Randy Orton Repeatedly Questioned WWE For Banning His Punt Kick

Randy Orton has done it all as far as being a WWE Superstar is concerned in the past two decades. Orton will stick with WWE for his whole life, but that does not mean he will like every decision the company makes. This includes the time the company banned one of his finishing moves.

During the late 2000s, Randy Orton started using a devastating finishing move called the punt kick. He would kick his opponents directly in the head and it would always lead to his victory.

This was largely prevalent during his feud with Triple H and the McMahon family back in 2009. However, the move was banned in 2012 due to concerns that it could lead to concussions. While speaking on The Universal Wrestling Podcast, former WWE writer Matt McCarthy talked about Randy Orton’s reaction to the ban

The Apex Predator constantly asked why he could no longer kick his opponents in the head and even mocked WWE for the ban. He didn’t quite get the idea and continued to pushback against it.

“The feeling was if he does it as a shoot, he’s kicking someone full-blast in the head and we can’t do that. If he works it, it looks awful and we can’t do that. So now Randy doesn’t get to do his punt kick at all. And for months after this, any time you brought any creative to The Apex Predator, he would look at it and go, ‘So we can do this but I can’t do my punt kick?”

Interestingly enough, Randy Orton did end up using his punt kick again a couple of years ago against Edge during their feud. Regardless, Orton is someone who will abide by WWE’s decision, even if he does not necessarily like it. He is also likely to be Roman Reigns’ opponent in the future, so it remains to be seen how their feud will be booked.

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