Before being promoted to the main WWE roster, Orton trained in and wrestled for Mid-Missouri Wrestling Association-Southern Illinois Conference Wrestling for a month. He was then sent to Ohio Valley WrestlingOVW Hardcore Championship on two separate occasions.[10] (OVW), where Orton held the
After signing with WWE, Orton became a member of the stable Evolution, which quickly led to a WWE Intercontinental Championship reign, his first title with the company.[11] Orton also acquired the moniker "The Legend Killer" during a storyline where he began disrespecting Hall of Famers and physically attacking veterans[1] At age 24, Orton became the youngest person ever to hold the World Heavyweight Championship.[12] With this win, Orton departed from Evolution and a feud with his former stablemates began. In 2006, Orton joined forces with Edge in a tag team known as Rated-RKO. Together, Orton and Edge held the World Tag Team Championship.[13] After the team disbanded, during mid-2007, Orton gained two WWE Championship reigns in one night.[14] Overall, Orton is a six-time world champion, having won the World Heavyweight Championship once and the WWE Championship five times. He is also the winner of the 2009 Royal Rumble match.[15] of the industry outside of appropriate restrictions.
WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT
Orton's first televised WWE match was against Hardcore Holly on SmackDown! on April 25, 2002.[20] Soon after, Orton became a fan favorite[21][22][23][24] In September 2002, Orton was drafted to the Raw brand, where he defeated Stevie Richards[25][26] Within weeks of his debut on the Raw brand, Orton suffered a shoulder injury,[27] leaving him sidelined for months.[28][29]Raw in his own Randy News Network segment, a weekly vignette featuring him talking about his condition.[28][30] The show interrupted other segments of Raw programming, which caused Orton to slowly transition himself into a narcissistic and self-centered villain.[31] and was placed in a series of matches with Holly. in his debut on the show. While recovering, Orton still appeared on
After his injury healed, Orton joined the Evolution stable, which consisted of Ric Flair, Triple H, and relative newcomer, Dave Batista. The group was pushed on Raw from 2003 to 2004, with the height of their dominance occurring after Armageddon in 2003 when all of the men's titles on Raw were held by the members of Evolution.[32] In 2003, Orton spent much of his time helping Triple H overcome challenges from Kevin Nash, Kane, and Goldberg, who were vying with Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship.[33][34][35] Orton joined Triple H in a six-man Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam, involved primarily to secure Triple H's title defense, and was eliminated by Goldberg.[36Afterward, Orton proclaimed himself "The Legend Killer", a young upstart who was so talented that he touted himself as the future of professional wrestling. He embarked on numerous storyline feuds with "legendary" wrestlers and gained infamy for his blatant disrespect of many older, well-respected names in wrestling history. With the help of his stablemate and mentor Ric Flair, he defeated Shawn Michaels at Unforgiven in the first of many high profile matches billed as "Legend versus Legend Killer."[37] Orton then spat in the face of Harley Race on the April 26, 2004, episode of Raw.[38][39]
During this time, Orton began using the move that would become his signature finisher, the RKO, a jumping cutter named after his initials.[40] Orton soon defeated Rob Van Dam for the WWE Intercontinental Championship at Armageddon on December 14, 2003.[41] With this win, Orton started the longest Intercontinental title reign in seven years, holding the title for seven months.[42]
Orton continued to establish himself as a "Legend Killer" throughout 2004, challenging the semi-retired wrestler Mick Foley. Famed for his hardcore matches and ability to handle excruciating pain, Foley offered Orton a hardcore "Legend versus Legend Killer" match if Orton would put his Intercontinental Championship on the line. In a bloody match involving thumbtacks and barbed wire, Orton defeated Foley.[43]
In July, at Vengeance, Edge defeated Orton to win the Intercontinental Championship, ending Orton's seven month title reign.[44] After losing the Intercontinental Championship, Orton became the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship on July 26.[45] At SummerSlam, Orton defeated Chris Benoit for the championship. Orton became the youngest person ever to hold the title in WWE history at the age of 24.[46] Benoit congratulated Orton after the match, shaking his hand for showing the ability to "be a man."[47]
The following night, Evolution threw Orton a mock celebration, only to reveal that they were not pleased with his new victory. While Batista had Orton propped on his shoulders in elation, Triple H gave him a pleased thumbs up and then abruptly changed it to a thumbs-down, which was followed by Batista's dropping Orton to the mat.[48] Ric Flair and Batista attacked Orton in the ring as Triple H revealed his jealousy for Orton's title. He ordered Orton to hand over the championship, but he refused, spitting in Triple H's face and hitting him with the title belt.[49] Orton's break-up with Evolution began a new storyline for him as a crowd favorite when he continued to feud with his former stablemates.[49][50] A month later, Orton lost his championship at Unforgiven.[51] Seeking revenge, Orton lashed out at Evolution members, catching them by surprise during a show by giving them a large cake as a make-up gift, which he came out of to beat and humiliate the group.[52]push, becoming General Manager of the Raw brand for a week following a match stipulation at Survivor Series.[53] He continued to feud with Triple H, using his authority to place his opponents at severe disadvantages during title defenses.[54] Orton was granted another chance at the championship in January 2005, but lost a six-man championship Elimination Chamber match to Triple H at New Year's Revolution.[55] On the January 10 episode of Raw, Orton defeated Batista to earn a match against Triple H at the Royal Rumble for the World Heavyweight title.[56] At the Royal Rumble, Triple H defeated Orton to retain the World title.[57] After this, Orton experienced another
RATED RKO AND THE AGE OF ORTON 2006 2008
With Triple H out of action, Rated-RKO continued their on-screen rivalry with remaining DX member Shawn Michaels. Michaels teamed with John Cena to defeat Rated-RKO for the tag team championship on January 29.[97] Orton and Edge suffered a series of losses to Cena and Michaels in the following months, building hatred towards one another. Edge and Orton also became rivals in their goals of achieving the WWE Championship. Neither Edge nor Orton won the Championship, and they lost their claims as number one contenders after a failed match with Cena at Backlash.[98] Orton then continued his "Legend Killer" persona, attacking Shawn Michaels. Using frequent attacks to the head, including an elevated DDT and a running punt to the face, Orton defeated Michaels at Judgment Day. When the kayfabe wounded and concussed Michaels collapsed in the ring, the referee was forced to stop the match and award Orton the victory.[99] Orton continued his attacks when he engaged himself in feuds with Rob Van Dam,[100] Ric Flair,[101] Dusty Rhodes,[102] and Sgt. Slaughter.[103]On the July 23 episode of Raw, Orton was named as the number one contender at SummerSlam for John Cena's WWE Championship.[102] Weeks before their scheduled bout at SummerSlam, Orton attacked Cena on three separate occasions by performing RKOs on him.[102][104][105] At SummerSlam, Orton lost the title match to Cena, who pinned Orton after executing an FU.[106] The following night on Raw, Orton demanded a rematch for the title, but his request was declined by Raw General Manager William Regal. Orton then took his demands to Mr. McMahon, who also refused to give Orton a rematch unless he proved himself. That night, Orton interfered in Cena's match by assaulting Cena and kicking Cena's father, who was at ringside, in the head.[107] Orton was granted his title rematch against Cena at Unforgiven and won by disqualification[108] however, Cena retained the WWE title because a title cannot change hands by disqualification. After the match, Cena's father, who was again at ringside, kicked Orton in the head.[108] At No Mercy, Orton was awarded the WWE Championship by Mr. McMahon after Cena was stripped of the title due to an injury the previous week, which also ended the Orton-Cena storyline prematurely.[109] Orton then lost the title to Triple H in the opening match of the show, making Orton's reign the fourth shortest in WWE history.[110] Later in the night, Orton defeated Triple H in a Last Man Standing match to regain the title, thus becoming a two-time WWE Champion in one night.[111] when Cena refused to stop punching Orton in the corner;
Following No Mercy, Orton continued his feud with Shawn Michaels, who made his return on the October 8 episode of Raw and performed Sweet Chin Music on Orton.[112] The two met in a title match at Cyber Sunday after a match was made in which the fans would get to vote on either Michaels, Jeff Hardy or Mr. Kennedy as the opponent.[113] As a result, Michaels was voted to face Orton.[114] In the match, Orton was disqualified when he performed a low blow on Michaels, but Orton retained the title.[114] In a scheduled rematch,[115] Orton successfully defended the title at Survivor Series against Michaels when he performed the RKO on Michaels for the win.[116] The stipulation of the match was that if Michaels used Sweet Chin Music, the match would be stopped and Michaels would never get a chance at the WWE title, but if Orton got himself disqualified, he would lose the title.[117]
After weeks of intensity between the two, Orton defeated Jeff Hardy to retain the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble.[118] Following this, he re-engaged in his feud with John Cena, who had returned from injury and won the 2008 Royal Rumble match.[118] Instead of cashing in his title opportunity at WrestleMania XXIV, Cena decided to face Orton for the title at No Way Out.[119] Orton lost the match after getting himself intentionally disqualified, thus retaining the title.[120] At WrestleMania, Orton retained the WWE Championship in a Triple Threat match involving Cena and Triple H. Orton won the match by pinning Cena after a Pedigree from Triple H.[121] The following month, at Backlash, Orton lost the title to Triple H in a Fatal Four-Way Elimination match, which also included Cena and John "Bradshaw" Layfield.[122] After failing to win the title back at Judgment Day,[123] Orton faced Triple H in a Last Man Standing match at One Night Stand for the title.[124] Orton lost the match and legitimatelycollarbone. [125]
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