WWE Rumors: Top ‘SmackDown’ Star’s Heel Turn, NXT Star Staying On Roster For Now?
With a major pay-per-view on the way, some of the latest WWE rumors center around several superstars who won’t even be involved in WWE’s Hell in a Cell event. The latest show will be a Raw-exclusive event, featuring three HIAC cage matches. Meanwhile, there’s been buzz about a top SmackDown superstar who looks to be making a heel turn, as well as two of the top stars on the NXT roster who seem like good candidates to make a move for the main roster. However, as of right now, the word is they aren’t going near Raw or SmackDown Live! anytime soon.
On October 26, Cageside Seats discussed the impending heel turn for Randy Orton. On a recent episode of SmackDown Live! “The Viper” made a surprising move in the ring when he came down to the ring for a Kane vs. Bray Wyatt match. The bout was a No Disqualification situation and Orton struck, but not against Wyatt. Instead, he hit Kane with the RKO, putting him down for the eventual pin by Wyatt. Ironically, Orton has been involved in a feud with the Wyatt Family and kept with that storyline through a concussion injury after SummerSlam.
Some fans are of the belief that based on Orton’s recent actions, he will join the Wyatt family. Other fans speculated he will pretend to join up with the Family only to infiltrate them and then strike against Bray and Luke Harper. However, it appears that he may not even be part of that story. A report from Wrestling Inc. notes that Orton isn’t even expected to participate in the Survivor Series pay-per-view, as he’ll be taking some time off to be with his wife who is expecting their next child soon.
Orton is a star who has always played the heel role well, so switching him won’t be a major problem. Putting him back into a program with Kane seems like a mistake as it’s a “been there, done that” situation. Fans will grow tired of seeing the same feud overdone, but maybe the plan is to have Orton and Ambrose start vying for the top contender status in the title picture.
#TheViper @RandyOrton gave whole new meaning to the term #RKOOuttaNowhere last night on #SDLive! pic.twitter.com/GXLF8h9nn1
— WWE (@WWE) October 26, 2016
The SmackDown Live! roster has looked decent since the WWE Draft, but beyond AJ Styles, The Miz, and Bray Wyatt, it has really lacked enough top heels. Adding Orton to that mix seems like a good move, but one has to wonder why he isn’t going to be feuding with AJ Styles. At this point, it seems AJ Styles’ top opponents might just continue to be John Cena and Dean Ambrose, but an Orton vs. Styles program would certainly be interesting to see.
Speaking of bolstering rosters, two NXT stars were brought up by Bleacher Report as far as their transitions to the main roster. Shinsuke Nakamura and Samoa Joe have been involved in a great feud amongst top stars on the roster and many fans believe they’re ready to take their skills to Raw or SmackDown. However, WWE doesn’t feel they want them there just yet. Instead, they believe the NXT champ Nakamura is their “flagship superstar” for the brand right now.
The same seems to be the case for Joe, but his name hasn’t been mentioned like Shinsuke’s. One would think the Royal Rumble match would be a great place to debut one or both of them, similar to AJ Styles’ debut. Another star who fans seem ready to embrace on the main roster in the future is Bobby Roode, but no mention has been made of Roode coming to either of the top shows yet either.
One of the biggest gripes against WWE in recently has been their continued reliance on bringing back old talent to boost interest in pay-per-views or a single episode of a TV show. The best examples are Goldberg and Brock Lesnar, both of whom make rare appearances here or there. With that said, it seems that bringing in new talent and establishing them as main players going forward is the best move. For now, fans will simply have to keep waiting to see some of these top new stars make their presence known on Raw or SmackDown.
Wrestling fans, do you feel the move to keep Shinsuke Nakamura on NXT is smart for the near future, or is he needed on one of the main rosters now? Which roster would he be best for? Also, who should Randy Orton feud with in his heel turn?
[Featured Image by WWE]
