Randy Orton Attacks Jeff Hardy Once Again, Steals his Necklace

Randy Orton's obsession with attacking Jeff Hardy continued on SmackDown Live this week, as "The Viper" once again left the fan-favorite unconscious.

Hardy started out a segment on the show by calling out Orton to a fight for his multiple attacks in the past few weeks. Orton made his way down to the ring, but Hardy was attacked from behind by Shinsuke Nakamura. In a potential foreshadowing of things to come, Orton stared down the Japanese Superstar before stepping aside and letting him hit the Kinshasa.

The disdain @RandyOrton has for @JEFFHARDYBRAND seems to have reached a whole new level... #SDLive pic.twitter.com/oFKGy6Zv5s

— WWE (@WWE) August 1, 2018

The United States Champion quickly darted his way out of the ring as Orton set up to hit Hardy with an RKO. But Orton stopped just short and threw Hardy back on the mat and began repeatedly stomping on his extremities. He pulled Hardy on to one of the commentary tables and began wiping away his trademark facepaint as Hardy struggled to fight back. he closed out the segment by ripping off Hardy's trademark necklace and taking it with him.

The two former WWE Champions first faced off at Backlash in May 2018, where Hardy successfully retained the United States Championship. Orton then spent the next two months on the shelf as he underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus tendon in his knee.

During that time Hardy held on to the US Championship until Extreme Rules, when Nakamura hit him with a low blow just as the match started to win in six seconds. Orton returned moments later and, instead of attacking Nakamura, he turned heel and delivered a low blow of his own to Hardy.

The following SmackDown Live saw Hardy cash in his rematch clause against Nakamura, only to come up short when Orton hit the ring and attacked Hardy again. He even so far as to try and rip one of Hardy's extended ear lobes off in a particularly gruesome display.

Orton sealed his heel turn the following week by cutting a promo on the fans and the wrestlers in the locker room, saying he paved the way for most of them and that the fans no longer appreciated him.

The Wrestling Observer reported this week that WWE is angling towards a triple threat match for Nakamura's United States Championship at SummerSlam on Aug. 19 with Orton and Hardy. Based on what went down on Tuesday night, that report looks to be correct.