Is Randy Orton the top heel at the moment?
It is quite clear that Randy Orton has had quite an eventful career. On the one hand he is the youngest World Heavyweight Champion in the WWE. On the other hand he’s been suspended twice for WWE’s wellness violation and has had nagging shoulder injuries for some part of his career.
His talent was enough to put all of that behind him. He had acquired quite a reputation as the ‘Legend Killer’ in his early twenties and later ‘The Viper’ in his late twenties.
One of the best parts of the PG era, apart from the Summer of Punk, has been randy Orton’s run in with his bosses with 2009 and 2010 being two of the most entertaining years of Orton’s time in the WWE. He was the top heel then.
Over the past month, he has tried to reincarnate that particular character and to some extent he’s come really, really close. He is in the best possible place he can be since being a babyface. After being in matches as a babyface which served no purpose, he’s finally in the most important feud in the WWE right now. But is he the top heel in the company?
Since Orton turned heel, two other people turned heel with him – Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. As Orton has tried to bring out the relentless, atrocious character he once was, Triple H and Stephanie have tried to bring back the power couple they once were, albeit with much, much more power.
While in the Attitude Era, Triple H and Stephanie enjoyed power to an extent but in this era they possess total power (unless Vince McMahon decides to return, of course). They hold the future of the locker room in the palm of their hands.
But while Triple H has been a bit haywire with his heel character, seldom getting a babyface reaction from a hardcore crowd, Stephanie has been the on another pedestal altogether. She has embraced her character and so has the audience. She was awesome as Big Show’s dictator and she has been awesome everytime she’s in the ring cutting a promo.
Apart from Triple H and Stephanie, the other notable heel is Paul Heyman. While there are many heels in the company, the above mentioned three people appear to gain more importance and attention of the crowd.
Amongst the wrestlers, Randy Orton may well be the top heel but if he is measured with Triple H, Stephanie and Paul Heyman, the result for the top heel is a bit different. Randy Orton has been better than Triple H. And nobody compares to Paul Heyman when it comes to cutting a heel promo.
Stephanie is neither a gifted actress nor does she cut a great promo like Heyman BUT as a heel performer she has always somehow delivered. All her segments have been a ‘solid A’ and just for that she might as well be the best heel at the moment in the WWE.
No full time wrestler compares to Orton when it comes to being a heel right now but Stephanie is on a whole new level altogether.