Right now, one of the hottest feuds in WWE right now is between Randy Orton and WWE Champion Kofi Kingston. The duo have been bickering since before SummerSlam, although most fans know that this story was 10 years in the making.
Ever since that "fateful night" where Orton said a bunch of harsh words to Kingston and then hit him with the RKO, Kofi, who was once a rising star, seemed to lose his momentum. Whether or not you believe this story or not is entirely up to you, but WWE has gone as far as to bring it up in sleek vignettes and actual promos.
There was no definitive winner at SummerSlam, thanks to a really lame ending where Randy was too busy looking at Kofi's kids to pay attention to the referee's count. However, we will get a rematch, this time at the appropriately named Clash of Champions.
Here are a couple of reasons why Orton should win the WWE Championship, and a couple of reasons why he shouldn't.
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#2 Why he should - no more opponents for Kofi Kingston
So let's roll for a moment with the assumption that if Kingston beats Orton in their rematch at Clash of Champions, that's the end of the story. Once the bell rings and New Day's music plays after a gruelling match that could likely have a stipulation, Orton's done. He moves to the back of the line, and someone else will be mean to Kofi and try to take his title.
Who will be next? A quick look at the roster reveals a lot of the big names have either already fought Kofi, or are injured. I don't want to look at Raw's roster because I don't like the Wild Card rule, but even I know that there's also a lack of credible heels on Raw. Heels on SmackDown like Buddy Murphy, Shinsuke Nakamura, Elias, and Andrade need to be built up a bit before people would buy them as potential WWE Champions.
Barring a surprise return, which would be undoubtedly amazing, I just don't see anyone next for Kofi. Unless Rusev, Sheamus, Kane, or Jinder Mahal (former WWE Champion Jinder Mahal, mind you) comes back and is suddenly a WWE Championship contender, I think it's time for someone else.
With Orton, you get new feuds against the likes of Kevin Owens (when he deals with Shane McMahon) or maybe even Big E. It'll be something different.
#2 Why he shouldn't - Kofi could solidify his reign
If you're one of those people who go to those websites where they keep track of title defences in pro wrestling, you know how Kofi's list looks. AJ Styles, Sami Zayn, Daniel Bryan, Kevin Owens, Dolph Ziggler, Samoa Joe. At first glance, it's a pretty impressive list. That's a who's who of indie wrestlers who've made it in WWE (and Dolph Ziggler).
But it's easy also to see why some people would be dismissive of such a list. When you look at it, it's hard to argue against it.
Sure, Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles are top-tier stars, but Styles wasn't even pinned in his match, and Bryan's not exactly invincible either. Zayn and Joe are tough talkers who lose a whole bunch. Kevin Owens was arguably the weakest Universal Champion and was in a mishap involving Braun Strowman. Dolph is Dolph.
But Randy Orton is a bona fide legend. He is without a shadow of a doubt a legitimate star, and a win over him at Clash of Champions would cement Kofi's reign and prove that he's not just beating mid-carders.
#1 Why he should - Name recognition
RKO. Those three letters are the three most destructive letters in all of sports entertainment. They are instantly recognizable. If my initials were as cool as RKO, I'd be sure to use them as much as I could.
Lots of people know Randy Orton. Even casual fans or fans from an older generation know him. They'd probably say "he's the guy from those videos where people fall and he's edited in." Outta Nowhere was a very popular meme back in the day.
Basically what I'm trying to say is that people recognize Orton. This is going to be very important because SmackDown is moving to Fox in a couple of months. If people are surfing through channels and they happen to see Orton, they'd probably think "hey that's Randy Orton! Is he the champion? I think so because the announcer called him the WWE Champion, plus he's got that really big belt."
Kofi Kingston, through no fault of his own, mind you, is not as well-known as Orton. People who don't watch at all probably wouldn't even notice, and lapsed fans would probably say "isn't this the guy who never wins the Royal Rumble? Isn't this the guy who is always somehow United States Champion and fighting Dolph Ziggler?"
If Orton wins at Clash of Champions, he gets to be the easily-recognizable face of SmackDown Live.
#1 Why he shouldn't - The Orton - Kingston saga needs closure
People say a lot of things. This is 10 years in the making, Randy stopped Kofi from being a star, this is overdue, and so on. In a sense, they are kind of right. It's only poetic justice that Kingston is able to overcome the man who (supposedly, mind you) held him down all those years. It would be a slap in the face to those who said Kofi would never make it. This is proof; this is closure.
This is not the kind of heat that is transferable. If Orton wins and then loses to R-Truth in 35 seconds at WrestleMania, no one will think "Yeah! That's what Randy gets for calling Kofi stupid!" It has to be Kofi, and no one else.
Besides, what kind of message are we teaching if the guy who calls people "stupid" wins and gets what he wants? Somebody think of the children. They obviously watch grown men hit each other with chairs and crash through tables.
This story needs closure, and it needs to happen at the Clash of Champions. It has to be Kofi Kingston.