wrestling / Columns

All The King’s Men 08.05.12: Week 11 – Who Will Win Gold First: Orton or Mysterio?

August 5, 2012 | Posted by Larry Csonka

ALL THE KING’s MEN!

The Concept
The concept of the column is simple. As the “King” of the 411 Roundtable, I will pick a topic for discussion. The staff, or “Knights” of the old roundtable will then have the opportunity to state of they are FOR or AGAINST the week’s topic, and then will have the chance to defend their position. Lets get to it…

WHO WILL WIN GOLD FIRST?

Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio are both former WWE and World Champions, and loved all over the world by their fans. Even though they both have two wellness strikes against them, Randy Orton will win a major title (WWE Title or World Title) before Rey Mysterio.

Bobby Knight Greg DeMarco – AGREE : This one just seems obvious to me. Rey Mysterio is a big merchandise seller, and is insanely popular with the kids. He can work with nearly anyone on the roster, and he’s realistically a legend in the business at this point. He’s a sure fire Hall of Famer—provided he doesn’t get a third strike or leave on bad terms.

That said, he’s nowhere near Randy Orton in the hierarchy of the company. Orton is one of the faces of the WWE, getting every opportunity to shine despite any of his past transgressions. He’s a product of the WWE machine as well. Rey Mysterio came to the United States through ECW, and rose to prominence in WCW. While he has had his title runs, he was never booked as a serious champion. Hell, his last run didn’t last two hours. Orton has been booked as the top man in either brand in the past, has gone toe-to-toe with Triple H and is likely under a longer contract worth more money than Rey. Plus, I don’t think he’s crossed “the peak” and started to head downhill. Rey is on the decline, and won’t be a consistently major player in the world title picture. I don’t think Rey wins another World Heavyweight or WWE Championship before he retires, and I think Orton will win multiple.

The White Knight Jake St-Pierre – AGREE: This is a formality. It kind of sucks considering Rey has never gotten a real chance to prove how good of a champion he could be, but the fact is that WWE has always been high on Orton. No matter how much of a dick he was, he never dipped below an upper-midcarder since he joined Evolution. He’s a hell of a wrestler and all that jazz, but I think Rey’s better. But the thing is, his knees are stale hamburgers and you never know when he’ll get injured again. Orton has been reliable ever since WWE pushed him to the top in 2007 and hasn’t had very many injuries since then. Orton is simply the most reliable and you could even use his Wellness Suspension gap as a reason. Another thing is age. Despite it being only a five-year gap, you can tell how much Mysterio has aged. He doesn’t have the pep in his step he did even three years ago. Orton is a much better wrestler than he was three years ago and can still improve. I would go as far as saying that Rey is years past his prime. He can still go, but he certainly isn’t what he was. Orton still has a lot of miles on him and that’s what WWE looks for with their top stars.

It’s not like either of them are useless. However, Wellness strikes or not, WWE will invest more time in the next few years in Orton than they will in Mysterio. Rey was close to being released and retiring this year if I recall correctly. Even though there were the same rumors for Orton, there was no doubt among the vast majority of smart fans that Orton would be back after his suspension. They see Orton as a top babyface and it’s extremely likely that the only thing that would change that is a third strike. WWE never booked Rey as a good champion. He lost clean to guys in non-title matches that were never even contenders to his title. Orton was only beaten cleanly a few times last year, most of them by Mark Henry for the title. Looking at the booking of each guy side by side, it really tells you that Orton is going to get another WWE/WHC Title when he returns. Rey is going to be stuck in the upper-midcard veteran role until he retires. It’s obvious if you think about it.

Michael Knight Jeremy Thomas – DISAGREE: Am I crazy? Yes, yes I am crazy. But that doesn’t make me necessarily wrong. Now hear me out here, because this is what I’m seeing as a possibility. We all know that Dolph Ziggler should be winning the World Title moderately soon thanks to his Money in the Bank cash-in. Dolph will need someone to feud with, and I don’t see them just bouncing the belt back to Sheamus right away. By the same token, I don’t see them giving Dolph a long run with the belt, much to my regret. The company never gives someone a long first run these days, and no I don’t consider Dolph’s five second reign a real title reign. I seriously doubt WWE does either. So Dolph will likely get a couple of months before the title goes to someone else, and they’ll need a major babyface to have him drop it to.

“But Jeremy, that’s the perfect time to put the belt on Randy!,” I hear you say. Not necessarily. Keep in mind this: Orton doesn’t need the belt and they’re going to be looking toward a big match for him at WrestleMania soon-ish. They will need to plug him in somewhere and I don’t see that being a title match; he’ll be in some high-profile match with an actual storyline as opposed to “I want your bling.” Even setting that aside, it was announced today that Orton is starring in 12 Rounds: Reloaded. Now, while it is true that I spent about fifteen minutes slamming my forehead into my desk table top at the thought of a sequel to WWE’s worst film (yes, even worse than Knucklehead) directed by the guy who did Scorpion King 3 and written by the guy who wrote Jackie Chan’s Around the World in 80 Days, someone in WWE believes this is a smart move. So Orton will need a month or two for filming. You don’t put the World Title on a guy who’s going to vanish for that long of time.

So, with Orton out, what other babyface will they have take the title off Dolph from Smackdown? You have Sheamus—who, as I said, I don’t see winning it right back—or Rey Rey. I can absolutely see them putting the belt on Rey, having them feud for a few months and then settling it around the Royal Rumble so they can move onto their respective WrestleMania matches. I’m not saying that this will definitely happen, but I consider it at least a possibility, if not a probability. And Orton will be just fine without the World Title for now.

GREEN KNIGHT James Wright – AGREE: All you have to do to answer this one is to look at their differing amounts of world title wins despite their time in the industry. Orton is still a relatively young guy and yet he has far more major title wins than Mysterio. What’s more Mysterio is a high-flyer and so despite them both being plagued with injuries he is in a worse position as his in-ring performance is hampered to a far greater degree. Sure the guy can pull off a 619 when he needs to, but put him in a ring with a guy like Sin Cara, a match up that is just asking for trouble considering Cara’s tendency to botch and Mysterio’s tendency to get injured, and he will look pretty shoddy at this point seeing as his speed and agility is not as it once was.

Mysterio’s hook has always been his underdog status but like John Cena it is hard to be world champion and still be seen as a legitimate underdog, so storyline-wise Mysterio as champion doesn’t give you all that much. Plus there is the fact that his title runs have been questionable at best, whereas Orton has had some good success while holding either belt and has proven that he can at least be a credible champion.

Overall this seems like a no-brainer to me, if you were asking if Orton will be given a major title before a guy like Cody Rhodes despite his wellness suspensions then maybe there would be a talking point, but comparing him to any other guy in the WWE who could have earned two wellness violations and Orton is going to win hands down, unless somehow that man was Cena, and that will never happen. Wellness violations or not Orton is still one of the biggest guys in the company and while he might have arguably gone beyond the title picture, he is always there to take the title whenever the WWE need someone to carry the belt if they have nothing else sorted out. It is possible that Punk has taken his place as second biggest current roster member, but he is still ahead of a guy like Rey Mysterio.

SUGE KNIGHT James Wright – AGREE: Yeah, this is one of the more obvious statements because there’s so much evidence to prove it correct. Rey Mysterio had his fun in the sun, and unfortunately it was due to a death. It was the right place at the right time, with the wrong circumstances. Orton is a multiple time champion who is just a bigger name. As some of the writers posed, Mysterio AS a champion just isn’t that interesting, as he is more exciting to watch chasing the belt. I’d venture to say that Mysterio, as a name, is one of the few who just doesn’t need the belt anymore. He’s just not at the level Orton is in the eyes of the WWE or, from as far as I know, the fans. Orton has become one of the premiere faces of the WWE whereas Mysterio is simply for the kids. It’s not how I see them, it’s how the WWE sees them. Mysterio is there to pop a crowd, Orton is there for longevity and to be a mainstay. When comparing the two athletically, Orton wins in spades, as he has the longevity that Mysterio just doesn’t have anymore. With a recent interview saying Mysterio considered retirement, it’s obvious to see that he’s spending his last years in the ring, and I would hope that he’d use those last years to put some people over as opposed to going for the title.

I suppose what’s more important about this question is that we are assuming either one will get a shot at the title DESPITE the rules they have broken. I feel really iffy about all of this because the fan in me says, whatever, let them do what they want. But, I do care about their well-being and if they are doing something destructive, I would wish they’d stop. All in all, both Orton and Mysterio are adults and their decisions are their own. I do wonder, though, which – if either – will cross the threshold of three strikes, or if the WWE would even allow that to happen.