‘OUTSPOKEN’ 30-year-old star takes a brutal jab at Randy Orton ahead of their SmackDown clash in Barcelona

Randy Orton has to dodge a mini bullet on SmackDown as he prepares to go one-on-one with a more nimble opponent.

‘OUTSPOKEN’ 30-year-old star takes a brutal jab at Randy Orton ahead of their SmackDown clash in Barcelona

Randy Orton [via- WWE]

WWE is headed over to Europe for its three-week-long tour beginning this Friday. Emanating from the city of Barcelona, the company has loaded up the SmackDown card to cater to a presumably rabid crowd in Spain. One of the matches on the show includes Randy Orton‘s return to the ring. He takes on Carmelo Hayes, who has a little something to say about The Viper.

Taking to X, Hayes did a wordplay on Orton’s long-standing Legend Killer gimmick. The former NXT Champion quipped he’s a legend that Orton can’t kill. Melo’s uber pompous demeanor could be attributed to his recent alliance with The Miz. They’re showing a semblance of being on the same page, though they have yet to find common ground.

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Miz does know a thing or two about putting away the veteran of the game in Orton. The A-Lister may just relay his wisdom to Carmelo, who’s already riding high after a recent string of wins. A couple of weeks ago, Hayes got the better of Braun Strowman. Even though Melo was no match for Braun as far as their builds are concerned, the 30-year-old Bostonian channeled his inner Eddie Guerrero to get Strowman disqualified.

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Later on in the night, Hayes competed in a high-octane triple threat against LA Knight and Jacob Fatu but lost, thus squandering a guaranteed US title match opportunity. Nonetheless, the A-Champion could right those wrongs with authority if he conjures up a win against Randy Orton this Friday.

Randy Orton is on the hunt for Kevin Owens

Even though Randy Orton has a tricky assignment against Carmelo Hayes on SmackDown, The Apex Predator needs to be wary of someone he called out last week – Kevin Owens. The latter is on a collision course with the 14-time World Champion. Their rift dates back to the summer of last year, which stemmed from their association with Cody Rhodes.

Randy Orton Kevin Owens
Randy Orton and Kevin Owens (via WWE)

Owens started growing apart with Rhodes over his one-off link-up with Roman Reigns. The Prizefighter would then start berating Cody for weeks, something that Orton took offense with. Kevin had been friends with The Viper for months, but their bond was beginning to crumble.

Randy had enough of Owens’ apparent victim card arc, and he finally snapped. Orton sucker-punched Owens, and that was it. A crestfallen, often demented Kevin followed it up with a backstage ambush on The Legend Killer. They were pitted against each other at Crown Jewel, but the match never got underway.

The two brawled all over the place, with Owens having the last laugh. On the SmackDown edition following the PLE, Kevin put the final nail in the coffin when he planted the 44-year-old vet with a package piledriver. It was done to write Orton off TV until he returned at Elimination Chamber earlier this month.

Randy Orton has his WrestleMania feud mapped out

As mentioned above, Randy Orton turned up to Elimination Chamber in Toronto in his first WWE appearance since November. He arrived just in time to preclude a career-threatening post-match assault on Sami Zayn, who was at the mercy of Kevin Owens.

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Randy Orton attacking Kevin Owens at Elimination Chamber (via- WWE)

The Canadian Dream was about to piledrive his former best friend on an exposed concrete. Orton’s music hit, and a catastrophe was averted. The former Evolution member made a beeline for Owens. The Canuck eventually succumbed to an RKO.

But it could’ve been worse for an already banged-up Kevin had a number of WWE officials not intercepted Orton’s inevitable Punt Kick. There’s no smokescreen as to where this feud is headed. A grudge match with a potential stipulation at WrestleMania 41 would only suffice. At this point, there’s enough malice between Orton and Owens to squeeze out a barn-burner from them.

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