Randy Orton was ‘injured’ during the WWE live event in Hershey on Sunday night. As we found out on RAW, Orton was only faking it. This led to Orton hitting a surprise RKO on AJ Styles during their segment.
We have an update for you on why WWE ran this fake injury angle with Orton.
According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, this was an idea that came from Paul Heyman. Meltzer says that Heyman wants fans to feel like something important (in storylines) could happen during non-televised live events.
WWE live event attendance has reportedly been dropping, with a lot of fans feeling like these non-televised shows don’t matter. According to Meltzer, WWE is looking to change that perception.
Another example of this is Andrade winning the United States Championship from Rey Mysterio. This came at a WWE live event in Madison Square Garden that wasn’t televised.
My Take:
- I think this is a smart idea. I have skipped live events in the past because I didn’t think that they mattered. If I thought that I could maybe see a Title change or something, I would have probably gone.
Let me know what you think in the comment section below.
On a related note, check out my updated predictions for the Royal Rumble PPV here.