It's Time for Randy Orton to Turn Heel and Move to the WWE Raw Roster

Randy Orton logged in another fantastic match against Sami Zayn Tuesday night on SmackDown Live as the future WWE Hall of Famer reminded fans of his immense talents even in the doldrums of being a secondary babyface on SmackDown Live. 

Orton will now join team SmackDown Live in a traditional Survivor Series match against unnamed Raw Superstars, and while the #UnderSiege storyline is hot, Orton deserves better. 

Though he's as good in the ring as he has ever been, Orton will not be around forever. He seemed to acknowledge that there is an end in sight while nonchalantly discussing his physique during a recent interview on the E&C's Pod of Awesomeness (h/t Wrestling Inc):

"I'm always up and down when it comes to my body," Orton said. "It's stressful, it is." 

If Orton is in the final years of his WWE contract, being a babyface on SmackDown Live is no way to live. Sure, SmackDown Live's content has been consistently competitive with Raw since the brand split. As a show for the people under the rule of two babyface authority figures (for now), SmackDown Live quickly endeared itself as a hipster favorite that is unapologetically marketed as the land of opportunity. 

But Randy Orton is no hipster. Randy's mainstream, and his best work always comes as a heel on a top-ranked brand. 

Remember the Age of Orton? That was on Raw. Remember the Punjabi Prison? OK, then. 

Orton's natural inclinations to be a despicable character are almost unmatched in a changing wrestling world that tends to gravitate toward heels. It's easy to take Orton's matches for granted when he's doing so as a seemingly uninspired babyface. In the aforementioned E&C Pod of Awesomeness (h/t Wrestling Inc), Orton noted that he was "sick of the babyface thing."

And who could blame him? In 2017, babyface Randy Orton gave is the vaunted House of Horrors match, but not before he had to sell for a bunch of screen-projected cockroaches in the middle of the ring at WrestleMania 33. 

Babyface Randy Orton was also made to be escorted to the ring by "sperm." His words (h/t Andy Gray of Sports Illustrated), not mine. 

Watching Randy Orton put on wrestling clinics in vain is like watching Archie Manning try to lead the hapless New Orleans Saints to respectability. Sure, he'll dazzle with gaudy statistics and awesome mobility, but those Saints were playoff repellant. 

The next Superstar Shake-up, or whatever gimmick the WWE uses for a future roster revamp, is begging for a heel Randy Orton to terrorize Raw. Working with more natural babyfaces like Finn Balor, while hopefully taking a heel Jason Jordan under his wing, will make for a fitting twilight for one of the industry's all-time best. 

Alfred Konuwa is a Featured Columnist and on-air host for Bleacher Report and Forbes. Like him on Facebook.