Is The Viper Elite?

[Jack-Hammer]

Over the course of the past week or so, there's been a lot of buzz online about the possibility of Randy Orton heading to All Elite Wrestling after his current WWE deal expires sometime next year. This has come about due to a few cryptic Tweets between Orton and Chris Jericho and while I don't remember them exactly, one of Jericho's responses was something along the line of "I'll see what I can do" while one of Orton's Tweets did mention something about being "Elite." So as you can imagine, it's got a lot of people talking and wondering about whether there's any potential of Randy Orton heading to AEW or if he and Jericho are just trolling.

There's also the possibility of Orton doing this as part of negotiating a new contract. There are rumors that Orton makes somewhere around $3 million per year and doesn't work anything close to a full time schedule anymore. Orton doesn't work a lot of house shows and, overall, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Orton wrestles 50 to 75 times per year. So, there's the notion that Orton is just sort of doing this to tease WWE that there's another fat wallet out there now who may just be interested.

Personally, I think Orton is mostly trolling as he and Jericho are notorious for doing stuff like this. At age 39, Orton is still in great shape, he's a big star and he'd be a major get for AEW. He's done everything there is to do in WWE, that's been the case really for about 10 years now when you get right down to it, so AEW would feel quite fresh. At the same time, Orton is such a well known "WWE guy" that I'm wondering if it might stir some kind of backlash among fans as this is sort of how it started in TNA all those years ago with TNA gobbling up every over the hill former star and/or trying to sign every star who'd even been the slightest bit relevant at any point in the previous 15 years or so that TNA started to lose its own identity. Also, Orton is someone who strikes me as kind of out of place in AEW as it's a haven for indie guys and as I alluded to, Orton is well known for taking to social media to blast the "indie style" of wrestling at any given time.

[BestSportsEntertainer]

Personally, I think Orton is mostly trolling as he and Jericho are notorious for doing stuff like this.

This says it all.

[Slyfox696]

I'd be surprised if Orton ever willingly left the WWE. No one can pay him what the WWE does, no one can improve his legacy like the WWE, he has nothing to prove, and, as was mentioned, he already does not work the same schedule he did 10 years ago.

Anything is possible in wrestling, but I just do not see Orton leaving the WWE anytime soon.

[#AbsoluteUnit]

I wouldn't get my hopes up.

[Y 2 Jake]

So far AEW is doing about as much for me in 4 weeks as Randy Orton has done in 17 years.

[Jack-Hammer]

I read over a few things and the original Tweet Orton sent out showed a pic of him looking at a sign that said "Elite Level" with the caption "tick tock, tick tock."

Orton had tagged The Revival, Luke Harper, Elias, Riddick Moss, AEW Executive Vice President Cody Rhodes and AEW World Champion Chris Jericho in the post. Earlier in the week, Dash Dawson of the Revival Dawson posted a photo of himself with Wilder and Orton and wrote, "What SHOULD'VE been! Thank you, Randy. We'll see ya down the road. What WILL be. Eventually." Orton's response to that particular message was simply "2020."

I still feel Orton is mostly just trolling but, at the same time, Orton has had a lot of praise for AEW since it's debut, particularly praising Cody's match against Sammy Guevara on the debut episode in which he said ""Cody and Sammy Guevara, that kid can do some s--t. I'd love to work with that kid. They had a great match. I thought opening the show with that match was a good idea and well received."

Another thing to consider is that Orton is still really tight with Cody and Chris Jericho. Cody's always been something of a little brother to Orton and Cody himself has said in various interviews that just about everything he learned about taking care of his money was based on what Orton was telling him. Jericho obviously has strong feelings for Orton as he was willing to get the crap kicked out of him by Brock Lesnar when he thought Lesnar had started shooting on Orton during their SummerSlam match back in 2016.

It's hard to think that Orton would willingly leave WWE but who knows? Like Jericho was, maybe Orton is feeling a little restless, maybe feeling a little too limited and confined by Vince's controlling nature and wants to try something different somewhere else. If he did leave, I have no doubt Vince and Triple H would view it as a huge pecker slap right across both cheeks.

[BestSportsEntertainer]

If he did leave, I have no doubt Vince and Triple H would view it as a huge pecker slap right across both cheeks.

I have an idea for a new finisher.

[Jack-Hammer]

According to a report put out last night, Orton is staying put in WWE as he's signed a new multi-year contract. So yeah, it looks like this was either some sort of half assed negotiating tactic or, more likely, Orton was just trolling the fans.

[mrluck_07]

Didn't really see him going anywhere.