In the near-two years since their winter reunion, AJ Styles and Randy Orton have wrestled twice. Once in November 2020, and then a second time in March 2021. Both of those matches took place in the ThunderDome. Look, they may have been good, I don’t know and never intend to find out. As soon as they left that setting, I immediately retired from the ThunderDome Division of professional wrestling. Never again, I choose me I’m sorry.
With that in mind, we pick back up for their sixth televised match, landing in August 2021. Ironically, it’s at the Amway Center (former ThunderDome host), headlining a RAW just weeks after WWE had returned to the road. To be clear, Amway was only the original ThunderDome location, so it had actually been awhile since they’d been there. What the hell am I even typing at this point man, there’s no way that you care.
Anyway, this is an infamous period of WWE TV and on this episode alone, we get the infamous Alexa Bliss – Doudrop match that concluded with Lilly winking. Thankfully, our focus is on Randy Orton though, who apparently just returned from a seven week hiatus. I don’t remember the root of this time away, nor should you, the point is that he’s back. Also, he now has a goatee, so we’ve entered that era.
This is on the road to The SummerSlam, where Orton and Riddle will take Styles and Omos’ tag titles. It is Orton’s first match back in front of the people and indeed, “Randy” chants await him. Jimmy Smith declares Orton to be “one of the craftiest veterans in the whole WWE Universe,” which gives you an idea of just how hard that job is. I liked Jim, to be clear, but it’s not his only hit, also calling Orton a “man who lives to brawl.”
Anyway, this match isn’t much. It’s decent but of the four that I’ve watched, by far their least interesting. At just over eleven minutes, it’s also their shortest, but that’s not really the issue. They just don’t really do all that much here to be honest, even as the TV main event. Orton is over enough to take it easy, easing back into things and enjoying the atmosphere while plugging in the hits.
There continues to be a decent amount of overlap, especially early. Just like “last time,” Orton sets the tone with consecutive right hands, again eating chops in response. He does NOT tease an early RKO however, still kicking ass at a leisurely pace. An Omos’ distraction soon allows Styles’ cutoff, though his heat segment is mostly hidden in an ad break. As they return, Orton’s comeback soon arrives, going home not long after.
Along the way, Styles briefly flirts with some limb work but not really, yet they do again play with that springboard fake-out business. This time, Orton sees the feint coming and wipes Styles out via clothesline. Some business with Omos and Riddle follows, only for Orton to again catch Styles’ springboard via RKO. God, what a bit this is, all three of Orton’s non-ThunderDome Division wins have come from variations of that same set piece.
It’s awesome, human chess that they deliberately develop, rewarding our attention. My understanding is that they went to that play call in the ThunderDome too, which is nice for those that haven’t retired. Decent match, even if an almost house show version of this pairing. I like it though, because of course.
Bing Bong's Match Reviews 