I had been saying for awhile prior to the heel turn that I didn't mind him as a baby face when he was The Viper. He was playing the same character either way, something he couldn't quite do as the Legend Killer for obvious reasons. (That short-lived face run from August 2004-Match 2005 was boring as hell.) I marked more for HHH going heel than Orton.
That said, it's only been two weeks and that's not enough time to really see Orton do anything to really make shit personal like he did from 2007-2009. He hasn't done anything to Bryan that's akin to punting Cena's dad or HHH's father-in-law and RKOing Stephanie and then on another occasion hitting her with the ropehung DDT and then kissing her while she was unconscious while HHH remained handcuffed to the ropes unable to do anything. As much as I would hate for them to acknowledge that Bryan is dating one of the Bellas, it would at least be awesome to see Orton treat Brie like he did Stephanie four years ago. (Of course, they'd likely never do that.)
All of that said, maybe the best course of action was to change up Orton from The Viper persona. The more arrogant and brash side we saw of him from his Evolution/Legend KIller days would be more suited to the role he currently has, I think. If he grew his hair back out a little more and shaved the beard and adopted more of the pretty boy look he used to have, it would fit in better with being the company's Corporate Champion (especially with Bryan calling him 'pretty' while Bryan himself has been considered scraggly.) The tattooed arms still exist but meh. This is Orton from last year with the old look:
It would also be a full circle moment since he's aligned HHH again and HHH even said that "The coal is now the diamond" in a promo two weeks ago, a clear reference to something he said way back then Evolution was around.
