Where has awesome, crazy Randy Orton gone/is he coming back?

[Sumbody Gon' Get Dey Kneelift]

Granted, they've never totally cut loose on him, but his VoldemOrton character was by far my favorite version of the guy. Vince punting, Cena-exploding, snake-slithering, voice-hearing RKO-outta-nowhere EVIIIIIL equal to Cena is a fascinating villain who was so over he was getting huge pops while still being booed. We've started to see little edges of it recently for the first time in a long time with his interactions with the Authority; he seems to not understand power dynamics, to the degree that he'll be megalomania-aggressive towards anyone who threatens him, unable to compute how that would get a bad response.

Why did they end crazy, really interesting Randy? And will he come back?

[Heartbreaker]

We're not allowed to have entertaining characters in the WWE.

[Deleted]

I would kind of like to see them play up the weird, hyper-paranoid thing he has going on at the moment. As it stands it's so inconsistently used it's mostly just confusing, but he seems to be showing flashes of being completely on edge thinking he'll get screwed over just like Bryan was and is just a means to an end, but thus far they're doing absolutely nothing with it.

[Banjo Is Broken]

He went to therapy.

[Starshine]

Nov 27, 2013 2:48:42 GMT -5 Heartbreaker said:

We're not allowed to have entertaining characters in the WWE.

But 2009 Orton wasn't entertaining. He was like the complete opposite.

[Heartbreaker]

Nov 27, 2013 3:19:18 GMT -5 Starshine said:

Nov 27, 2013 2:48:42 GMT -5 Heartbreaker said:

We're not allowed to have entertaining characters in the WWE.

But 2009 Orton wasn't entertaining. He was like the complete opposite.

All I remember is Orton being batshit crazy awesome from the start of the year until Wrestlemania time which is where they blew the angle. From probably April until the very end of the year I missed out on WWE besides the Punk/Hardy feud on Youtube. =\

[Starshine]

Nov 27, 2013 3:30:37 GMT -5 Heartbreaker said:

Nov 27, 2013 3:19:18 GMT -5 Starshine said:

But 2009 Orton wasn't entertaining. He was like the complete opposite.

All I remember is Orton being batshit crazy awesome from the start of the year until Wrestlemania time which is where they blew the angle. From probably April until the very end of the year I missed out on WWE besides the Punk/Hardy feud on Youtube. =\

The Vince punt was pretty cool and was another one of those things that started off promising, but then became lame. But really besides that, all I really remember is the slow... promos... that... went... like.... this... and "Rhodes, DiBiase, Legacy" constantly interfering in all his matches.

[Heartbreaker]

RHODES! DIBIASE! LEGACY FROM BEHIND!

[CATCH_US IS the Conversation]

Nov 27, 2013 3:42:14 GMT -5 Heartbreaker said:

RHODES! DIBIASE! LEGACY FROM BEHIND!

Sounds fun.

[Germansuplex]

Orton being a corporate puppet always rubbed me the wrong way, so I would be happy to see him snap and destroy the authority. Only thing is, he just turned heel, so it probably won't happen. But Orton being paranoid about the authority not standing behind him makes for interesting segments. I like the way he clutches the belt tightly, he's like Gollum now.

[Heartbreaker]

Nov 27, 2013 3:47:26 GMT -5 CATCH_US IS the Conversation said:

Nov 27, 2013 3:42:14 GMT -5 Heartbreaker said:

RHODES! DIBIASE! LEGACY FROM BEHIND!

Sounds fun.

....Well, one is Cody.

[Deleted]

God, I hope so.

When not played to an extreme, Randy is one of the dullest, flatest characters the ring has ever seen.

[Deleted]

I think when HHH and Stephanie decided to come back to TV, their very presence started sucking the lifeforce out of various wrestlers on the show. Because no one can outshine them.

This explains where Sandow's interesting fun side went too.

[saintpat]

I totally missed Orton ever being awesome.

[Sumbody Gon' Get Dey Kneelift]

The Gollumy belt clutching and goofy tongue waggling isn't enough for me.