The Piledriver Report 06.07.12: A Viper, The Baddest Man on the Planet, and Ugly Gold

THE VIPER

Randy Orton: Last week, I was surprised to hear that the WWE has suspended Randy Orton. While I am a big fan of the WWE’s Wellness Policy, I have my doubts on the legitimacy of the program. After all, with guys like Ryback and Mason Ryan walking around the WWE, I always found it hard to believe that the WWE locker room is cleaner than the results that the Wellness tests provide. Sure, we get the occasional upper tier wrestler, like Rey Mysterio, busted from time to time. However, when push comes to shove, would the WWE pull the trigger and punish one of its “faces of the company?”

The reason for this doubt goes back to the Signature Pharmacy scandal that broke out a few years ago. Both Booker T AND Randy Orton’s names were on several media lists as being customers at one time of Signature Pharmacy for “banned” substances. While Booker T received his second strike, nothing happened to Randy Orton. Last week, Orton finally was hit with a second strike. One more strike, and Randy Orton will be fired for at least a year before he can rejoin World Wrestling Entertainment.

On June 1st, Randy Orton met with Vince McMahon and Triple H at the WWE Headquarters to discuss his test failure. According to reports, “the meeting did not go very well. Apparently, there are people lobbying for his termination as a cost cutting measure since he has a ten-year contract through the early part of 2020 and his money is such that it’s not economically justified unless he is used in main events, and that with the second suspension, they will be leery to do so.” These same reports claim that Vince was especially mad, and thought Randy Orton matured to the point where he wouldn’t do something like this. If this is true, this is a very hypocritical stand on the WWE’s behalf. I remember a few years ago when Orton appeared on RAW during one of his injury stints, and Vince commented that Randy “was looking a little thin.” At the time, it was reported that Vince’s little crack was more than just a storyline jab at Orton. If that’s the case, is it any wonder why Randy Orton, or any other performer in the WWE, would hit the “juice?” Everybody already knew that, except for the rare exception, the WWE is a big man’s game. The bigger you are, the better your chance is to get to the top. There is no reason to be surprised to hear about any wrestler using steroids in the WWE.

The big question of the day asks if the WWE would really fire their top star on SmackDown! Because he received his second steroid test failure? No matter how upset Vince McMahon is at Randy Orton right now, the “viper” is currently on a sixty day suspension. This means that the WWE has plenty of time before they need to decide on Randy Orton’s future. By the end of the two month hiatus, cooler heads will prevail and Orton will be back in the fold. After all, Jeff Hardy was a bigger red flag than Randy Orton, and Jeff was given the WWE World title. Even after Jeff ran into the drug trafficking incident, the WWE still wanted to resign Hardy. The WWE has very little main event depth at the moment, and losing Randy Orton would be a major blow to the company. The blow would be self-inflicted. The WWE doesn’t have someone ready to step in to the top role on SmackDown! unless they want to split up RAW’s 1-2 punch of John Cena and CM Punk. However, I don’t think the WWE would want to do that. The only readily available person that could probably carry the brand would be Daniel Bryan. Bryan did it for a few months this past winter, so there is a track record there. Even if Bryan was able to carry the brand, the loss of Orton would still weaken the main event depth of the WWE.

From a competition standpoint, you could take TNA out of the equation, because Randy Orton going to Orlando wouldn’t have much effect on the WWE’s business. The WWE is so far ahead of TNA that I don’t think that even John Cena going to TNA would close the gap between the two companies. I think the WWE would be more concerned on how the loss of Orton would affect the company, and not whether TNA would become serious competition for the WWE.

What would the benefit be for the WWE to release Randy Orton? Forget the financial savings that would come with releasing Randy Orton. The WWE is like the New York Yankees. When it comes to signing talent, the WWE could basically write up a blank check and not blink an eye. A prime example would be the WWE signing Brock Lesnar for $5 million to only work an estimated 24 dates. The real benefit would come from the fact that the WWE would not be able to remain stagnant by pushing the same old, same old. Without Randy Orton, the WWE would be forced to inject new blood into the main event (notice that I didn’t say title picture) scene. By putting someone hungry into the role, it may breathe life into the product. At worst case scenario, the WWE would have something fresh for the fans to sink their teeth into.

THE BADDEST MAN ON THE PLANET

Brock Lesnar: What a shock! Brock Lesnar currently has nuclear heat in the WWE. The main reason for the heat at the moment has to do with Lesnar attending the UFC show, and having a meeting with Dana White. Man, you have to love Brock Lesnar. The guy does what he wants, and doesn’t care what anyone says or thinks. How awesome is that? Remember when CM Punk wanted to attend a UFC event as Chael Sonnen’s corner man? Vince refused to allow him to appear on the show. While Punk still when to the show, it was very low key. If Brock wanted to be in a UFC fighter’s corner, and Vince said “no,” do you think it would have stopped him?

Lesnar is in a great position. He is financially set, and doesn’t NEED to work. He is a pay per view draw for both the UFC and WWE. Sure, Extreme Rules didn’t garner the buy rate that the WWE envisioned. However, it still drew a higher number than last year’s show, which probably wouldn’t have happened if Lesnar wasn’t on the broadcast. For a “B” show the number was really good, and I’m sure his match against Triple H at SummerSlam will prove that Lesnar was worth the money. That more than anything will take the “heat” off of him.

I understand the WWE being ticked off at Brock Lesnar for talking to Dana White. However, this was inevitable. When Brock retired from the UFC, I predicted that he would be back in the UFC within a year. I figured that he would do his WrestleMania match that he wanted to do two years ago. Then, with the UFC’s oversaturation of shows, a major fighter would get injured and Dana White would call up Brock to save the day. The situation didn’t play out the way I thought, although the result seems to be the same. Brock is doing the WWE, and then once his pay day is over, he’ll be back in the octagon. If I could see this happening, the WWE should have. Especially since Brock doesn’t love the wrestling business. He just happens to be really, really good at it.

I would love to be inside Lesnar’s head for ten minutes just to see what goes on in there. Did he go to the UFC show to piss Vince off? Did he want to see where things stood in a potential UFC return in 2013? Did he just want to get people talking, or was there no method behind his madness? We will probably never know, but Brock sure makes it fun to guess.

UGLY GOLD
The New Belt: If Brock was the good, and Orton was the bad, then news surrounding the WWE’s introduction of a new version of the WWE World title is certainly the ugly. Don’t believe me? Check out the picture.