Add as a preferred source on Google Randy Orton returned to WWE at Survivor Series WarGames 2023 with the aura of a top star. After more than a year out with injury, The Viper came back to one of the biggest reactions of that period, and at the time, it seemed obvious the company had big plans for him.
The problem is that, ever since, Orton’s career under Triple H’s creative direction has been marked by an uncomfortable pattern: a lot of presence, very little payoff.
It’s true that Orton came back with a win at WarGames alongside Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins, Jey Uso, and Sami Zayn. Since then, though, his biggest moments on premium live events have almost always ended in a loss or in frustration. At WrestleMania 40, he came up short in his bid for the United States Championship against Logan Paul and Kevin Owens. At Backlash France, teaming with Owens, he fell to the new Bloodline of Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga. At Money in the Bank, even alongside Cody Rhodes and Owens, he was defeated by the stable once again.
The situation became even clearer at Bash in Berlin, when Orton got a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship against Gunther. The match was strong and the crowd bought into it, but the result was the same once again: Orton lost. For a wrestler of his caliber, piling up losses at this level starts to look less like building him up and more like a creative ceiling the company itself has placed on him.
Rivalry for WrestleMania 42 Proves the Point
The most frustrating part is that WWE also spent months using Orton as a supporting piece for Cody Rhodes against Solo Sikoa and The Bloodline. Orton had his own reasons to want revenge, since his absence started because of the Samoan stable in the first place. Even so, at several points, he seemed to function more as a premium backup option for Cody than as the protagonist of his own story.
The breaking point was the rivalry with Cody for the Undisputed WWE Championship. It was a story that wrote itself: mentor versus pupil, two names connected for almost 20 years, a world title on the line, and a Randy Orton getting babyface reactions even after violent actions. WWE, however, decided to insert Pat McAfee into the middle of the story without any real need for it. The result was a rivalry that lost focus and a title match that could have been much bigger.
Given all of this, the impression keeps getting stronger: Triple H doesn’t seem interested in seeing Randy Orton as world champion again. And if that’s the plan, WWE at least needs to treat him like a genuine special attraction, not like someone who shows up to lose big matches and prop up other people’s storylines.