WWE Is Sucking the Momentum from Randy Orton's Babyface Run

Randy Orton returned to WWE television with vengeance on his mind at the Fastlane pay-per-view.

There were RKOs aplenty as The Viper came home. The Authority was in his crosshairs, and Seth Rollins was the ultimate goal for his path of destruction.

The following night on Raw, though, it seemed his anger dissipated very quickly. By the end of the show, he was teaming with Rollins and The Authority in a match against new best buddies Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns.

In the space of 24 hours, WWE Creative managed to take its newest upper-card babyface and strip him of his proverbial testicles.

The pop Orton received at Fastlane was huge, especially given how quiet the Memphis crowd was for the rest of the event. Raw's audience in Nashville also hit the roof when his music hit to open the show. Chants of "Randy" and "RKO" persisted throughout the promo segment that followed.

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Moments later, however, Orton appeared to rejoin The Authority in a backstage segment, and in the show's main event he resisted the urge to attack Seth Rollins when Mr. Money in the Bank tagged himself into the match.

These are not actions befitting the WWE's Apex Predator.

Rollins left Orton in a bloody pulp in November, so it is downright nonsensical of WWE Creative to ask viewers to buy the fact that Orton would go back to The Authority so easily.

The slow-burn nature of Orton's face turn was intriguing last year, but now is the time to pull the trigger. It's as if WWE reached the conclusion of the story but then decided to jump three steps backwards rather than follow through.

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It's an illogical mess of a story, with Orton's momentum now stalling. He could have been inserted into a terrific feud with Rollins on the Road to WrestleMania, but now, even if that does happen, it's likely to feel rushed and badly paced.

The Randy Orton who appeared at Fastlane was a brutal, rage-driven avenger, a stark contrast to the grudgingly compliant character who walked out of Raw.

It seems inevitable that Orton will turn against The Authority and Rollins between now and WrestleMania, but the fire in the storyline has been snuffed out. WWE has failed to ride this particular wave to the bank.

The Orton storyline was one of the few recent examples of genuinely impressive, consistent WWE booking, but now risks being added to the writing team's litany of failures.