Being The Booker: Randy Orton + Bray Wyatt =’God vs. Man’
The Calfornia-based John LaRocca has been a pro wrestling booker for nearly nine years, having booked with All Pro Wrestling from 2008-12. He currently co-owns and books Premier Wrestling. This series will see John take a current WWE wrestler and give him a path based on his experience.
I was originally going to write about what would be next after Randy Orton collided with Brock Lesnar’s elbows at SummerSlam. WWE booked a brilliant finish with the referee stoppage of a bloody and beaten Orton — exactly what Lesnar needed to get back being the unstoppable force that his character is.
On Smackdown following SummerSlam, Orton surprisingly came out for an in-ring promo where he discussed his injuries and said that he and Lesnar will one day meet inside the ring again. Then, out came Bray Wyatt and just like that, we have Orton’s new program.
The more I thought about this Orton-Wyatt program, I really liked it. Wyatt claiming he is a god and calling Orton “just a man” makes this program so interesting to me. Here’s how I would book it, starting with Monday’s Raw.
Raw | August 29th
We get an announcement that Orton will make his in0ring return on Smackdown this Tuesday on the USA Network.
WWE.com | August 30th
During the afternoon on WWE.com, Wyatt cuts a promo telling Orton tonight on Smackdown, he will give Orton a little taste of why he is a god and Randy is just a man.
SmackDown August 30th | Randy Orton vs. Tyler Breeze
Orton pins Tyler Breeze with an RKO. Fandango, who was at ringside supporting his tag team partner, jumps into the ring and attacks Orton after the match. Orton quickly makes a comeback, and hits his draping DDT off the middle rope. Orton is about to deliver an RKO on Fandango, but the lights go out. The lights come back on and Wyatt is in ring with Fandango in position for “Sister Abigail” and delivers the move. As Orton moves to get Wyatt, the lights go out again. The lights come on and Wyatt is gone.
Wyatt then appears on the Titantron and ttells Orton, “How does it feel, Randy? How does it feel knowing you are a just a man? How does it feel that no matter how much money you make, or how many championships you win, that, in the end, you are just an insignificant man? These people look at you as this great man. They worship you, they want a piece of you. These people should not be worshiping you, but they should be worshipping me as I am a god. Tonight, Randy…tonight, I gave you another taste of my power. Most importantly, I showed these blind followers that you, Randy, are simply just a man. For their blindness, Randy, I must destroy you and destroy you, I will”.
The Titantron goes dark, Randy is angry and screaming Bray to bring it on.
Raw | September 5th
Announcement is made that Orton has challenged Wyatt to meet him inside the ring, but will Wyatt accept?
SmackDown | September 6th
Orton comes to the ring and challenges Wyatt to come to the ring to face him one on one and see who truly is the better man. Wyatt appears on the Titantron and tells Orton he doesn’t need to come to the ring to prove he is the better man…because he is a god.
“A god doesn’t accept challenges from mortal men, but he has a simple minded, yet powerful man, who will”.
Erick Rowan walks into the frame. Turning to Rowan, Wyatt tells him, “A few weeks ago son, I walked away from you. You were a failure and a god doesn’t want followers who are failures. Tonight my son, you have one more chance to prove yourself to your god. To prove yourself, you must go to that ring and destroy Randy Orton.”
Rowan makes his way toward the ring with Wyatt. Wyatt stops at the top of the rampway as Rowan slowly makes his way to ring. Orton grabs the microphone and has a message for Rowan:
“Once again, you are letting this false god manipulate you, Rowan. You followed this man for years, you helped him win countless of matches, you helped him create this imaginary world where he truly believes that he is a god. He is not a god, Rowan. He is a man like you and me. So don’t fight me, fight the false god Bray Wyatt who has manipulated and taken advantage of you since day one.”
Rowan stops and starts to look at Wyatt at the top of the ramp as the words of Orton are starting to sink in. Wyatt says to Rowan, “Destroy that man, Rowan! Destroy Randy Orton or you will never be accepted into my family again”.
Rowan turns and moves towards Randy inside the ring.
Orton tells Rowan, “Once again, he is manipulating you. You don’t need to be in his family, you are apart of the biggest family there is, the family that is the WWE Universe. Bray is scared of you. You may not be able to play the mind games he plays, but you are powerful and strong and deep down, Bray is scared of you. Go and show Bray Wyatt that you don’t need him anymore, and show Bray Wyatt you will not be abused anymore”.
An angry Rowan makes his way up the rampway towards Wyatt. As Rowan gets to Wyatt, the lights go out. The lights come back on and Wyatt is gone. Rowan looks around and the lights go off again. The lights come back on and Wyatt has Rowan in position to deliver “Sister Abigail”. Wyatt laughs at Orton and then hits the move on Rowan on the rampway. Lights go out and come on again, and Wyatt is gone.
Later in the night, Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan announce Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt will meet one on one at Backlash this Sunday.
Backlash | September 11th
The match between Orton and Wyatt is a wild brawl. Back and forth, it goes until Wyatt takes over when he slams Orton’s head into the ring post on the outside. During the heat, Wyatt is punishing Orton with big blows to head, including his big discus clothesline. Orton starts to make his comeback. During Orton’s comeback, he starts to get dizzy and lightheaded. Orton collapses (think Shawn Michaels/Owen Hart on Raw in November 1995). The referee calls the match off and Wyatt wins by referee stoppage. Orton is carried off in a stretcher.
SmackDown | September 13th
It’s announced that Orton has suffered a serious concussion in his match with Wyatt at Backlash. Orton will be out of action to for unspecified time as concussions are unpredictable and the recovery time could take a few weeks…or possibly a year.
Wyatt comes to the ring and tells everyone now they can see that he is a god and Orton is just a man. Wyatt says there is one man who has lost faith and he wants that man to come out and tell the world that he is a god: Erick Rowan. Rowan comes out and faces Wyatt. Wyatt demands Rowan get on his knees and bow to his god.
Rowan refuses. Wyatt demands Rowan to bow, but again Rowan refuses. Wyatt says this is his last chance, and if Rowan does not bow, he will destroy him right here and now. Rowan tells Wyatt he is no god and is just a manipulative, evil, and twisted man. Wyatt throws a punch at Rowan, but he blocks it and both men brawl. Rowan has the upper hand until the lights go out. The lights turn back on and Wyatt is gone.
SmackDown | September 20th and 27th
The Wyatt and Rowan program rages on over the next two weeks in matches. Both matches end with no winner, ending in double disqualifications when the referee has lost total control. This all leads to Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan signing a no disqualification next week on Smackdown.
SmackDown | October 4th
We get another wild brawl between Wyatt and Rowan in this no-dq match. After fifteen minutes of action, Wyatt gets the upper hand, hitting Rowan with a steel chair. Wyatt hits “Sister Abigail” on the chair, but does not pin him. Wyatt hits the move again, but still does not pin him. As Wyatt has Rowan once again to deliver “Sister Abigail” for the third time, he laughs and screams to Rowan, “I am a god, and you cannot stop a god.” Just before Wyatt delivers his finishing move, Orton’s music hits.
Orton runs to the ring and brawls with Wyatt. Orton has Wyatt reeling and is set up to deliver the RKO. As Orton goes to hit the RKO, the lights go out. The lights turn back on and Wyatt is no longer there.
Later in the show, Orton demands to Shane and Bryan that he wants a match at No Mercy versus Wyatt inside Hell In A Cell. Orton says he is cleared to return to the ring and wants take the false god Bray Wyatt into Hell. McMahon and Bryan sign the match.
No Mercy
Like every Hell In The Cell match, this one is violent. Both men beat the hell out of each other. Back and forth, the action goes. After long heat by Wyatt, Orton makes his big comeback. Orton hits multiple big clotheslines, but Wyatt gets the upper hand and sets up for “Sister Abigail”. Orton reverses it and hits the draping DDT. Orton has Wyatt set up for the RKO and is ready to finish off Wyatt once and for all.
Orton goes for the RKO, but the lights go out. The lights come back on and Orton has Wyatt by the beard, proving that Wyatt is just a man. Orton hits the RKO and gets the pin to end the feud.