Why Ken Kennedy is better than Randy Orton

In a weekend VIP audio update, Torch editor Wade Keller said that, if he were drafting rosters today, he would pick recent OVW call up Ken Kennedy over fellow OVW alumnus Randy Orton. I'm going to look today at the pluses and minuses of both men and why Kennedy is the right choice.

Ken Kennedy has said that the wrestlers he admired growing up were "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, and the Rock. Kennedy has clearly emulated their charismatic style. For example, his "Misterrrr Kennedy... Ken-ne-dyyy!" intro is reminiscent of the Rock's "Can you smell what the Rock is cooking?" and could easily make the transition from cocky heel phrase to babyface catchphrase that the fans say right with him. What makes Kennedy so special is that he is able to go over the top. Many wrestlers seem like they know their craft and maybe even have some charisma, but they're in a box. When I took acting lessons in high school, my acting teacher always emphasized the importance of doing everything bigger. Kennedy does that. That could be because Kennedy himself studied acting, winning several awards as part of his high school's forensics team for play acting. He has utilized that acting experience, using it to kick his personality up a notch. He's no ring general by any means, but he's improving, and he also has one of the most impressive looking finishers in WWE right now.

One of the great things about Kennedy is that he's someone who has soaked up some of the best stuff in wrestling history. He's got the charisma of those late nineties superstars who inspired him while also having elements of an eighties/early nineties throwback, with the fun spirit that brought the WWF into the mainstream. Wrestling seems to have lost a lot of that pure enjoyment that used to be there for the sake of realism, and I think that characters like Kennedy and his Smackdown compatriot Christian bring that fun touch back in just the right way.

Randy Orton, on the other hand, seems to be holding back. Unlike Kennedy, he's not breaking out of the box and making everything he does big. Everything he does is just enough. He's got a finisher that's nice but not particularly original. He puts on matches that are decent but not great, relying heavily on the same old holds to fill in the gaps in his matches. He cuts promos that make sense and tell the story, but don't give you much more insight into who Randy Orton really is.

Randy Orton is a third generation superstar. He's grown up around the business and knows its history. Orton, while not a model recruit, did serve in the armed forces and has that training and background to inform the realism of his matches. Despite all of these skills and more, when you watch one of his matches, you don't see it in the ring. He looks like he's just going through the motions most of the time. He shows a little more life when his dad's around, but not enough. It could be because his head's just not in it. He's still more renowned for being a party boy than a student of the game.

Kennedy is someone who's been a student of the game, working hard to improve and connect with the fans. He's someone who obviously gets it. His personality and work ethic has won him admirers in Vince McMahon, current OVW booker Paul Heyman, World Champion Batista, and Triple H, among others. McMahon has said that he sees Kennedy as a future WrestleMania main eventer, even as soon as next year, and from what I've seen, I have no reason to argue with this. While I don't see him in a world title match, I think that he could be in a semi-main event facing a legend, fighting for the U.S. Title, or something similar. Kennedy also has real life qualifications of his own, with experience in martial arts (tae kwon do and escrima) and high school sports (swimming and track, where conditioning is key), and he could definitely make use of that experience, particularly if he incorporated some of the fighting moves in a worked way into his repretoire.

When you compare them in the ring, Orton seems to have a small technical advantage at this point. However, Kennedy seems to be putting out a lot more effort in the ring and is improving as time goes on, while Orton seemed to plateau a long time back and has perhaps even gotten worse over the past year. If you told fans who only saw his recent work that the original plan was for him to main event WrestleMania 21, they'd tell you that you were insane. Workrate also matters less than personality in WWE and to the vast majority of fans, so while Orton is technically the better in-ring performer, fans will be more naturally drawn to Kennedy. Kennedy can be carried to good matches and his drawing ability is built on his character, while Orton is just going through the motions with both his ring work and his character.

Finally, one reason that Wade Keller cited for choosing Kennedy over Orton was that, when you look at Orton's eyes, it doesn't seem like there's a lot going on behind there. With Kennedy, there seems to be some thought going into what he's doing. His promos are anything but phoned in. He was scheduled to work in OVW through October, but when a family member of his became seriously ill, WWE gave him permission to leave OVW to spend time with his sick family member, and Kennedy cut an emotional farewell backstage in OVW in September. Somehow, I don't see Randy Orton having that same sort of response in a similar situation. Orton needs to start showing us that there's more to who he is than what we've seen and that he isn't totally soulless.

Randy Orton and Ken Kennedy both showed potential early on in their careers. They're both OVW graduates. However, at this point, Kennedy is the one with the future. Orton still could come back and make it, but he's going to have to put in a lot of hard work and effort that he just doesn't seem to have in him at this time. Kennedy is main event material, while Randy needs to prove that he's more than a glorified upper midcarder.

I'd call this article dreck pure and simple. I'm no Randy Orton fan but Kennedy hasn't even been around for 6 months. Yeah his gimmick is decent now but how's this shtick going to hold up say a year from now or even by Wrestlemania. We haven't even seen more than brief glimpses of him in the ring. Being a student of the game means nothing. Triple H is supposedly a student of the game and he has no clue. He just chalks up fan complaints as nothing because he supposedly knows more. And being admired by Vince, Batista and HHH isn't glowing praise because they have extremely questionable tastes in wrestlers.

I'm no fan of Orton and it seems they've unsuccessfully thrown everything but the kitchen sink at the fans to get the guy over. Just look at how lame the new nWo ripoff shirts are for their latestest attempt. But Orton has shown he can be carried in a match, he has a more marketable name (Orton) and he's a more seasoned worker at this point.

I'd take Orton over Kennedy at this point for a lot of reasons:

1. Orton in the WWF would be fine if they just accepted that he's a midcarder for life. With that said he's a capable midcarder for anyone.

2. He's proven. Orton has been around for 3 years now. Kennedy has been on tv for 2 months. Orton's character is also more well developed and can be tweaked where Kennedy will have to be completely repackaged.

3. Orton is capable of being carried to a good match by workers like Chris Benoit. We don't know about such things from Kennedy.

4. Again, the name Orton means something in wrestling. Ken Kennedy means nothing.

Plus, I think Kennedy's gimmick sucks too. At this point though, who really knows? Kennedy could go on to be great, or he could be the next Hardcore Holly. To even make that statement this early is rediculous. I think Mad Dog covered it pretty well, but no way Kennedy is better RIGHT NOW than a proven mid-carder, and servicable main-eventer on occasion.

WOW, this is one of the worst pieces of bullshit I've read in some time. I like Kennedy too, but there's no way he's close to Orton.

Riiiiiiight. Just what we need, more reasons to think Keller's a douche.

Wait, he admired Austin/HBK/Rock GROWING UP? Uh, isn't he in his early 30's? Yeah, the guy has good charisma. Let's see if that equates to drawing money. So far he hasn't come close to doing that. Any wrestler can go over the top, it doesn't make them good though. The Boogyman is WAAAAAY over the top, but I don't see him main eventing Wrestlemania anytime soon. Oh, and apparently since Keller took an acting class in high school he's a grade A critic on acting talent. Oh, and that finisher that impresses the hell out of Keller can't be done on 70% of the roster.

Whatfuckingever.

How is he holding back? They paired him with his dad which I find to be the best thing they've done with Orton since the Foley feud. I also find it funny that Keller mentions NOTHING of Kennedy's ability in the ring besides "he's no ring general" yet he criticizes Orton on the ring. Well, I'll take Orton's match with Foley or his match against Edge last year (04) at Vengence over anything Kennedy's ever done. How does Orton not give insight on who he is through his interviews? He's the legend killer and he's an Orton. What else do you really need to know? Where he buys his Polo shirts?

Whatever. Personal attack based on nothing. Way to build credibility Keller.

Oh, he's a student of the game though Keller? How the fuck do you know? Oh, because you're a bigger fanboy of Kennedy..........so that should qualify you then right? Ok, so Vince/Heyman/Batista/HHH all admire him? So seriously, besides HHH who really knows shit in that group about actual wrestling? Vince proves that he knows VERY little by his product, Heyman showed that he's a great booker but knows jack about what happens in the ring, and basically Bautista proved his vast knowledge by his comments about AJ Styles in the London Sun article. Not to mention that how the fuck does tae kwon do or swimming and track help you in the ring? This shows the lack of knowledge on Keller's part as well..............fucking fanboy.

Yeah, Orton's gotten WORSE in the last year? I guess that explains why his matches with the Undertaker (who for all intensive purposes sucks ass) have been better than watchable. Wait, so now the in ring isn't as important? I thought earlier in Keller's statements though he made a point to say how much Kennedy's in ring work will by improved by tae kwon do? Also, where the hell is this drawing ability that Keller is refering too?

Ok, so this is an assumption that Orton can't cut an emotional promo. We'll see what happens when his dad is no longer around to see if that reigns true. Also, I will agree though that Kennedy has the best facials in the WWE right now outside of maybe Eddie Guerrero.

Plus, I believe that Orton is younger than Kennedy so I think that there would be more of a future in him than in Kennedy as it is. Also, I think Kennedy needs to prove himself as main event material more than Orton does at least in my mind.

DK to Wade Keller: You just got owned!

It's kinda hard to compare a guy who's been around for 3 months compared to someone who's been on the main roster on and off (injuries) since May 2002.

I hate Orton, but I've seen Kennedy maybe 4 times, and right now, I'm not impressed.

Just my little side note: I've never seen Kennedy, so I thought it'd be interesting to see what y'all thought.

And to get something clear, Orton went UA from the Marine Corps, he didn't even finish boot. He's a grade A bitch in my opinion for doing that.

Military service isn't for everyone. Can't fault a guy for not doing something he didn't like.

He shouldn't have signed up in the first place. He's a coward and a quitter.

That's not true at all. It's better to realize early that something isn't for you and move on then getting stuck doing it forever. A lot of people would be happier if they could do that.

I couldn't agree more.............

That's almost too insightful for this board.

I see where you are coming from Mad Dog, but it does show a little about Orton's character. I mean, why does one choose military service in the first place? The money? Free haircuts? Usually it is someone who wants to protect and serve their country. So that's your big conviction, and you can't even tough out a couple weeks of hard work? Yeah, he's a bitchy boy.

There could be multiple reasons. In a lot of families military service is expected from parents and kids are pushed into it. He's obviously gifted as an athlete and maybe thought that was the best place to use his skills.

I don't know the particulars of why he left so I'm not going to jump on him about it. For all I know he could've blown out a knee and had to quit. Most of my friends are in the 22-26 range and several of them are already stuck in deadend jobs. They're miserable for 8 hours a day but don't have the balls to leave because they're making just enough money to not be completely broke.

He wasn't injured or anything, he quit cause he didn't like it. I'll try and find a link to support it. I think he's a coward, I'm not even a fraction of the athlete he is, and I made it through boot. You know why? I'm a man of my word. I signed the dotted line, I agreed to the 4 year term of enlistment. I knew what I was getting myself into, and I'm going to stick out until either my enlistment is up, I get injured to the point where they kick me out, or I die. Simple as that. He lacks any kind of heart, and apparentley intelligence as well. He should have thought it out before swearing in to defend our country with his life.

Orton went AWOL because he couldn't take the heat. If you are seriously hurt during training, you think they work you like a dog? They send you to the medics, get shot up with drugs, then send you back out to do the training. :P

They do work you like a dog no matter what. I'm a Marine dude.

I actually agree somewhat with the article. I don't think Kennedy is better in the ring than Orton at the moment, but I do think he's a much more engaging character, and with some time could flesh out the obnoxious thing to be more than just doing his own ring announcing.

Kennedy has potential to me. He feels like an old school heel. Orton just feels like Generic gay A who is getting pushed. The only thing that's kept me interested in him is Cowboy Bob