Posted in: Doctor's Orders
Doctor's Orders: Orton vs. Christian is What Wrestling is All About
By Dr. CMV1
May 28, 2011 - 7:29:25 AM

At Wrestlemania XXVII, I sat live in attendance and watched Triple H and the Undertaker use storytelling to overcome their physical limitation en route to producing one of the most memorable matches that I’ve seen. I just assumed that it would be the frontrunner for the 2011 Match of the Year. I also very much enjoyed the segments leading up to it. There was a lot of nitpicking around the internet, but the 2-21-11 segment where they didn’t even say a word, but stood silently laying the foundation for what would produce that MOTY contender…that was magic. So, I just assumed that it would be my feud of the year, as well.

…Until May 6th…

Christian lost the World title to Randy Orton that night on Smackdown. I read the spoilers; I knew it was going to happen. I just wanted to see if the match was any good. I watched the opening segment, too, though and, in doing so, saw Christian speak passionately and nearly shed tears about how much it meant to him to become World Heavyweight Champion after 17 years in the business. It was as if the stars aligned to bring Christian full circle. I remember getting really behind his first push as a top level guy back in 2004/2005 and being disappointed when the push fizzled out, prompting him to take his talents to a few hundred miles north of South Beach. I actually recall his debut in the WWE. I remember his ladder matches teaming with Edge. So, to see him win the title and then embrace the retiring Rated R Superstar was a great moment. That kind of emotion was captured in his 5/6 showing opening promo.

In the subsequent match where Christian lost the title, I saw him wrestle like his life literally was on the line. He and Orton had great chemistry, which brought me back to a match that they had on Raw in February 2005 that was pretty awesome in its own right. Orton was just a developing talent back then, but now he’s one of the most cunning performers in the WWE. This title match was a rare situation (these days, anyway) when two top guys just go out there and everything clicks. Getting back to Christian, though…he wrestled an extraordinary match and the story of a man hell bent on keeping the title that it took him so long to win. To see him lose it and to see his reaction to losing it really made you feel for him. I’m sure you can conjure up your own memory of thinking you’ve finally made it only to have the rug yanked out from under you. It reminded me of the girl that I so desperately sought after in high school and thought that I finally had her during college…and then it didn’t happen / it didn’t work out. I was crushed. That’s what I saw on Christian’s face after he lost the title.

TV Match of the Year contender, without a doubt, but it was just the beginning the story and it would take much more than that to overtake Taker vs. Trips. The following week, I was happy to see that the WWE would not immediately turn Christian into a heel. It would’ve made sense for him to do so on some level, but the metamorphosis of a man embracing his dark side is usually not something that occurs in just one week. It begins with something like losing the thing that you’ve worked so hard to achieve for over 15 years. How it escalates from there is the fun part of the story to view. Like Anakin Skywalker showing subtle signs of allowing the fear of loss and the hatred burning inside him to come to the forefront, Christian showed an initial sign that he might make the turn. Yet, he shook it off and re-focused like any good natured man would do. He reasoned with himself that it must’ve been a lack of preparation for his opponent that led to the loss of the title. It couldn’t have possibly been that Randy Orton was just a more talented superstar; no, it had to be closer to what everyone called his title victory – a fluke.

Orton, to his credit, plays the no non-sense, ultra confident champion to a “T.” He knows that he is good and he plays to that. In his own mind, I’m sure he is quite confident that there is no way that Christian could ever really take his spot and that Captain Charisma really is not in his league as an overall talent. He may be right. He may not be right. He damn sure believes that he’s right. Orton being the quintessential WWE Superstar with the 3rd generation pedigree, the good looks, and the chiseled 6’4” frame allows Christian to play the underdog role with his “work harder to get to the top than most tops guys have had to” attitude, awkwardly cut frame, and goofy demeanor. There are not many levels on which this storyline does NOT work. So when you see the two playing a weekly game of one-upsmanship, showing each other just enough respect to get by with being heroes to the audience, but showing just enough animosity at the same time to remind you that they are rivals that both want to be World Champion and believe themselves the right men to be at the top, it all seems very real. The best thing about such feuds is that they are rooted in very real circumstances.

…And then came Over the Limit.

Strategically placed on the card so as not to upstage John Cena (conspiracy!), Orton vs. Christian 2 was like watching the second chapter in some epic movie series. Good GOD what a match! Easily the best pure wrestling match of the year and, dare I say, one of the best pure wrestling matches that I’ve seen since Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker at Wrestlemania 25. Not to say that it was on the level of that match, but there have been so many gimmick matches in the last two years since HBK-Taker 1 that rarely do we get to see two guys just go out and tear the house down without a ladder or a cage or a Cell or multiple other participants. Orton vs. Christian was just two guys battling over the World title, trying to prove to one another who was the better man. Their counters were so crisp; their exchanges so fluid. They intricately worked in spots from their first match and modified them just a little bit – which is one of those little things in wrestling that we don’t see enough but makes a huge difference in the overall performance because it makes it look far less scripted…they look like they’ve adapted, which is what real fighters do. Frankly, that was one of the best matches of both their careers. Orton hasn’t had a match of that caliber in a very long time. He’s had some really good gimmick matches and you can’t take anything away from his Mania match with CM Punk and the story that they were able to tell, but it’s been a long time since Orton has gone out and wrestled such an entertaining match. You got to give him a lot of credit, but you have to give a TON of credit to Christian. These two just have rare chemistry and it’s been a pleasure watching their first two matches.

After losing to Orton again - this time with the right amount of preparation and the right frame of mind and the situation just right for him to seize the moment - you could see the anguish on Christian’s face. As a competitor, you want to believe that it just wasn’t your night, but if you step up and fail enough, then the seed of doubt just keeps growing and growing. Another layer of the armor that protects a man from his dark side was stripped away when Christian lost and then immediately refused to shake Orton’s hand. Of course, he eventually did come back into the ring and show good sportsmanship, but not after teasing the heel turn (which the crowd bought into with their reaction to it).

Yet another layer was peeled back last night on Smackdown. After regaining his confidence, letting the 5 days heal his wounded soul, Christian strutted out and told Orton that he knows that he can beat him and that he wanted one more shot. He got that shot in the form of a 3-way #1 contender match, which he appeared to have won with the Spear on Sheamus. However, in what will surely add insult to injury and throw lighter fluid on the already increasing flames of rage burning inside Christian’s mind, Orton distracted the referee while getting some retribution on Mark Henry for a blindside attack moments earlier. Sheamus came back to win, in large part thanks to Christian turning his attention toward arguing with the referee and pleading for an explanation as to why he took so long to make the count after using his best buddy’s move to get what would’ve been a sure-fire victory. The referee clearly explained that it was, more or less, Orton’s fault. I LOVE IT!

Thus, we’ve got this story being told on Friday Night Smackdown that draws you in at a time of the year when interest in wrestling is supposed to be next to non-existent. This is the doldrums period for the WWE where the writers typically get lazy and the booking stagnant to the point that you hope for at least one saving grace (like Nexus was last year and Punk the year before). Thank goodness for Christian’s trials and tribulations. I don’t own a crystal ball, but if I had to predict the long-term outcome of the Orton-Christian feud, I would probably say that the Captain will turn full-fledged heel on Orton and regain the title by nefarious means. It doesn’t matter if I’m right or wrong; I just want to see this story continue and end with a satisfying climax – both in the writing of the arc and in the execution in the ring. For, quite frankly, as much as I loved Triple H vs. Undertaker, Christian vs. Orton is fast moving ahead as my feud of the year, featuring the Match of the Year.