Randy Orton Burning Down The Wyatt Compound Is Pure Genius

Ever since Randy Orton joined the Wyatt Family, fans had been predicting both when and how he would make his exit. It seemed clear from the start that WWE creative were bringing Orton and Wyatt together just to break them apart later for a bigger payoff. This style of storytelling is nothing ground-breaking (e.g. Jeri-KO imploding on Raw just a few weeks prior), and on the face of it, there’s nothing notable here to talk about.

But no one could have predicted that Orton would announce his departure from the group by burning Wyatt’s compound to the ground, along with Sister Abigail underneath it. It was unexpected, brutal, dark, and quite frankly, it was inspired storytelling. Here’s why.

The first thing to say about this is just how unexpected it was. If someone had told me that in 2017, WWE programming would feature straight-up arson, I would have told them they were crazy, which makes WWE’s decision to pull the trigger on this even more impactful. It’s hard not to be excited about next week’s Smackdown Live, when the WWE Champion’s house has literally just been burned down and we experience the fallout of such a huge moment. WWE has created a buzz around Orton and Wyatt’s Wrestlemania match which previously just wasn’t there, and certainly would not have been there if Orton had broken out of the Wyatt Family in a more ‘standard’ (i.e. less psychotic) fashion.

The second thing to consider here is the effect that this move has on both athletes. By doing something so villainous, so unexpected and so crazy, Randy Orton has added a fresh layer of interest to his character. It’s not unfair to suggest that Orton’s character was stagnating before joining up with Wyatt, and what we are now seeing is a Randy Orton more dangerous, unpredictable and flat-out villainous than recent memory would suggest. And we saw Bray Wyatt at his most vulnerable from this move – crying, distraught, beside himself, this was a side of Bray that we had not seen before and I will challenge anyone to tell me they weren’t even a little bit affected by watching a man see his house and loved one’s grave become ash. The end result of this is that we care more about both men. This is universally agreed to be a good thing.

And consider what this does to all of Wyatt’s future storylines. Wyatt can now never return to his compound. Wyatt can never mention Sister Abigail again. And we know that Wyatt loves to do both of those things. That makes Orton’s act have serious and far-reaching consequences beyond just this story arc, which ultimately makes this moment feel incredibly important in the grand scheme of things.

People will say that Orton is the face and Wyatt is the heel, so why then would WWE present Orton as villainous and Wyatt as the victim? To that I say – welcome to the 21st century. Faces and heels operate on more of a spectrum than ever and I believe it is no longer valid to suggest that faces must always toe the line, and heels must always be evil. What the modern WWE fan wants (and by that, I mean what I want) are believable characters, flaws and all, with layers to them which is conducive to moments of real emotion and empathy. And as the flames enveloped Bray Wyatt’s temple, that’s exactly what we got.