Randy Orton Will Benefit from WWE's Depleted Roster

Live, from his home state of Missouri, Raw was Orton.

Appearing in a total of five segments and countless replays, Orton was booked so ubiquitously you’d think he changed his last name to McMahon.

The pugnacious, sometimes muted star’s feuds were just as omnipresent. Orton squabbled with everyone from John Cena to Seth Rollins to a palpably re-energized Kansas City Royals fanbase that would not be intimidated.

“The Royals will not win! They will never win! You’ve got at least another hundred years! In your lifetime, you will not see your precious Royals win when it matters,” Orton scoffed to an already fired-up Sprint Center that hadn’t forgotten his similarly disparaging remarks during the show’s opening segment (h/t Bill Hanstock of SBNation).

Orton didn't address the memes that had gone viral as of late, but similar to those videos, he seemed ready and willing to RKO just about everything.

Whether this was WWE capitalizing on Orton’s newfound RKO Vine popularity or another example of the promotion leaning on the old guard in light of an injury-depleted roster, Orton is just about all WWE’s got in terms of main event talent.

WWE has overplayed its John Cena hand in response to Daniel Bryan’s ill-timed injury. At this point, Cena has been used as a pawn to patch together a makeshift main event scene that now includes talented but unproven stars Dean Ambrose and the aforementioned Rollins.

Now that Reigns has gone down as well, it’s Orton’s turn to carry the mail in an awkward time period where world title defenses are no longer a monthly thing.

Brock Lesnar is currently cycling off his part-time WWE schedule, and according to Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t WrestlingInc), he is not expected back until Royal Rumble.

The match lineup of Hell in a Cell, which features a double main event where no world championships are on the line, looks like it will be the norm on pay-per-view to close out 2014.

If this is the case, Orton couldn’t have picked a better time to finally begin waking up from an extended funk.

Next month’s Survivor Series pay-per-view will emanate from Orton’s hometown of St. Louis, Missouri. Coming off Rollins’ long-awaited betrayal of Orton, the former twelve-time world champion is primed to enter that pay-per-view as the biggest babyface in the promotion.

After all, if the Scottrade Center isn’t going to be getting a world title match, its favorite son in the main event is a formidable consolation.

Some will argue that Orton is a natural heel, but he needs something—anything—to revive his character in the ever-changing WWE.

His loud, acerbic promo style during his segment with Cena was a far cry from the slow, monotonous delivery that fans have come to expect. Even opposite his chief rival for the umpteenth time, Orton seemed resurgent, seemingly back from the dead.

Fittingly, WWE needs Orton to keep its pay-per-views alive.

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