Once you have subscribed we will use the email you provided to send you the newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the newsletter email. It might have taken a while, but WWE finally pulled the trigger on a Randy Orton heel turn at Extreme Rules where he targeted Jeff Hardy. The act firmly puts him in the United States Championship picture, with sources claiming that The Viper will feature in a triple threat match at SummerSlam against Hardy and Shinsuke Nakamura. HEEL TURN However, Orton has focused the majority of his attention on The Charismatic Enigma rather than The King of Strong Style, and he finally revealed his motivations on SmackDown LIVE this week. Despite the heel turn only being just over two weeks old, Orton has dominated the headlines for the brilliant and natural work he's done as the despicable villain of the blue brand. Last week, it was the disturbing yet fantastic ear stretching spot with Hardy that fans couldn't help but love - and the reaction on social media spoke volumes. This week, however, Orton turned it up a notch as he kicked off SmackDown LIVE with his first promo since his comeback where he took no prisoners. He even took a cheap shot at a popular tag team, which understandably stirred up a lot of reaction on Twitter. Orton went down the respect route, as you'll be able to see below. He questioned why the fans don't respect him before going on to take aim at several WWE stars with some not-so-subtle jabs. He criticised Hardy's face paint, he referenced John Cena changing his merchandise colours all the time to squeeze money out of the fans' pockets and was even critical of Brock Lesnar's part-time status by turning up when it suits him. HEEL PROMO He even took a shot at the stars that dive off cages and turnbuckles for no reason. However, it was the following line which stuck out the most. Orton decided to take aim at one of the hottest commodities in wrestling today - The Bullet Club. He said: "I’m not some indy darling that competed in rundown bingo halls and I didn’t steal some sweet hand gesture either.” It didn't take long for fans to realise he was talking about The Bullet Club and The Young Bucks and the fact that they 'stole' the 'too sweet' hand gesture. It was an easy way to draw heat; a foolproof plan. It's clear just how over The Bullet Club is, so it made perfect sense to target them in a heel promo without namedropping them. Plus, it's quite a statement being mentioned in the same promo as Lesnar and Cena. Considering Orton had the world talking on social media, it's clear that his promo worked. What did you make of Randy Orton's heel promo on SmackDown LIVE this week? Have YOUR say in the comments section below. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE LATEST EPISODE OF TURNBUCKLE TALK - GIVEMESPORT'S WWE PODCAST - THIS WEEK FEATURING A HALL OF FAME DISCUSSION. News Now - Sport News<doc-sep>Bully Ray praised Randy Orton‘s promo last night on Smackdown Live, saying he knocked it out of the park with his delivery: I enjoyed a variety of things on Smackdown last night, starting off with [Randy] Orton’s promo, which I think that he knocked it out of the park. I think he did a great job with it—it was a lot of things—it was the words that he was saying, and it was also the tone in his voice, the inflection in his voice and the way he delivered it. Randy Orton believed everything he was saying last night. If you listened to the reaction of the people, there was a hush over the crowd. That hush wasn’t disinterested, that was ‘oh my God, Randy does sound pissed off, and he’s about to take out his frustrations on a lot of different people. Randy Orton Explains Why He’s Been Attacking Jeff Hardy, Miz And Mrs Taking Over Instagram Co-host Dave LaGreca also praised Orton, saying he thinks we need to see more of this from Orton. You can listen to the full clip in the player below:<doc-sep>Once you have subscribed we will use the email you provided to send you the newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the newsletter email. On this week's episode of SmackDown Live, Randy Orton cut one of his best ever promos. The Viper returned to WWE just a couple of weeks ago at Extreme Rules - attacking Jeff Hardy, who'd just lost the United States Championship. THE HEEL TURN Two nights later, as The Charismatic Enigma attempted to win back his belt, Orton interfered once again. He laid a brutal beatdown on Hardy for the second time, dragging him out of the ring to cause the disqualification, before throwing his rival over the announce table. Following those two assaults, there's no question that heel Randy is back - and potentially more dangerous than ever. But his new mentality isn't just about physically attacking his fellow superstars - it goes further than that, as this week's memorable promo showed. TAKING NOTICE When opening the show on Tuesday night, Orton made his way down to the ring and began to explain why he decided to beat up Hardy. He went on to say that it was all the fault of the WWE Universe, for not properly respecting his legacy. RKO then decided to bash a number of superstars and their gimmicks, before taking aim at former indy stars like Finn Balor. He ended by explaining that he's going to make it his mission to destroy every popular superstar in WWE - and to be honest, it's hard not to take notice of his message. PRAISE FROM A WWE HALL OF FAMER As well as putting WWE fans on notice, it seems that The Legend Killer has caught the attention of his fellow professionals too - and in particular, one Hall of Famer. Bubba Ray Dudley, who was a top heel himself for some time during his run in WWE, explained exactly why he loved Orton's latest promo. "I enjoyed a variety of things on Smackdown last night, starting off with [Randy] Orton’s promo, which I think that he knocked it out of the park, Dudley said, per NoDQ. "I think he did a great job with it - it was a lot of things - it was the words that he was saying, and it was also the tone in his voice, the inflection in his voice and the way he delivered it." WHAT MADE IT A GREAT PROMO The former tag champ went on to explain exactly why the promo was so good - and it's down to the fact that he genuinely believed everything he was saying. "Randy Orton believed everything he was saying last night. If you listened to the reaction of the people, there was a hush over the crowd," Dudley continued. "That hush wasn’t disinterested, that was ‘oh my God, Randy does sound pissed off, and he’s about to take out his frustrations on a lot of different people.'" To impress a Hall of Famer as much as that proves just how good Orton's latest promo was. Hopefully, we'll be seeing a few more like it in the future, too. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE LATEST EPISODE OF TURNBUCKLE TALK - GIVEMESPORT'S WWE PODCAST - THIS WEEK FEATURING A HALL OF FAME DISCUSSION. News Now - Sport News<doc-sep>Once you have subscribed we will use the email you provided to send you the newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the newsletter email. It makes you wonder why WWE took so long to pull the trigger on a Randy Orton heel turn. In just over two weeks, The Viper has dominated the headlines and proved to be more entertaining than anything he managed to do during his run as a face. HEEL RETURN The fact is, Orton was born to be a despicable villain that the WWE fans can't help but love to hate. He returned at Extreme Rules to target Jeff Hardy after he lost the United States Championship to Shinsuke Nakamura in only five seconds. Two night later, he was trending on social media after a simple yet disturbingly brilliant act when he stretched The Charismatic Enigma's ear to cause a stir online. This week, he did the same - albeit verbally. Again, fans are talking on social media as the former WWE Champion delivered one of his better heel promos in quite some time. ORTON'S PROMO He targeted Hardy and his face paint, he targeted John Cena and his neverending colour-changing merchandise to squeeze money out of fans while also taking aim at Brock Lesnar's part-time status in WWE. Then, Orton took it one step further when he seemingly took aim at The Bullet Club. As you'll be able to see below, he said: "I’m not some indy darling that competed in rundown bingo halls, and I didn’t steal some sweet hand gesture either.” If it wasn't obvious, he was anything but subtle when stating that The Bullet Club - now featuring the likes of The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega - stole the 'too sweet' gesture initially created by The Kliq. Another prominent member of The Bullet Club is Cody Rhodes, somebody who knows Orton very well after their time together in Legacy and someone who doesn't hold his tongue on social media. CODY'S RESPONSE It didn't take long for fans to bring it to his attention, and his response might have taken many by surprise. Rather than criticising Orton or taking the bait, he praised his former partner by admitting he taught him a lot about the business, and wouldn't criticise him. He tweeted: "You crazy?! Randy could call me a rat piece of sh!& and I wouldn’t care ha. "Without him, I wouldn’t have cleared a million dollars by 24 without a college education. Learned a lot about wrestling from him, and pretty much everything I know about travel from him. 'Ice cream.'" Sadly for fans of The Bullet Club, Cody didn't 'go in' at Orton like they would have hoped. If there's anything we've learned here, Cody isn't going to talk downs someone who has helped him, and that Orton is so much better as a heel. What did you make of Cody Rhodes' response to Randy Orton's cheap shot on SmackDown LIVE? Have YOUR say in the comments section below. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE LATEST EPISODE OF TURNBUCKLE TALK - GIVEMESPORT'S WWE PODCAST - THIS WEEK FEATURING A HALL OF FAME DISCUSSION. News Now - Sport News<doc-sep>
There was a hint of realism to Randy Orton’s promo to open WWE SmackDown Live earlier this week. Orton got on the mic to explain his actions from last week when he viciously assaulted Jeff Hardy. “The Viper” blamed the fans for his heel turn and took aim at “indy darlings” as well. Orton also poked fun at The Bullet Club for stealing The Kliq’s ‘Too Sweet’ hand gesture. WWE Hall Of Famer Bully Ray recently took to Busted Open Radio and expressed how much he enjoyed Orton’s promo. Ray said Orton knocked it out of the park and praised the third-generation Superstar’s delivery: “I enjoyed a variety of things on SmackDown starting out with Orton’s promo which I think he knocked out of the park,” Bully Ray said. “I think he did a great job with it and it was a lot of things. It was the words he was saying and it was also the tone in his voice, the inflection in his voice and the way he delivered it. “Randy Orton believed everything he was saying last night. If you listened to the reaction of the people, there was hush over the crowd. That hush wasn’t that they were disinterested. It was a hush like, ‘oh my god Randy does sound pissed off and it sounds like he’s about to take out all his frustrations out on a lot of different people.” "Randy Orton believed everything he was saying last night. "@davidlagreca1 & @bullyray5150 praise @RandyOrton for his promo on #SDLive last night and think he may be right about the fans taking him for granted in the WWE. pic.twitter.com/PEjMR2Y749 — SiriusXM Busted Open (@BustedOpenRadio) July 25, 2018 H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions