Ryan Dilbert's 10-Count: Randy Orton Joining Wyatt Family Has Massive Potential

1. The Viper Finds His Den?

A single RKO birthed a wealth of narrative possibilities in the Randy Orton-Wyatt Family feud.

Alongside Kane, Orton looked ready to pounce on Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper on Tuesday's SmackDown. Finally, the frustrated hero would get to put his enemies on their backs. Or at least, that's what the audience expected to see.

Instead, The Viper struck his own partner with his signature move.

Confusion filled the arena as Orton left Kane out cold, leaving him vulnerable, a ready-made victim for The Wyatt Family.

Orton only offered minimal explanation in an interview soon after. He said, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em."

And with that, WWE gave this story the juice it had been missing. 

The Orton-Wyatt rivalry featured an intriguing pair of rivals, and WWE largely took the right approach up to this point, but it just hadn't clicked. A delay due to Orton suffering a concussion at SummerSlam is partially to blame. Beyond that, the story didn't feel complete.

Should Orton now give into Wyatt's cult-leader charm and become one of his devoted cronies, WWE will have plenty to play with.

After The Viper teased allegiance to Wyatt, Tonya Rodgers of Cageside Seats wrote, "Randy Orton serving Bray Wyatt just makes sense. It really does. I hope he is a worthy minion for The Eater of Worlds."

For one, Wyatt welcoming a new sheep into the fold will make him look far more powerful. He will not only be a man who can unsettle his enemies, but he can break them to the point of joining forces with him.

The New Face of Fear is a unique character, a pied piper from the backwoods. WWE would be wise to experiment with that more, allowing him to mentally reign over Orton.

Wyatt barking orders at Orton will create ample tension, too. Fans will be expecting The Viper to bust out of his trance and bash in The Wyatt Family, but WWE can delay and tease that to great effect.

Even with as brief as Daniel Bryan's stay in that faction was, the moment he broke away and celebrated atop a steel cage was hugely moving.

Orton and Harper could rule the tag team division. Orton could be using this all as a ploy to punish Wyatt. The new Wyatt clan could gang up to eliminate Kane for good.

WWE's options are plentiful at this point.

And suddenly, a story that hadn't quite found its stride added intrigue aplenty. Orton may be set to undergo a transformation. Wyatt may get to play puppet master. 

Those developments will further both men. They will showcase Wyatt and Orton in creative fashion.

A potentially high-voltage narrative complete with subjugation and strange bedfellows is underway, and both its central figures have to be thrilled about where this could go.

2. A Stockpile of Firsts

The Hell in a Cell pay-per-view is going to make history on top of history.

Much of the discussion ahead of Sunday's event has been about it featuring the first women's Hell in a Cell match, but Sasha Banks and Charlotte aren't the only ones set to do something unprecedented.

The PPV will mark the first time the Universal Championship will be defended inside The Devil's Playground. The same goes for the United States Championship.

Sunday will be the first time three Hell in a Cell matches will be contested in one night. And thanks to Shane McMahon and Undertaker battling in that structure at WrestleMania in April, 2016 will be the only year to feature four Hell in a Cell bouts.

This will also be Kevin Owens', Banks', Charlotte's and Rusev's first trips inside Hell in a Cell. 

WWE will have no shortage of stats to hype come Sunday. Then it will be up to the Superstars to turn those firsts into something unforgettable.

3. Throwback Video of the Week: Badd Blood 1997

Owens was 11 years old when Shawn Michaels tangled with Undertaker in the inaugural Hell in a Cell match. Banks was just five.

The promo video for the Oct. 5 match is a flashback to that time, when WWE first introduced the Hell in a Cell concept:

It's now been 19 years since that bout. WWE could have had no idea that the enclosed cage would have this kind of shelf life. Owens and Banks couldn't have predicted that they would both walk into that structure as champions.

4. NXT's Resident Hosses

Last Wednesday, the NXT landscape felt some attention-grabbing tremors, thanks to Otis Dozovic and Tucker Knight.

The team of beefy gladiators impressed in a loss. Dozovic and Knight clubbed and charged their way to a good showing in the first round of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.

Keep an eye on the big fellows moving forward. They are poised to be major players in the NXT tag team division and beyond.

Size has become even more special in recent years with the rise of smaller athletes. And Dozovic and Knight have plenty of that asset.

5. Calling Out The Boss

Banks may have some new opposition should she fend off Charlotte at Hell in a Cell.

The Raw women's champ inspired an unexpected response from the MMA world when she promoted her clash with Charlotte. UFC bantamweight Cat Zingano decided to chime in:

Zingano stepping over to the squared circle wouldn't have nearly the impact Ronda Rousey making that jump would, but a crossover feud with Banks could be mighty fun.

6. Alternate Rhodes

Cody Rhodes (wrestling as "Cody") has quickly found a home at TNA.

He's already figuring into the promotion's world-title picture. He's found new life as a smug, focused predator in search of gold and glory.

His recent TNA work is light-years ahead of his low-rung role with WWE as Stardust. WWE had beaten the life out of that character. Rhodes has now been invigorated by being on a new stage.

This is partly why TNA's financial issues are so unsettling. If that companies dies, a major WWE alternative for guys like Rhodes will be gone.

Hopefully TNA can find a way out of the mess of debt and lawsuits to stay alive and continue to give guys like Rhodes an alternate path to take post-WWE.

7. Heel Teams Dead in the Water

SmackDown's tag team division is hurting for villains. 

Aside from The Usos, no heel duos have any momentum to speak of. Tyler Breeze and Fandango are non-factors. The Ascension occupies the blue brand's lowest level.

Per CageMatch.net, Breeze and Fandango were completely inactive in October and haven't wrestled on SmackDown since Aug. 23. The duo's record since the draft in July is 0-6.

The Ascension haven't been on fire, either. As seen on CageMatch.net, Viktor and Konnor are 1-9 in that span.

The Spirit Squad, a pair of visiting blasts from the past, are getting far more spotlight than those two teams.

This is going to leave SmackDown's babyface squads with a lack of quality opposition. Should American Alpha get past The Usos, who do they face next? Who will The Hype Bros feud with to look like contenders down the road? 

Breezango or The Ascension could be the answer to those questions, but for now, they are easy-to-topple fodder who aren't worthy rivals for anyone. WWE has to start presenting those teams as more of a threat, bring in a duo from Raw or let The Wyatt Family storm the tag team division.

8. An Introduction to The Anti-Hero

The WWE developmental system just snagged itself a tattooed, hard-hitting bruiser with a tremendous ceiling.  

WWE announced that it recently signed Tom Budgen (better known as Tommy End) and a number of other recruits. The Dutch grappler made a name for himself on the European independent circuit. He's now ready to take over NXT.

Credit: WWE.com

To get a taste of what End can do on the canvas, check out these bouts:

• Tommy End vs. Bryan Danielson: Westside Xtreme Wrestling: Ambition (2010)
• Tommy End vs. Eddie Dennis: PROGRESS Wrestling World Cup (2014)
• Tommy End vs. Chris Hero: Pro Wrestling Guerrilla: Don't Sweat the Technique (2015)
• Tommy End vs. Roderick Strong: PROGRESS Wrestling Chapter 19 (2015)
• Tommy End vs. Will Ospreay: German Wrestling Promotion 10th Anniversary (2016)

End may collide with Strong again in the near future, as the two men are part of the same class of prospects. 

9. Time to Put Hell to Rest

The Hell in a Cell PPV needs to go extinct.

The gimmick should be pulled out when a story calls for it, not when the calendar does. Otherwise, it will house rivalries that aren't befitting of the dangerous enclosure.

The Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins feud has grown more intense of late, but their battle inside Hell in a Cell still feels forced. The PPV calls for the rivals to collide in that cage, hurrying their narrative along in the process.

So many of the PPV's Hell in a Cell bouts had no business happening in The Devil's Playground: Orton vs. John Cena in 2014, CM Punk vs. Ryback and Paul Heyman in 2013, Orton vs. Mark Henry in 2011.

Without the overflowing bad blood the gimmick match requires, these contests underwhelmed. 

The Hell in a Cell concept grows more watered down the more we see it. And WWE is overdoing it this year. It's hard to sell a specialty bout as special when it happens three times in one night. 

10. Mick Foley on Hell in a Cell

Nobody knows the brutality of Hell in a Cell better than Mick Foley.

In a famous match against Undertaker at King of the Ring 1998, Foley crashed through the roof of that steel structure and also went tumbling off the top of it. He knows he raised the bar impossibly high that night.

"I think that I created a moment that was impossible to top and I think I created a moment that shouldn't be topped," Foley said in an interview with Zach Linder of WWE.com.

He went on to issue a warning of sorts: "So many of the Superstars want to give people moments that they'll never forget, but we don't want to give them moments that could end Superstars' careers. Mine easily could have ended that night in Pittsburgh."

Banks and Charlotte have to keep that in mind as they look to steal the show on Sunday and prove they belong in The Devil's Playground. The audience wants violence and thrills from the women, but it also wants to see The Boss and The Queen be able to walk afterward.

Hell in a Cell match history courtesy of the Internet Wrestling Database.