Wow. I drop off the planet for a couple of days, check out a random Raw thread or two and see someone casually refer to "Orton's suspension" and am like What the fuck?, then come here. Way too many comments to read.
The timing for Ziggler is shitty, of course, but as was pointed out by Starbuck near this thread's beginning, Ziggler was only in that spot--potentially--because of Jericho's suspension, so this is all kind of farcical.
I think some positives can be created out of this mess:
Establishing Sin Cara as the #2 babyface on Smackdown behind Sheamus
Turning Daniel Bryan babyface at No Way Out (seriously, Orton going out is like the last thread of string being torn in favor of Bryan staying heel...)
More space in general on Smackdown... Sure, Orton wasn't doing anything of note these past eight months or so, but he recently was in the main event level feuding with the World Champion and the challengers to that world champion's prize.
Time for a call-up or two... Orton's sort of become more of a "worker's wrestler" than a guy who dominates Smackdown lately. He can put on good, long matches that fill up a lot of time for you at TV shows and house shows. Time to call somebody up who can do likewise. I'd start putting together the plans and story boards for Seth Rollins vignettes to prepare for his call-up later this summer (maybe early July or so?). Or, just elevate Tyson Kidd to unofficial midcard gatekeeper who can serve a highly valuable function.
Probably the biggest immediate net beneficiaries are Sin Cara, as he sort of enters just as Orton exits (did Sin Cara deal him the good stuff backstage, perhaps?), and that provides him with much more room to grow his star status on Smackdown this summer... and, the man Orton feuded with all summer long last year, Christian. Christian can also be a strong midcard workhorse for the blue brand as Intercontinental Champion, first finishing his feud with Cody Rhodes off and then hopefully preparing to drop the Intercontinental Championship to Damien Sandow at Summerslam.
But, wow, another massive hit to the roster. It's going to be fun to see how they (mis)handle this.
EDIT: Another thing to consider is that if they let him stay away until after Summerslam (very possible, since he couldn't come back until about the 1st of August and therefore whatever he'd be doing at Summerslam would be bumrushed), they could create a storyline in which it is therefore plausible to turn Orton heel. This is actually their best possible chance to make it happen. Weave together an intricate storyline that makes Sheamus more sympathetic and beloved than he's ever been before, he comes out of Summerslam with the fans adoring him at a new, higher level and then blam, suddenly Orton returns and viciously, heelishly dissects him to conclude a Smackdown. With the right setting, circumstances, storyline and everything, it could work like gangbusters.
***
Likeliest scenario is Vince makes Orton pay some dues back for his suspension, and he puts a guy like Ziggler/Rhodes/whoever over like there's no tomorrow. Whatever...
The timing for Ziggler is shitty, of course, but as was pointed out by Starbuck near this thread's beginning, Ziggler was only in that spot--potentially--because of Jericho's suspension, so this is all kind of farcical.
I think some positives can be created out of this mess:
Establishing Sin Cara as the #2 babyface on Smackdown behind Sheamus
Turning Daniel Bryan babyface at No Way Out (seriously, Orton going out is like the last thread of string being torn in favor of Bryan staying heel...)
More space in general on Smackdown... Sure, Orton wasn't doing anything of note these past eight months or so, but he recently was in the main event level feuding with the World Champion and the challengers to that world champion's prize.
Time for a call-up or two... Orton's sort of become more of a "worker's wrestler" than a guy who dominates Smackdown lately. He can put on good, long matches that fill up a lot of time for you at TV shows and house shows. Time to call somebody up who can do likewise. I'd start putting together the plans and story boards for Seth Rollins vignettes to prepare for his call-up later this summer (maybe early July or so?). Or, just elevate Tyson Kidd to unofficial midcard gatekeeper who can serve a highly valuable function.
Probably the biggest immediate net beneficiaries are Sin Cara, as he sort of enters just as Orton exits (did Sin Cara deal him the good stuff backstage, perhaps?), and that provides him with much more room to grow his star status on Smackdown this summer... and, the man Orton feuded with all summer long last year, Christian. Christian can also be a strong midcard workhorse for the blue brand as Intercontinental Champion, first finishing his feud with Cody Rhodes off and then hopefully preparing to drop the Intercontinental Championship to Damien Sandow at Summerslam.
But, wow, another massive hit to the roster. It's going to be fun to see how they (mis)handle this.
EDIT: Another thing to consider is that if they let him stay away until after Summerslam (very possible, since he couldn't come back until about the 1st of August and therefore whatever he'd be doing at Summerslam would be bumrushed), they could create a storyline in which it is therefore plausible to turn Orton heel. This is actually their best possible chance to make it happen. Weave together an intricate storyline that makes Sheamus more sympathetic and beloved than he's ever been before, he comes out of Summerslam with the fans adoring him at a new, higher level and then blam, suddenly Orton returns and viciously, heelishly dissects him to conclude a Smackdown. With the right setting, circumstances, storyline and everything, it could work like gangbusters.
***
Likeliest scenario is Vince makes Orton pay some dues back for his suspension, and he puts a guy like Ziggler/Rhodes/whoever over like there's no tomorrow. Whatever...
