AEW: If Randy Orton made the jump, he’d be All Elite Wrestling’s top villain

As Randy Orton teases going “Elite,” a jump from WWE to AEW is an interesting what if scenario to ponder upon.

Sports contracts, whether they be in WWE or AEW or otherwise, are negotiated practically through social media. It is headline news when an athlete unfollows his team, likes a tweet from a player on a different team, or vents his frustration with his current contract. This is what qualifies for headlines in today’s landscape.

Professional wrestlers are some of the biggest puppet masters.  They know fans will flock to every tweet, retweet, and like that they post on Twitter in an attempt to gain more information about the character and the real person behind them.

Randy Orton created quite the stir on Twitter. Fans reacted with excitement when he began hinting about joining AEW in 2020, the year that his contract with WWE is reported to run up. He has not outwardly stated a desire to sign with AEW. Could we be reading Orton’s tweets and applying our own sensibilities with what we think the tweets mean? Absolutely, we could.

This won’t be an article that claims to have sources in the know. This is not any sort of wrestling journalism. We don’t know if Randy Orton will sign with AEW in 2020.

This article is an attempt to “book the territory” if Randy Orton joins AEW in 2020.

AEW prides itself on being the alternative program to WWE. To their growing legion of fans, WWE has become contrived programming. AEW is the cool alternative for disillusioned WWE. For example, The Young Bucks feel like “the fans’ tag team,” and Dolph Ziggler and Bobby Roode feel like “the machines” tag team.

Randy Orton has had a remarkable WWE career. Stone Cold Steve Austin was an active professional wrestler at 7 WrestleManias, Hulk Hogan was at the peak of his career for WrestleManias 1-6, and The Rock has wrestled at 10 WrestleManias. Compare that to the 15 WrestleManias that Orton has competed at. His consistency is legendary.

Orton has mastered the cliché “work smarter, not harder”. His in-ring work is the opposite of the popular high flying style in 2019. Orton doesn’t wrestle so fans will fawn over a 450 splash in GIF form. He wrestles a style that fans deem boring, but has kept his in a top position in WWE for 15 years.

Let’s assume that Randy Orton does leave WWE for AEW in 2020.

When WWE portrays Orton as a fan favorite it feels fake. If Ricky Steamboat is impossible to boo, Randy Orton is almost as impossible to cheer as a fan favorite. Orton defines what a natural villain should be.

These are characteristics that could make him the top antagonist in AEW.

The reaction for Orton first showing up to AEW would be deafening. Fans would shower him with applause because he would be the first “defector” from WWE to AEW. This would be the 2020 version of when Scott Hall first showed up to WCW. Before he said one word in an AEW ring, Orton would have the crowd in the palm of his hand.

Give Orton a live microphone, and five minutes later, he would break the heart of every AEW fan. Orton can mention The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, MJF, and a list of AEW’s top talent. He can mention that if you are looking for 450 splashes or “stupid internet high spots so you can retweet to your 43 followers” then you won’t find that with Randy Orton. When reminds fans that he is a multi-millionaire because he doesn’t take reckless chances like Kenny Omega, fans will boo him back to Stamford.

Orton can be the wrestling elitist who made millions working the “WWE style”. He came to AEW so that he can smarten wrestlers up and take away the “this is awesome” chants. This character will become the biggest villain in the company. Orton is at his best when he is the arrogant self-centered villain. AEW does not that character on the roster yet.

Cody Rhodes and Tony Khan could make this character mean so much more for AEW and Orton. Both are two of the most recognizable AEW names. Khan has to appear on TV and looks like he was bamboozled by a professional wrestler; it adds more layers to the evil con man WWE wrestler who lied to Khan about his intentions in AEW. Rhodes and Orton have history together. Rhodes can confront Orton about why Orton misled him when Rhodes signed him to AEW. All Orton would have to say is “you of all people, Cody, should understand what this business is.”

Everyone from AEW feels like homegrown talent. The two exceptions are Jericho and Moxley. Both have experienced a career renaissance in AEW. Orton would be the first talent from WWE to AEW that fans truly hate as an outsider.

One of the most traditional stories professional wrestling happens when the fan favorite conquers the hated villain. Orton being the tremendous villain opens up the door for AEW to launch a new hero. This hero will be the one who stands up to the evil that Randy Orton represents. This is a feud should be the biggest feud in 2020. It makes a new superstar in AEW. It makes Randy Orton the biggest villain in professional wrestling.