Big possible storyline plan for Randy Orton as the WWE Champion explained
Randy Orton became a 14-time WWE Champion at Hell in a Cell, ending Drew McIntyre's reign at the 202-day mark.
Randy Orton's storyline future as the WWE Champion, however, is still not set in stone. On the last episode of RAW, Randy Orton was confronted by The Fiend. Drew McIntyre also attacked the WWE Champion at the end of the show, which clearly hinted at the rivalry's continuation.
Dave Meltzer speculated in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the plan could be to have a three-way program featuring Randy Orton, Drew McIntyre, and The Fiend.
Meltzer explained that the idea could be to keep Drew McIntyre away from Orton, which would prevent the Scottish Psychopath from unnecessarily being booked in losing situations.
Is WWE waiting for the fans to come back for a big Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre match?
Meltzer speculated that WWE would want to have a big Orton vs. McIntyre rematch for when the fans return. While it's a sensible decision, there is no certainty when WWE could accommodate a live audience at their shows.
According to Meltzer, Randy Orton's clean win over McIntyre can tell a story, as Drew already holds two wins over the 14-time WWE Champion.
WWE has also not mentioned Keith Lee's win over Randy Orton, which has seemingly been forgotten on TV.
Meltzer noted that if Drew McIntyre had retained at Hell in a Cell and got into a feud with The Fiend, there would have been a risk of hurting McIntyre's babyface momentum - which always the case when working with Bray Wyatt's persona.
Right now it appears Raw will be built around a three-way program with Orton, McIntyre and The Fiend. The idea of keeping McIntyre away from Orton so he doesn't continually challenge and fail, which wouldn't be good for him right now, and build to a big match when fans are back makes all the sense in the world. Except, we don't know when fans will be back. Orton getting a clean win with no storyline protection for McIntyre can tell a story, since McIntyre had two wins over him and Keith Lee has one (that was never mentioned on television and has been seemingly forgotten). It's not necessarily a bad idea, and had McIntyre retained and worked with The Fiend, that's a risk given the way Fiend is very difficult to babyface against without dragging one down badly.
WWE's preview for the next episode of RAW has also teased several possibilities for Randy Orton, and it seems like The Viper has a target on his back with Mr. Money in the Bank The Miz, Drew McIntyre, and The Fiend on his trail.