Opened: July 16th, 2004
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Backstage: DiBiase said Orton hasn’t returned any of his calls. Orton then slithered into the camera shot and stared down DiBiase, who went silent. Orton did his Jake Roberts voice asking him what about him betraying him he should understand. Orton said if he were DiBiase…pause…if he were DiBiase… He said DiBiase needs to listen carefully. Orton told Ted he will not fight back, will not lift a finger, and will not take advantage of another opportunity. Orton told Ted he could be kicked out of Legacy if he disobeys him. “Your choice, Ted,” Orton said with a sinister look on his face. Ted breathed heavily and surveyed his options as they cut to break.
WWE champion Randy Orton then came out as the announcers talked about Orton having so many other things to worry about with Cena on Sunday in a 60-minute Iron Man match.
WWE champion RANDY ORTON vs. TED DIBIASE, JR
Bell sounded and Orton walked right up to DiBiase. Orton then kicked DiBiase in the gut to boos. DiBiase didn’t fight back and Orton landed an uppercut. Ted then had a look of disgust mixed with determination. Crowd with a mild chant for DiBiase. Orton then kicked DiBiase in the gut again. DiBiase shook like he was about to snap on Orton. Orton with another boot. DiBiase was shaking. “You want to hit me?! Do you want to hit me?!” Orton screamed at him. DiBiase slowly made it to his feet and stared back at Orton. Crowd came to life as DiBiase stared him down itching to get him. Orton piefaced DiBiase twice, then DiBiase got right in his face again. A third pieface. Crowd wanted it. Orton then shoved DiBiase in the chest and DiBiase fired off the ropes to shove Orton down. Big pop. DiBiase shook and was about to explode on Orton, but he held himself back. DiBiase’s leg was a shaking and a twitching. He calmed down, looked around the arena, then looked into Orton’s evil eyes. DiBiase lowered his eyes in shame, then Orton walked over to DiBiase and looked him in the eyes. Orton then delivered the RKO in cold blood before making the cover for the win. DiBiase was out cold on the mat, then Orton slowly raised his title belt in the air while standing over DiBiase.
WINNER: Orton at 4:22. Awesome, storyline-driven match. It took a while for the crowd to really buy into the storyline development, but DiBiase generated an authentic babyface pop for that one shove on Orton. DiBiase was borderline over-the-top with his “I’m going to rip your head off, but I’m so conflicted right now” expressions, but I thought he really handled that well. Good performances all-around and they reinforced Orton as the evil, sinister, snake-like heel. Excellent work.
JOHN CENA vs. TRIPLE H
They cut to a shot of Randy Orton watching with this awesome heel look and body language backstage. Orton is so great.
Post-match: They cut to a shot of Randy Orton watching intently on a monitor. Orton leaned in close to the monitor as if he was trying to smell Cena. Cena then did his salute back in the ring.
Both guys sold the whole act perfectly. Ted plays the confused teammate and Randy slips in some venom and reaps the rewards. I LOVE RAW AGAIN!!!!!! 