WWE's Ban of Randy Orton's RKO at Extreme Rules Is a Smart Move

WWE made one of their smartest moves for Extreme Rules, one which almost pays homage to a classic feud.

Raw’s April 13 episode featured Randy Orton and Seth Rollins in the last segment. They revealed their stipulations for their upcoming championship match at Extreme Rules.

Rollins, the champion, decided to take away Orton’s greatest weapon: the RKO. Orton uses this Ace Crusher variation as his finishing maneuver, one which would surely cripple Orton’s strategy and thus take the title.

The Viper countered by revealing that the match won’t involve Rollins’ J&J security at ringside. In addition, it also won’t let Rollins leave the ring and/or get himself disqualified. The Viper announced that their bout will now take place inside a steel cage.

The cage match makes sense. Orton and Rollins’ feud needs to culminate in a big-time match. Extreme Rules’ cage setting will be the perfect opportunity for them to hopefully settle their differences.

The smart booking lies in banning the RKO. WWE Creative really struck gold with this idea. It’s an old move that pits the babyface against a huge obstacle similar to having a wrestler’s arm tied behind his back, his hands cuffed or even being blindfolded.

And yes, each of those scenarios have happened before at WWE.

If these scenarios already happened, then why hinder a main event by taking away a WWE Superstar’s greatest weapon? The answer is elementary: pure storytelling.

That’s what makes banning the RKO at Extreme Rules a smart move.

Ironically enough, Orton was on the other side of the coin when he faced Shawn Michaels at the 2007 edition of Survivor Series for the WWE championship. Orton wanted Michaels’ Sweet Chin Music banned from the match. Michaels kept hitting Orton with it for five weeks. Each kick looked worse as the months went by.

Vince McMahon granted Orton’s wish. At that time, the buildup was huge. How would Michaels be able to beat his rival without the Sweet Chin Music? It turned out, as we always knew, that Michaels was quite capable of pulling it off.

Their match featured brilliant ring psychology. Michaels used everything but his patented kick, and shockingly, he almost won without it, too.

Near the end of the match, Michaels almost went for the kick. He held it back as Orton capitalized with the RKO. Orton retained and bragged in Michaels’ face. Michaels hit another Sweet Chin Music, making the then-WWE champion see stars.

Fast-forward to today: You have the sins of the past coming back to bite The Viper.

Blame Orton at WrestleMania 31, where he countered Rollins’ Curb Stomp with the RKO for the victory.

The dilemma is primed, the story waiting to unfold. How will Orton get out of this one?

He’s no Shawn Michaels. Orton only has the RKO as his primary maneuver. He can catch anyone with it from nearly every angle. But all Orton has now is the punt kick, where he kicks his opponent’s head while he’s down.

Frankly, Rollins would need to take a lot of damage for that to work. It might, but he has nothing else that could finish an opponent.

Or does he?

One thing’s for sure: The question will be answered at Extreme Rules on April 26. We’ll see just how good Randy Orton really is.