestleMania send-off. Mark is all about ring psychology. And his last match will definitely be all about the ring psychology."

Is It Time?

In the past, Mark Calaway has been vocal in his view that some wrestlers have seemingly extended their career so far past their prime that they did serious damage to their professional reputation and legacy.

Having repeatedly observed that he didn't want to work until he was wheelchair-bound, the time is quickly drawing near for Calaway to make good on his pledge.

Although few in the WWE locker room think The Undertaker character is overstaying its welcome, there are concerns that Mark Calaway is on the precipice of a dangerous ledge - a ledge that many, including Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, and Sting, have arguably stepped off of.

"We all cringe when we see Ric Flair climbing into the ring today," one source admits. "We love him, but we hate that he's going to be remembered by a new generation of fans as an old man who can hardly move around the ring. This is a man who used to own the mat. He was probably the best wrestler to ever lace up a pair of boots. The fact that he keeps on hanging on is sad. But a lot of guys can't leave the money and fame behind. Moreover, they can't leave the memories behind. They flat out refuse to admit that their time has passed. Undertaker promised to never overstay his welcome. He hasn't. But we're all really eager to see what he does here real soon."

Ten years ago, Mark Calaway was interviewed on The Score. When asked about his eventual retirement, Calaway said:

"You know, my whole thing is that as long as I can be out there in the ring and I'm hanging with the Brock Lesnars, the Kurt Angles, the Triple Hs - if I'm on an equal level with those guys, why should I retire? I'm at a point now where I've made my money and I've done well with all of that. Why I wrestle now is because I enjoy this. Plus, it's my turn to start giving back. I'm mean, we've talked about being a locker room leader, but now I have the ability that I don't have the pressure on me. Financially, I'm set. I've done everything that there is to do in this business. Now I'm enjoying myself. Plus I'm taking some of these guys that I think have a lot of potential that really don't know what they're doing yet and I can hands-on work with these guys. And that's my contribution to continuing the success of our industry. My biggest worry in life as far as wrestling is concerned is that I'm in the ring, and some father, who watched me for years, takes his son and he goes, 'you know, son, this is The Undertaker here. Boy, I wish you could have seen him when...' That means it’s time for me to hang it up... Hopefully the guys I work with and wrestle against would tell me. Because I would hate to know that anybody ever laid back to protect me, you know. Because that's not what I'm about. So as long as I can go and hang with our top guys, I've got no reason to leave."

Based on the feedback of many WWE fans and insiders alike, contemplating when and how The Undertaker will finally bow out is probably the biggest mystery in sports entertainment today. If Calaway gets his way, The Undertaker may not go to his sports entertainment grave with his incomparable undefeated WrestleMania streak intact.

A Gift to Randy Orton

On April 20, 2010, WWE Examiner reported that sources inside World Wrestling Entertainment revealed that the Undertaker absolutely wants his unprecedented undefeated run to end.

"Reportedly feeling that the streak has become too big - even bigger than the sport itself - the Undertaker allegedly doesn't want to wind down his phenomenal career with the streak intact," the article stated.

"The Undertaker loves the business too much to retire with a legacy that's almost bigger than sports entertainment itself," a WWE source was quoted as saying in the piece.

"In this day and age," writes Joel Leonard of Inside Pulse, "there are few truly great accomplishments left in the WWE. In a world where a Heavyweight championship can change hands twice on a single episode of Smackdown and people are 9+ time Champions, holding the belts are not the accomplishments that they once were. A perfect WrestleMania streak can be something for wrestlers to aspire to, something that can be pointed to as a true accomplishment in the world of wrestling."

"The only problem is that nobody even comes close to a WrestleMania record like Undertaker," Leonard adds. "I can't think of another current wrestler with an undefeated streak that is bigger than 1-0. This means for the Streak to become relevant again, someone has to go undefeated for almost 20 years, and by then will audiences even know or care about who Undertaker was? Remember, a good chunk of that audience hasn't even been born yet. Letting Undertaker retire undefeated would be a great way to give the guy a real legacy, but there are so many more story options by having him lose at some point."

Not What Fans Want to Hear

The current rumor mill inside WWE holds that a tentative plan to end The Undertaker's undefeated streak may be on the drawing board at Mark Calaway's request.

If not Orton, the leading candidates to end the streak are said to be individuals upon whose shoulders the WWE will rest in the coming years: Alberto Del Rio, The Miz, Cody Rhodes, and CM Punk.

The most likely candidate to bring The Undertaker's streak to an end is still believed to be Randy Orton.

"The Undertaker’s career is coming to a close," writes sports columnist Ryan Dilbert. "He isn’t all that old by wrestling standards, but is wearing down.  While he could pull a Ric Flair and perform at a subpar level until he needs a wheelchair, I think we’d all rather see him go the route of HBK, a spectacular ending to a spectacular career."

"WrestleMania has in the past few years been the place to make such an exit into the sunset," Dilbert adds. "Tying in the end of his streak to the end of his career seems like a logical conclusion.  But the problem here is that there may not be someone on his level left to send him off. Ric Flair had his 'last' match with Shawn Michaels.  What they did in the ring was art, just a riveting, well-worked and emotional bout. Shawn Michaels had the Undertaker to send him off right. Much has been said about their second consecutive masterpiece.  Was it better than WrestleMania 25?  I don’t think it matters.  It was a classic match featuring another icon."

According to Dilbert, there may truly be no giants left to give The Undertaker a proper loss to end his career with. After all, look at the huge industry icons who have already tried and failed to curtail sport entertainment's most enduring record.

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1991: Jimmy Snuka

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1992: Jake Roberts