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WWE TV 03/11 - 03/17: Exposing civilians by fabricating lies


KawadaSmile

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5 minutes ago, C.S. said:

Come on, guys, Randy vs. Seth at WM a few years ago was pretty decent.

That's my point, "pretty decent" is just sad for a guy like Orton.

3 minutes ago, KawadaSmile said:

Not feeling Becky turning into a cartoon character right in front of us

She's felt like just another member of the roster Sunday and today. Has the convoluted booking finally affected her or has this been going on for a while?

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I thought Orton's WM 21 match with the Undertaker was pretty good.  Really the first time it felt like the streak might end and hitting the RKO still felt like a big deal for Undertaker to kick out from.  Also thought his match with CM Punk was the lone highlight of WM 27 (worst WM ever IMO), and I'm not a Punk fan at all but the finish was well done.

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It's insane really. I remember running thru the fantasy booking scenario of Kofi winning during the Rumble, and even just 3 months ago it seemed super silly. But here we are now and the same billionaire promotor who got worked into restarting the XFL has also successfully not only convinced his audience to cheer for Kofi Kingston like he is Daniel Bryan but cheer for him like he is Daniel Bryan while also wanting him to beat Daniel Bryan. It's like if Bischoff had suddenly decided to put Stevie Ray over Chris Benoit at Starrcade but somehow it was awesome and you couldn't wait to see fucking Stevie Ray win the big one. At this point I think ending the show with anything but Kofi going over is gonna be anticlimatic. Noticed the Twitter poll didn't give this as an option for the closer, though. 

Anyway, this is the most I've paid attention for years, so they're doing something right.

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Kofi's been here before though. When he was doing that feud with Orton he had the crowds ready to accept him as a top guy, and then they....didn't. I think that's why he got so hot this time, the people know he has the ability, they know under all the goofy pancake skits there's a guy who could be something if ever given a chance to run with the ball. 

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Amused by the idea of AJ "carrying" Orton, given that his Mania matches against Jericho, Shane and Nakamura have hardly set the world alight. Certainly nothing as good as Orton dragging a decent match out of Rollins. I have no doubt the AJ/Orton match will be very good - I saw them pair up in a house show three-way that was great whenever Jinder wasn't involved - but I think Orton will be an equally important factor in it being good.

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Let's not forget he actually had one of the most violent matches in current WWE with Jeff Hardy.

I get that Orton is criticized for a lot of things and deservedly so to the point where it's cool to hate on him, but let's not pretend AJ has a hot WrestleMania streak or that he wasn't having a shitter of a feud against KO and had some average bouts with Nakamura (the Last Man Standing was good though).

Let's not pretend either that when he's on, Orton is probably one of the best dudes in the world, and given by how fired up he seemed yesterday, he's probably giving us a great performance at WM.

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There is that Rey/Orton match from 2004/5(?) that absolutely rules. His best performance by a long shot.

 

Why we can't get that Orton I'll never understand. He has been a huge waste of potential his entire career. Really don't expect AJ/Orton to deliver anything special.

Here's to a flying forearm into RKO FOR THE WIN~! TM

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Honestly, AJ has mostly underwhelmed since the Lesnar match. If you told me at the beginning of 2018 that he would have extended feuds that year with Shinsuke Nakamura and Samoa Joe, I would have expected at least one all-time classic match, but it never happened. He can still deliver with the right opponent (I'm apparently the only person who really liked the Bryan match at the Rumble), but he hasn't been the kind of wrestler who could work a **** match in his sleep for a long time.

For the record, Orton's best career match was against Cena at Summerslam 2007. Granted, it was pretty much impossible to have a bad match with 2007 Cena, but Orton held up his end of the bargain as well.

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12 hours ago, NotJayTabb said:

Amused by the idea of AJ "carrying" Orton, given that his Mania matches against Jericho, Shane and Nakamura have hardly set the world alight. Certainly nothing as good as Orton dragging a decent match out of Rollins. I have no doubt the AJ/Orton match will be very good - I saw them pair up in a house show three-way that was great whenever Jinder wasn't involved - but I think Orton will be an equally important factor in it being good.

I agree.  Just like @NotJayTabb and @KawadaSmile pointed out...I love AJ as much as the next guy, but he's not a magician.  If anybody thinks AJ is capable of "carrying" less than motivated/capable workers, I refer you back to his interminable feud with Kevin Owens - also known as "Chinlocks Forever."  Most (if not all) of the matches in the AJ/Owens angle were excruciating to sit through. I didn't blame AJ for that, but the point is that he isn't one of those guys who can take somebody who either can't or won't put in the effort, and produce a watchable match every time out. 

I still can't figure out how/why AJ had great matches with Samoa Joe and Nakamura in other organizations, but when they hooked up in WWE the heat was off.  Maybe it was Joe's age and accumulated injuries.  Maybe it was the ridiculous storyline Joe/AJ got saddled with.  Maybe it was the fact Nakamura is reportedly lazy and/or not as good as most thought he was.  Or maybe (and this is my guess) having guys who could do whatever they wanted in Japan and the Indies have to conform to the "WWE style" took something significant away from what were previously good rivalries.  But the point is, within those confines, AJ couldn't just will a great match into existence.

In this particular case, I'd like to think Orton is game enough to go full tilt in the ring with AJ.  I'd like to think that Orton would care enough about it being Wrestlemania that he kicks it into high gear.  Hell, I'd like to think that both AJ and Orton would use this match as a chance to "show off" and prove that they deserved to be booked in a more significant angle or higher on the card. Kind of like an opening act at a concert blowing the main act off the stage. But this is Randy Orton we're talking about.  He's proven he is technically capable of being in a great match, but when you compare his actual number of great matches to the length of his career and the grand total of matches he's had...the math doesn't make him look all that great.

But who knows.  Maybe he likes AJ, wants to work with him and wants this deal to be good.  If nothing else, the promos seem to paint him as somewhat motivated.

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