Randy Orton Captures U.S. Title at WWE Fastlane

The WWE U.S. title picture heading into WrestleMania got a little bit more clear on Sunday night at Fastlane in Columbus, Ohio.

The early part of the match saw the announces putting over the fact that Roode never would have thought in his wildest dreams that through his long path to WWE he would ever end up there facing Randy Orton on PPV. They also continually put over Orton as one of the greatest of all time.

The previous bout between Rusev and Nakamura brought the fans into a frenzy by the finish, and Orton vs. Roode certainly calmed them down from the get-go as they started off slow with each man vying for position. Orton had a chance and went for an RKO, but Roode quickly dodged it and rolled to the outside. A few minutes later, Bobby went for the Glorious DDT and Orton rolled to the outside to escape.

At this point, Graves noted that picking up the pace of the match might be what Roode needs to do to retain the title, noting the slow and plodding pace the bout had so far.

Roode took advantage as Orton started to favor his left shoulder. Roode worked the shoulder with some knee drops and submissions. By this point, the slow pace had taken its toll on the crowd as you could practically hear a pin drop in the arena as the rest holds continued.

Roode tried to get them back with a series of clotheslines, a neckbreaker, and then went up top, coming off the top rope with a clothesline. That was quickly stalled by an Orton comeback and powerslam.

Roode was favoring his ribs, and continued to clutch them after a Blockbuster out of the corner on Orton. Orton fought back with a middle rope DDT on Roode that woke up the crowd. Roode dodged another RKO and rolled Orton up for a near fall. At that point, Roode clotheslines Orton to the outside again. As they fought outside the ring, Roode was Irish-whipped into the barrier and then slammed on top of the same barrier.

Back in the ring, Roode dodged a superplex attempt and hit a powerbomb out of the corner. A few minutes later, Orton hit the superplex for a near fall. They exchanged kicks for superiority until Roode hit a big spinebuster for a near fall.

Not longer after, the finish came absolutely “out of nowhere” as Roode came off the second rope and Orton hit him with an RKO for the pinfall.

Mahal came out immediately afterward to set up their eventual match at WrestleMania. Guessing that Roode will also cash-in his rematch clause to make it a triple threat. With that said, it’s not that surprising that Orton would win the title at Fastlane or there’d be no justification for putting him in a WrestleMania match for the title if he had just lost to Roode.