A few weeks ago, Randy Orton blasted the independent wrestling circuit. Citing a dangerous style and laughable salaries, Orton seemingly went out of his way to belittle wrestling’s little guy.
His tweets sparked internet-wide debate on wrestling philosophy. Legends and fans alike took to Twitter to express their love or hatred for Orton’s remarks.
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The story continues as Orton recently made an appearance on St Louis’ radio station 104.1. It didn’t take long for him to expand on his anti-Indy comments. This time, he was a little more diplomatic:
“…A lot of our guys, like AJ, Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins wouldn’t be here without the indie scene. But they’re smart. A lot of these guys are going to go out there and they’re going to break their neck at 23 years old, doing stuff they shouldn’t be doing.”
Orton would further expand on the vast difference between WWE style and Indy-style:
“It’s a display of athleticism, no doubt, but … I’m not going to watch gymnastics. I want to go watch a story, a fight between a good guy and a bad guy. How many flips they do each, I’m not keeping a tally … But do you know who had my back on it? Guys like AJ. Guys that do dives and know what they’re doing … Kurt Angle texted me after that. He didn’t do dives. If he did, he would put it where it should have went … he wouldn’t have done it just to do it …
The Viper would close his argument with emphasis:
“If that’s where our business is going, to where it’s just a preconceived, choreographed match with a bunch of acrobatics — back flips, front flips, gainers off the top rope, shooting star presses, moon sault to the floor — then I don’t want to be a part of it. But I’ll tell you what: I don’t think that’s where it’s going.”
Orton has taken a lot of heat over all of this, but not without his supporters. It’s hard to argue against his logic in thinking that the Indy scene is missing the finer points of professional wrestling. It’s hard to make it to WWE if you’re hurt and this is Orton’s way of telling the younger generation to take it easy.
As Orton mentioned, wrestling is about storytelling and has been that way since the beginning of time. So although Orton’s deliver of opinion was certainly condescending, he’s ultimately right. This is probably the last of the “…dive” theater. It made for some good conversation, so we all win.
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