WWE SummerSlam 2016: What Can We Expect Out of Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Orton?
By AJ Balano
One of SummerSlam’s triple main events is the highly anticipated, much hyped encounter between Brock Lesnar and Randy Orton. A match billed as ’15 Years in the Making’, what can fans realistically expect out of it?
Brock Lesnar and Randy Orton have seemingly done enough to promote their dream match at SummerSlam. Orton fired the first two shots: calling out Lesnar’s USADA doping violation at Battleground, and then following it up with an RKO literally out of nowhere to the Beast Incarnate on Raw, after the fact that Orton had already been drafted to Smackdown.
Lesnar would return the favor by invading Smackdown and dropping Orton with a retaliatory F5. This past Monday night on Raw, a video promo was put together detailing the storied histories of both superstars, dating all the way back 15 years, to their days in WWE’s then-developmental system, OVW. With the go-home Raw and Smackdowns being next week, it would appear that WWE have done just enough to promote the big ticket inter-promotional attraction, especially given the limited amount of dates Lesnar works in a year.
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With the match, the event, and the venue set, and as excitement continues to mount for the confrontation between two of WWE’s biggest stars post-Attitude Era, the question now is: what can fans realistically expect out of the Lesnar vs. Orton match? Both men are in their mid-to-late 30s, so perhaps hoping to see an epic encounter on par with the likes of Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke Nakamura earlier in the year would be a bit unrealistic.
Depending on how the Joe/Nakamura championship match goes, Lesnar and Orton will have a tough act to follow
Also of note, SummerSlam will once again be forced to follow NXT Takeover Brooklyn for a second time, with their main event set to be the incumbent NXT Champion Samoa Joe vs. Shinsuke Nakamura. Ironically enough, both competitors are essentially the same age as Lesnar and Orton, and both are poised to tear the house down in a strong style dream bout of the ages, with Nakamura, the ‘King of Strong Style’ and Joe, the self-proclaimed ’emperor’ who argues that he first introduced the style to the States many, many years ago. Depending on how the Joe/Nakamura championship match goes, Lesnar and Orton will have a tough act to follow at SummerSlam.
Ambrose noted that, artistically, Brock didn’t want to do anything, essentially vetoing everything that Ambrose had in mind
Perhaps most interesting, and possibly a slight glimpse as to what we can expect to see out of Lesnar and Orton, was Dean Ambrose’s comments on the most recent Stone Cold Podcast regarding his no holds barred street fight against Lesnar at Wrestlemania 32. Ambrose noted that, artistically, Brock didn’t want to do anything, essentially vetoing everything that Ambrose had in mind for such a marquee match on the biggest stage in the company’s history. Ambrose detailed that he had all of these crazy, over-the-top sequences and spots planned, but was ultimately met with ‘laziness’ on Lesnar’s part in regards to putting the match together, which turned out to be a solid contest, but nothing noteworthy or that would stand out in the annals of time of the Show of Shows.
Rollins described his opponent at Wrestlemania 31, Randy Orton, as wanting to ‘play it safe’
In addition, on his second appearance on Talk is Jericho, Seth Rollins described his opponent at Wrestlemania 31, Randy Orton, as wanting to ‘play it safe’, that the Viper preferred to ‘bat a .1000′ every time. Rollins had no qualms about it, as opposed to Ambrose’s situation with Lesnar a year later, and the Rollins/Orton match was yet another solid bout; not bad, not great, but good, and it produced one of that particular Wrestlemania’s more memorable moments: Orton’s amazing RKO counter to Rollins’ then-finishing maneuver, the curb stomp.
What type of match will we get with a seemingly ‘lazy’ Brock Lesnar and a Randy Orton who wants to ‘play it safe’?
With two of WWE’s top superstars describing their experiences working with Orton and Lesnar, respectively, is this a sign of what we might end up seeing at SummerSlam? What type of match will we get with a seemingly ‘lazy’ Brock Lesnar and a Randy Orton who wants to ‘play it safe’? Lesnar and Orton, both no strangers to the big stage and pressure situations, have to not only deliver on the promises of their encounter being billed as a ‘dream match 15 years in the making’, but subconsciously, have to follow Joe and Nakamura, two men who are practically the same age and as experienced as they are. It would be bad for SummerSlam, and a bad look for Lesnar and Orton if their match ends up being a dud compared to what we could possibly see in perhaps the stiffest title match in recent memory with the two self-annointed rulers of strong style duking it out over a championship.
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Ever since Lesnar’s lop-sided title match against John Cena at SummerSlam two years ago, where dropped the then-champ with 16 suplexes and go on to capture the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, all of his matches have essentially been the same: Suplex City. Lesnar’s main event against Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania 31: Suplex City. Lesnar’s match against Rollins at Battleground: Suplex City. Lesnar’s two return bouts against the Undertaker at SummerSlam last year and Hell in a Cell: Suplex City. And finally his match against Ambrose at Wrestlemania 32: Suplex City. Suplex, repeat. Suplex, repeat. Suplex, repeat. And it looks to be more of the same at this year’s SummerSlam as Paul Heyman vowed that Lesnar would take Orton to Suplex City.
Is this the ‘laziness’ that Ambrose alluded to? Lesnar actually does have more moves in his arsenal, however, since the advent of Suplex City getting over when he famously blurted it out at Roman Reigns during Wrestlemania 31 in one of his many uncensored, unscripted moments, Lesnar’s style has drastically become oversimplified to the point that he essentially now has less moves of doom than John Cena: the German suplex, the F5, and the Kimura Lock. Ironically, prior to SummerSlam 2014, when Lesnar used to wrestle highly competitive main event matches, it can be argued that his best work since returning to WWE in 2012 was his No Disqualification encounter with CM Punk, dubbed ‘The Best vs. The Beast’ at SummerSlam 2013.
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Orton, also no stranger to the spotlight of the main event, has also dealt with a rather rocky road. When he was a heel aligned with the Authority and feuding with John Cena yet again, many of his matches were berated by the crowd as being boring. Is this what Rollins was talking about when Orton explained that if he could bat a .1000 every night, he would? Although Orton has since returned with a much more lively tweener personality, his most common criticism was that he was bland and generic.
With the match being so hotly anticipated for, it would be a shame for the two to basically phone it in
Lesnar cannot afford to be ‘lazy’ and Orton can’t ‘play it safe’, although the latter would understandably be looking to given his string of shoulder injuries coupled with the intensely punishing style of his SummerSlam opponent. With the match being so hotly anticipated for, it would be a shame for the two to basically phone it in at WWE’s second biggest show of the year. We know that Lesnar can produce great matches; he’s done so with John Cena at Extreme Rules 2012 and CM Punk at SummerSlam 2013. Orton, when motivated, can also deliver clinical wrestling gems, as he also did with Punk at Wrestlemania XXVII, and his feud with Christian during most of 2012, as well as Daniel Bryan.
Much is at stake here other than what we know on the surface. Yes it’s a dream match. That much is certain. But it’s also a marquee match on the second biggest event of WWE’s calendar year; three days at the Barclays Center for Takeover, SummerSlam, and Raw. It’s an inter-promotional match, which means it would further drive and develop the rivalry between Raw and Smackdown as we settle into the brand extension and the New Era. Lesnar and Orton also have to be up to par with Joe and Nakamura from the night before, essentially WWE’s homegrown talent trying to one-up or equal the efforts of some of the biggest names in wrestling outside of WWE.
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If what Ambrose and Rollins said about working with Lesnar and Orton are any indication, the dream match at SummerSlam may end up being another fiasco such as the one Lesnar found himself in at Wrestlemania XX. Lesnar can’t be ‘lazy’ and Orton must try to get out of his comfort zone a bit to deliver a match worthy of the bright lights, the star-studded stage, and the hot New York crowd of SummerSlam.