Projecting How Randy Orton Will Be Booked Upon His Return to WWE

Randy Orton and The Authority parted ways—rather emphatically—on Monday’s edition of Raw. A broken, beaten Viper was carted out of Raw, with big question marks hanging over when he will back and how he will booked upon his return.

In the real world, Orton will be off filming The Condemned 2: Desert Prey, the, erm, long-awaited sequel to 2007’s The Condemned. Variety has the details here. (Presumably no one in WWE Studios noticed Orton’s wooden and awful acting in 12 Rounds: Reloaded.)

So Orton will be back soon, and almost certainly as a babyface. The exact date is impossible to predict, of course, but fans shouldn’t be too surprised if the former WWE champion is revealed as a surprise member of John Cena’s team at Survivor Series.

That the event is taking place in Orton’s hometown of St. Louis strengthens the chances of this happening. It’s easy to see Orton storming out to a massive ovation and unleashing hell on The Authority, gaining revenge for his injuries suffered on Raw.

Ideally, he would be the one that wins the match for Team Cena and closes the show in triumph—thus getting his official babyface turn off to the best possible start.

Hopefully WWE will continue to develop to his character.

The brief flashes we’ve seen of the unhinged, rebellious Orton are already far more interesting than the dull corporate henchman he’s played over the past year. The bookers could script him to make a return speech in which he announces that, tired of following orders, he’s now playing by his own rules.

Credit: WWE.com

Orton’s appeal as a good guy has always been that he’s darker and more compelling than the PG-approved and rather bland Cena. The company needs to reinforce this when he re-emerges on programming

After that, The Viper could engage in a long-term feud with Triple H, something fans have only gotten tantalizing hints of. Certainly, such a storyline would produce great matches and good storylines, especially given the history both men have with each other. If WWE writers really wanted to turn the program into something big, they could draw the feud out until WrestleMania next year.

Or, if The Game really is determined to stay out of the ring and focus on his office duties, Orton could enter into a major program with Seth Rollins. Again, that would be guaranteed to deliver strong matches and interviews.

Credit: WWE.com

Of course, one drawback would be that Rollins could end up losing to the veteran—the writers do seem somewhat reluctant to have younger stars go over the older guys these days.

This wouldn’t do Rollins any favors whatsoever, especially when he’s likely being positioned for a run with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the future. Hopefully, this is something the writers are aware of and they will set out to protect both guys if they do work together.

After a mediocre and uninspiring run as a heel, it’s honestly a relief that Orton has turned back babyface. It was the smartest thing the company could do with him. Certainly it gives the booking team more options—and helps the star get back to prominence after a career lull.