Randy Orton's big moment at WWE event saw a major change ahead of upset decision
Randy Orton is one of the most experienced stars in WWE and has become one of the most beloved stars on the roster. On SmackDown though, there was a change from the usual in his segment, which most fans noted.
While he's made his mark as a heel previously, in recent years, Orton has mostly been focused on working as a babyface. At this time, he's in a feud with Logan Paul, with him facing both Paul and Kevin Owens in a Triple Threat match at WrestleMania XL for the United States Championship. To say that The Maverick has been a thorn in his side as well as that of Owens would be an understatement.
The star faced Pretty Deadly in a match, teaming up with Kevin Owens. The two of them were dominating, but suddenly, Paul appeared unseen by the referee or Orton and hit Owens with the brass knuckles. He then ducked out and headed down the ring again, where he'd been hiding. Owens was pinned and Randy Orton was furious. Given they are opponents at WrestleMania, this would usually lead to a fight between the two allies.
However, that didn't happen on WWE SmackDown. Instead, for the first time, a wrestler decided to look at replays. Usually, miscommunication between partners stays miscommunication as the stars refuse to look at the replays despite the footage of what happened to be right there. Instead, Randy Orton looked at the video and decided to go after Logan Paul.
This was the first such instance of a babyface acting smart that has happened in recent memory. The only consequence was Pretty Deadly coming away with an upset win that they would have been hard-pressed to get.
Randy Orton's moment on SmackDown made for a change in the usual WWE booking
As far as fans can remember, most of the time when two babyfaces end up having a misunderstanding, they stay that way. The footage, as mentioned above, is apparently never watched back.
This either leads to a heel turn or a feud between the two stars.
However, with The Viper seeing the replay, it could be that WWE was showing his experience in the ring to know what to look out for. At this point, fans will have to wait and see if this is a change that leads to more babyfaces acting smarter, and making life more difficult for a heel.