The top men’s picture on “SmackDown” is absolutely stacked, with Kevin Owens soon to challenge Undisputed WWE Champion CM Punk for the title, with Sami Zayn still lurking, awaiting his next opportunity. Thankfully, the top title scene isn’t too terribly overwhelmed, now that Cody Rhodes is out for an also-recently returned Randy Orton, following “The Viper” nailing him with an RKO at SummerSlam. They have to get through one another to get back at the title, and tonight, Orton promised that as long as he has breath in his body, he’s going to make sure the “American Nightmare” never wins another title again.
It was a very backstage interview and promo-heavy episode of the blue brand tonight, which I’m not usually about, but there were some things that needed to be said following the “Biggest Party of the Summer.” Rhodes and Orton addressing one another was definitely an in-ring segment that needed to happen. Rhodes opened up the night looking for Orton, which led to Punk and Owens’ promo, which was fine and helped things flow nicely, but thankfully, he and Orton got their own segment later in the night.
Rhodes said that Orton owed him an explanation, and he sure got one. Orton said that Rhodes asked for it on the Road to WrestleMania when he gave Orton permission to be the “very best version” of himself, meaning, the most dangerous. That’s really where things got good, with Orton infuriated that Rhodes had the audacity to “give him permission,” him, a 14-time world champion. Orton called himself “The Legend Killer,” which, as someone who grew up obsessed with Orton when he was indeed “The Legend Killer,” I feel like he doesn’t say it often anymore.
That set up for the line of the night, when Rhodes said the only legend that was left in WWE was Orton, so now, who kills him? In the promo, Rhodes also said he wasn’t “held to the standards of the champion” anymore, which was interesting, and I’m taking that to mean we’re going to get some harder hitting bouts between the pair, with hopefully some interesting stipulations.
This was a solid segment that didn’t overstay its welcome on a talk-heavy episode of the show. I’m also now very interested to see where this goes between the two after what they said to one another, and it feels like Rhodes needs to lean heel, as crowds just aren’t going to boo Orton at this stage of his career. It’s also nice there’s another huge story going on at the very top that doesn’t involve the title. “SmackDown” was desperate for interesting stories for months, and now, we’ve got plenty.
Written by Daisy Ruth
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