Tying together Randy Orton’s injury, Ace Orton’s cast, and Jack Nicholson
Talk of Randy Orton’s arm injury (broken forearm, separated shoulder, who knows) made me wonder whether his dad, Cowboy Bob Orton, would dust off the cast he wore for 18 months or so in the 1980s.
The elder Orton really broke his arm in 1985, but typical of wrestling, they exaggerated things, and “Ace” Orton (as Roddy Piper called him) wore his cast until 1986. It was cheap heat for Orton to use the cast, and he had it on at the all the house shows at the time in the Boston Garden.
Orton’s cast played prominently in the ending of the main event at the original WrestleMania in 1985, as Orton came off the top rope and attempted to hit Hulk Hogan in the head with the cast, but Hogan moved and Orton hit Paul Orndorff, leading to Orndorff being pinned.
These days a babyface could no doubt get cheered bashing the heels with a forearm cast, so maybe Randy Orton really should consider the gimmick. He could knock out Edge, Chris Jericho, and the Miz, and then perhaps potential Monday Night Raw guest host Jack Nicholson could crack the cast open with a boot a la The Departed.
Yes, good memory. There were other mistimed spots that night. King Kong Bundy’s “nine second” win over S.D. Jones was closer to 20 seconds, and I also remember Freddie Blassie’s gimmicked cane collapsing ahead of schedule when the Iron Sheik went to hit Barry Windham with it.
Check the replay of Ace hitting Orndorff. The spot was so botched that Orton had to flail his arm out to the right, and hit Mr. Wonderful as he went by.