Randy Orton Has Momentum to Move Forward as a Character Despite Loss

Even though Randy Orton failed in his quest to claim the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Extreme Rules, it doesn't mean a step back in fortunes.

Indeed, the events on Raw which saw Orton locked in as fighting Seth Rollins again at Payback (with Roman Reigns thrown in for good measure) suggest that, but there was enough to prove that Orton has retained his momentum prior to that, anyway.

The way his eventual face turn was done was pretty much perfect booking by the WWE, for starters. Instead of doing a simple, rapid face turn on Seth Rollins, the WWE took a slow-burner approach to proceedings, which definitely paid off.

By teasing the tension between Orton and Rollins while the former was still a heel, it built up pressure, momentum and popularity for Orton.

He was the first person who'd really rebelled against The Authority from within, which instantly gave him a wealth of popularity. 

Then when he did react and lash out at Rollins, he was written off TV for a fair while with some smart booking. And as we know, when someone is away from our screens for a while and they return as a babyface, the impact is much more explosive that an old-fashioned turn.

That led to a huge start to Orton's latest run as a babyface, and it's got momentum behind it which shows no sign of slowing down whatsoever. 

His win at WrestleMania was tipped off with an incredible RKO, with Orton's finishing manoeuvre becoming more and more outrageous by the match. His athletic, energetic style inside the ring seems to have improved too, and that's another thing that keeps him onside with fans.

There's also the way his title match with Rollins was booked at Extreme Rules. Had he lost cleanly to the champion, there would have been a strong argument to suggest Orton moving away from the title picture in the immediate future.

But after being harshly done to by The Authority and outfoxed by a crafty, cheating champion in Rollins, Orton retains his position as a legitimate contender for Rollins' title.

It's almost a role reversal of how Orton, then the prominent figure for The Authority as champion, outwitted Daniel Bryan over and over again in the run-up to WrestleMania XXX. Bryan's harsh losses and Orton's unclean wins meant their feud never really had a right to end until someone prevailed fairly, which is what Bryan did at Mania.

You can see Orton also has a right to remain in the title picture by the way he's interacting with the crowd, too. There was an incredible moment at the end of Raw this past week where Orton produced an incredible cheer from those in attendance, and it was proof that he's on top of his game right now.

The only issue regarding Orton's potential to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship is an impending return for Brock Lesnar.

The way Lesnar left WWE TV when he was "suspended" leads you to believe a match with Seth Rollins is on the horizon, probably at SummerSlam. That means that it's unlikely Orton will win the title before then.

However, if Orton keeps being harshly done to by The Authority between now and then, he'll have more than enough momentum to survive as a top babyface whilst Lesnar returns.

And after that, you would expect Orton's time at the top will come once again.