Randy Orton vs. Sheamus: Winner and Reaction from 2015 WWE SummerSlam

Sheamus delivered not one but two Brogue Kicks to Randy Orton as he picked up a big victory to kick off SummerSlam on Sunday night.

It looked as though Orton had the match won after connecting with an RKO as Sheamus leaped into the ring, per the WWE Universe:

However, The Celtic Warrior smartly rolled out of the ring to dance out of danger.

The two Superstars had a pretty physical match, with Sheamus opening up a cut just above Orton's left eye. Straight Shoot's Aubrey Sitterson argued the bout had a little bit of everything:

Orton nearly hit a second RKO later on, but Sheamus countered and pushed The Viper into the corner. He then hit a Brogue Kick, which stunned Orton. From there, a second Brogue Kick finished the job, and the referee counted the one, two, three.

Melissa Joan Hart sees the result serving as a prelude for what is to come later in the night:

Whatever happens with Sheamus, this is likely the end of his feud with Orton.

It felt as though WWE paired them together so as to give them something to do at one of the year's biggest events. Orton and Sheamus weren't going to miss SummerSlam, so the question then became how to fit them into the card.

WWE took the path of least resistance.

In a sense, the feud was set in motion after Sheamus won the Money in the Bank briefcase in the MITB ladder match in June. On the Raw before Money in the Bank, the two wrestled to a no-contest, with Orton laying out Sheamus following an RKO:

Sheamus then got one up on Orton by scaling the ladder and earning an automatic shot at the World Heavyweight Championship. But Orton wasn't done, and the two Superstars eventually faced off in the opening match at Battleground, which The Viper won following a physical, back-and-forth battle.

Still smarting from the loss, Sheamus interfered in Orton's WWE World Heavyweight Championship match against Seth Rollins on the Aug. 10 edition of Raw, which led to a disqualification. Orton responded in kind, RKO'ing Sheamus before he could cash in his MITB shot on a prone Rollins:

A week later, WWE officially confirmed the match, which was welcome news for The Celtic Warrior:

You'd expect SummerSlam to be the culmination of the rivalry, which would be good for both wrestlers.

Orton has grown a bit stale as a face and needs to feud with somebody against whom he has little history.

Orton can be a compelling character, but you can only watch him take on guys such as Sheamus and John Cena so many times before it grows tiring. Considering his status in the company, he won't stray too far from the top of the card.

What didn't help Orton is the fact he appears little more than a placeholder opponent for Sheamus until he cashes in his MITB briefcase.

Ever since making his return in March, Sheamus has seemingly been stuck in neutral. A feud with Dolph Ziggler didn't offer much in the way of forward momentum, and his triumph at Money in the Bank largely came out of nowhere.

Perhaps a run with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at some point down the road is the boost necessary to get Sheamus back to his peak.