Randy Orton's Reaction To WWE Banning The Punt Kick Revealed
WWE banned Randy Orton's Punt in 2012
During Randy Orton’s amazing heel run of the early 2010s, he would often finish off opponents or randomly attack bystanders with the devastating Punt.
However, the move was all but outlawed in 2012 after fears that Orton could cause concussions with the manoeuvre, and former WWE writer Matt McCarthy has revealed on The Universal Wrestling Podcast how Orton himself reacted to the move being banned:
“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,” McCarthy said. “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?’”
Despite the ban, Orton has busted the move out from time-to-time over the past decade, memorably taking out The Big Show at Survivor Series 2013, and during his Legend Killer 2.0 run in 2020.
