Could Randy Orton’s WWE Career Be All But Over?

Bare with me with this one, as I do not want to send readers into a state of shock, but there are three different attitudes towards Randy Orton. The first is the category that I am in; and involves a general dislike for the mundane nature of his character, the second category houses those who feel that his exceptional wrestling talent is enough to assure his future as a main eventer, and the third category belongs to a cluster of female wrestling fans who like him solely based on his looks.

Don’t get me wrong, Randy Orton is a fine looking man but to like someone and judge someone based on their appearance is absolutely absurd. If looks were important in wrestling, then the world would not have been blessed by talent such as Mick Foley, Daniel Bryan & Bray Wyatt. If you belong in the second sphere of support, then your argument is a little more valid. Orton is a superb athlete, with a record of performing well in big matches. His legend killer moniker in the ruthless aggression era was intense and certainly entertaining, especially the build up to his match with The Undertaker at Wrestlemania 21 (A great PPV, by the way).

But now on to the category of attitudes that I come under. Randy Orton has ability yes, but has become incredibly stale in the last 3 or 4 years. Everything from his slow walk to the ring, to his dry, dull promo-cutting has become painful to watch in recent years, but don’t take my word for it, take the word of the fans who blighted his previous title reign with ‘boring’ chants week in week out. Don’t get me wrong, Orton has some uses, but at this point he’s been round the block so many times both as a face and as a heel that there is just nothing left for him to do.

A perfect analogy to describe the career of Randy Orton would be to compare him to a 27-year old stripper who’s been on the pole since she was 18. There’s nothing really wrong with her, it’s just people want to see a change. Unless something really dramatic happens to Orton’s character, he’s on his way out, and we’ve now reached the point where Orton may be considering going into Hollywood as a 34-year old man in his physical prime. The Rock got a massive push when he was a young man, and left wrestling for the film industry in his early thirties, and the same may well be on the cards for The Viper.

Never really known for his charisma, Orton is at something of a cross-road in his WWE career, and unless he regains his relevancy by tweaking his persona or attitude in some way, he may end 2014 the way he started it; as a complete afterthought amongst better, more interesting superstars. Orton is a sure-fire hall of famer and has made a great career for himself (or through being handpicked by Triple H, but that’s an article for another time) and has certainly matured as a man and as a performer in that time, but I really think now is the time for Randall to step away from the wrestling business in order to protect his legacy, no pun intended, or to regain the spark that his career once had.

It is shocking that a wrestling fan should be writing an article in the first place detailing why a 12-time World Champion and 9-year main-event superstar’s career has come to the sticky mess it has, but when a performer has done absolutely everything he possibly can, from Money in the Bank to main-eventing Wrestlemania, then why stick around? Especially when you add in the fact that his crowd reactions have diminished considerably over the last 12 months. Randy Orton needs to leave WWE, if not for the good of the fans, then for the good of his character. His career, after all, is all but over.

What are your thoughts on Randy Orton? Comment below with your thoughts, opinions, feedback and anything else that was raised. Follow me on Twitter @OliverNorgrove