While Randy Orton might be the flavor of the moment here on Bleacher Report, none of the hype that myself and fellow Ortonites have generated could ever make up for the fact that despite his greatest efforts, Randy Orton remains one of the most underrated Superstars I’ve ever seen.
If you’re wondering how on earth that could be, it can and it is.
What Randy Orton did last Monday Night was nothing short of legendary although most people would fail to recognize the magnitude of this accomplishment.
As a heel, he defeated three future Hall of Famers in clean fashion to become WWE Champion for the fifth time in his career (four-time WWE Champion & One-time World Heavyweight Champion).
As it stands right now, Randy Orton has gathered more title reigns than virtually every heel to have ever worked for World Wrestling Entertainment.
In a business that is plagued with so much babyface-favoritism, the magnitude of these accomplishments is amplified due to the rarity and fashion in which they have been achieved.
As a heel, it is Randy Orton’s job to win by deceptive means which usually ends up being the case due to the roles that heels play in this business.
Yet, every time Randy Orton has won the title, he has managed to due so in clean fashion.
But will you ever hear anyone say that Triple H, John Cena, and Big Show all lost to a man who out-performed and most certainly out-thought all of them combined?
Of course not, because the focus was immediately taken off of the champion and put on Donald Trump and a rematch set for next Monday.
I, more than anyone else, am guilty of displaying the reality of Randy Orton’s brilliance, but as I said before, all of my articles combined with those of my fellow Ortonites could never do justice to the reality of the overall perception.
If you were to have a conversation with professional wrestling’s most respected writers, how many of them would put Orton at the level he deserves?
I’d be willing to wager that very few would do so.
I feel that most people recognize Orton as being one of the “better” heels in the business today. Yet it was just a few short months ago that he was compared to the likes of Chris Jericho in terms of determining who is the industry’s top heel.
The fact of the matter is that Randy Orton now is light-years ahead of Chris Jericho’s prime and needless to say, Jericho is far past his prime these days.
Randy Orton is in the process of accomplishing things that have never been done in the history of the WWE.
With the lone exceptions of Triple H and Edge, never before has a heel dominated his competition while winning so many championships.
Never before had a true-heel (who wasn’t on the verge of a face-push) won the Royal Rumble (besides Yokozuna, who won the event before it gathered the prestige it has today).
If nothing else, you could say that he was the only heel to win the event this decade which speaks volumes in and of itself.
Last year, Pro Wrestling Illustrated ranked Randy Orton No. 1 in their top-500 list for good reason. Since that time last year, Randy Orton has improved by leaps and bounds which should really give you a good indication of where he should stand today.
If he was the industry’s top-performer before he broke his collar-bone, just think of the level he has reached since.
Whether people want to accept it or not, we are all living in the Age or Orton.
If history has anything to say about it, it’s exactly where all of us belong.