Andrew Ravens
Randy Orton‘s heel turn against Cody Rhodes on the March 13 episode of SmackDown set the stage for one of the more intriguing storylines heading into WrestleMania 42. Three days later, on the March 16 edition of Raw, Orton was shown on the phone with an unidentified person, and the identity of that caller has quickly become one of the more talked-about mysteries in WWE right now.
Speaking on Busted Open Radio, WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray and Tommy Dreamer both offered their theories on who was on the other end of that call. Bully Ray floated two names from the Flair family, with Charlotte being his preferred pick.
“Who was on the phone with Randy? There’s no doubt that it can be Ric, and Ric could probably say things to Cody that are going to take the wind out of Cody’s sails,” he said. “‘But I’ll be damned if Charlotte couldn’t do it too, and nobody’s going to see Charlotte coming. It would be very different, a new take.
“You want to talk about royal families? You’ll have an Orton in the ring, you’ll have a Flair in the ring, you’ll have a Rhodes in the ring. That’s cool in and of itself right there. I love the idea of you being Charlotte.”
The appeal of the Charlotte Flair scenario is clear. Her involvement would add a layer of surprise that Ric Flair’s appearance simply would not carry at this point, given how often his name gets attached to WWE storylines.
A Charlotte alignment with Orton against Rhodes would also carry its own history, given the long-running Rhodes and Flair family connections in the wrestling business. The optics of three generational surnames colliding at WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas would carry real weight.
Could The Rock be Randy Orton’s mystery advocate?
Dreamer took a different direction entirely, pointing to The Rock as his candidate. “This is a Tommy Dreamer conspiracy theory. I think The Rock’s talking to Randy Orton. I mean, it’s just when he said there’s another royal family, I’m like, all right. Is he talking to Cowboy Bob?
And like, I understand it. Your grandfather was a great draw. Your father was a great draw. But then I’m also trying to think, who’s the other royal family? And that other royal family is The Rock. That’s the only one that I can think of.”
