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Biography

April the 25th, 2002 - A date which will go down in WWE history.
April the 25th, 2002 is the night that Randy Keith Orton made his televised debut as a face in a match against Hardcore ‘Bob’ Holly, which he successfully won. Mere months after his debut, Randy had already begun to show his true 3rd generation potential, earning him the right to get a huge push for such an early part in his career. Although he was already doing well, neither the fans nor the creative team were buying his face gimmick, meaning that it was time for a change.
Orton was drafted over to Raw shortly after where he received an even bigger push as a face, yet it was still to no avail. Randy’s shoulder injury only weeks into his Raw debut gave the perfect opportunity for the young superstar to begin his change of character. Although Randy was sidelined for months after the operation, week after week Raw fans would get an update from “Randy’s News Network” which would fill the viewers in on his condition. Orton’s segment would often interrupt interesting parts of the show, which gained much heat from the fans; hence, heel Randy was born.

The talented young superstar returned from injury to surprise us all further when he joined the faction known as Evolution. Ric Flair, Triple H, Batista and Randy himself quickly became known as the past, present and future of the wrestling world, which gained great advantage over the rest of the Raw roster. As Evolution began to take over, Orton was often used to Triple H’s advantage as he would regularly help The Game defend his title. Although this new found stable seemed to be centred around the WWE Champion, Randy himself showed us that he too was Championship material after his performance during the Elimination Chamber match at 2003’s Summerslam.

After displaying such great wrestling ability at the pay per view, Randy soon realised what he was capable of which eventually led to him telling us that he was now the future of the business. Orton’s new arrogant phase led him to proclaim himself ‘The Legend Killer’ as he began to blatantly disrespect many of the older wrestlers who have made a name for themselves in the wrestling business, such as Harley Race and Shawn Michaels. It was around this time that he first invented his signature finishing move, which he named after his own initials, RKO. Orton continued his road to success as at the Armageddon event in late 2003, he won his first ever championship in an Intercontinental title match against Rob Van Dam. It now seemed that Evolution was taking over the wrestling business as by now, all the men’s titles on Raw were owned by the powerful faction.

Randy’s next accomplishment came early 2004 when he accepted another ‘Legend vs. Legend Killer’ challenge. This time he was to put his I.C title on the line in a hardcore match against none other than the man who was famous for his success in those types of matches, Mick Foley. The match turned out to be one of Orton’s best to date and although blood was spilt, thumbtacks were used and the hardcore extremist gave his all, Randy still managed to defeat Foley. The young superstar carried the title for a total of seven months before finally losing it in July, 2004 at the pay per view Vengeance when he was defeated by Edge. But as the saying goes, when one door closes, two more open. .
Randy did not let his loss get in the way as mere weeks after being defeated; he was already rising into the World Heavyweight Championship scene. On July 26th, 2004 he became the number one contender and less than a month later, Orton did the impossible when he defeated Chris Benoit for the Championship. Not only was he now carrying the business on his own two shoulders, he had also become the youngest ever World Heavyweight Champion in the history of the WWE. Unfortunately for ‘The Legend Killer’, his mentor and fellow faction member, Triple H, was not happy with another member of Evolution holding the title. The following night after his win, the stable created a mock celebration for the new Champion and after being lifted on to Batista’s shoulders, a thumbs up from The Game quickly turned into a thumbs down. Orton was slammed to the mat and brutally beaten by his own team mates, meaning that the young champion’s time as a member of Evolution was officially over.

Randy’s break up from Evolution quickly began a feud between him and his former team members, meaning that he yet again received a big push as a face. Although ‘The Legend Killer’s’ title reign had been greatly anticipated, it seemed that it was not meant to be as after only one month of being the World Heavyweight Champion, he was defeated by Triple H for the Championship at Unforgiven. The feud between Orton and Evolution carried on for some time, until Randy was finally taken out of the main event picture in early 2005 when ‘The Game’ successfully defended his title against him.

Orton’s career began to make a slow down fall as he began his on-screen relationship and a feud with Christian shortly after being taken from the title scenario. It seemed that Randy was beginning to fall to mid-card status, that was until ‘Superstar’ Billy Graham gave the young wrestler some well needing advice, telling him to “go where no wrestler had gone before.” ‘The Legend Killer’ seemed to take the Legend’s comment to heart as just a few short weeks later, Orton claimed that he himself could end The Undertaker’s winning streak at Wrestlemania, causing his next feud to be set up automatically.

Throughout March of 2005, Orton had a series of promos where he insulted ‘The Deadman’, claiming that he was not afraid of him. It seemed that the only person he was trying to fool was himself, as whenever any signs of the Undertaker making an appearance began to happen, Randy would make a quick exit from the ring. It was at this time that the young superstar yet again cemented his heel status when he RKOed his on-screen girlfriend, Stacy Keibler, showing us just how unpredictable he really was. In the weeks leading up to Wrestlemania 21, Orton quickly became less afraid of ‘The Deadman’, taunting and even assaulting him in the ring, once he had been distracted by his father, Cowboy Bob Orton. Although it seemed that Randy may have been the superstar that was going to defy all the odds and strip The Undertaker’s winning streak at Wrestlemania from beneath him, it was not to be as the young superstar was unsuccessful, despite another interference from his father.

The following night on Raw, Orton was in one on one competition with the new World Heavyweight Champion, Batista. This was in fact his last match for another 6 months as Randy was now suffering from his third genuine shoulder injury. Although sidelined for some time, ‘The Legend Killer’ still appeared on Raw regularly, declaring that he was going to sought revenge on the Champion, although it was not actually Batista whom he had been injured by. At this time, another WWE Draft was taking place, which Randy believed he was not eligible for as he was still injured. Unfortunately for the young superstar, Vince McMahon informed him that he was indeed a candidate for the draft, leading to ‘The Legend Killer’ being picked as the second superstar to be drafted over to Smackdown. Orton returned to live television on June 16th, 2005, where he wasted no time in rekindling his feud with The Undertaker. At Summerslam 2005, with a little help from his father, the young superstar successfully managed to defeat ‘The Phenom’. There battle lasted for a gruelling nine months until it finally came to an end at the December pay per view, Armageddon, where unfortunately the young superstar was defeated.

Randy returned two weeks after Armageddon to engage in another mid-card feud with Booker T and Chris Benoit, but this small battle did not last long as Orton was quickly placed back into the World Heavyweight Championship picture. The 2006 Royal Rumble was a shock to the young superstar as although he entered as number 30 in the rumble itself, he was quickly eliminated by the man who was the second entrant, Rey Mysterio. A frustrated Orton demanded that Rey put his title match on the line at the following pay per view. In the weeks leading to No Way Out, the third generation superstar made some disturbing remarks about Rey Mysterio’s friend who had only just passed away, Eddie Guerrero. These remarks not only received much heat from the fans, it also got the young superstar what he wanted. Mysterio accepted ‘The Legend Killer’s’ offer and on the 16th of February, the young superstar defeated the high flyer for his shot at the Championship.

Although Orton had defeated Mysterio for his right to a title match, the general manager of Smackdown, Theodore Long, added the biggest little man in the business back into the Championship mix, making the World Heavyweight Title match-up at Wrestlemania 22 a triple threat match between Orton, Mysterio and the Champion, Kurt Angle. It seemed that it was yet again not meant to be for the young superstar as on April 2nd, 2006, he was pinned and defeated by Rey Mysterio, making the high flyer the new World Heavyweight Champion.

On April 4th, 2006, it was announced by World Wrestling Entertainment that Orton was in fact suspended for 60 days, due to unprofessional conduct. To cover for the suspension, fans were told that Angle had broken the young superstar’s ankle. Returning two months later, Randy began a small feud with the Olympic Gold Medallist as he was seeking ‘revenge’. The superstars faced off at both One Night Stand and Vengeance, leaving the wrestlers tied as they both were victorious in one of the match-ups.

As July of 2006 reached us, Orton began a feud with none other than the legendary Hulk Hogan. The third generation superstar cut a series of promos, insulting the aging Hall of Famer and even flirting with Hulk’s 18 year old daughter, Brooke Hogan. The battle finally came to a huge showdown at Summerslam as yet another Legend vs. Legend Killer match took place. Unfortunately for Randy, he was yet again unsuccessful as Hogan defeated him cleanly.

Orton’s next step in his colourful career was to join the stable known as Rated RKO. As Edge was having trouble with the newly formed D-X, he approached the young superstar and asked him to join forces. As Triple H had caused Randy many problems in the past, he agreed to help, which lead to the formation of the newest tag team. Neither superstar realised just how successful their new faction was going to be, as after being the first team to defeat D-Generation X since their comeback, they quickly dominated the tag team division to become champions. Throughout the early part of 2007, Rated RKO defended their championships until finally losing them to Shawn Michaels and John Cena on the 29th January. As both Edge and Orton suffered many defeats over the following months, they slowly began to build up hatred between one another before finally a small feud began. Although the battle between the two young superstars was greatly anticipated, it was not meant to be as Edge was moved to Smackdown shortly after.

As Orton yet again became a singles competitor, he returned to his ‘Legend Killer’ gimmick throughout the first half of 2007. The first Legend to fall in Randy’s path was ‘The Showstopper’ himself, Shawn Michaels, whom was left with a severe concussion after being beaten senseless by Orton in their match at Judgement Day. The young superstar quickly moved on to another great in the business, Rob Van Dam. Although Randy was defeated in their stretcher match at One Night Stand, he viscously beat RVD after the match, leaving him with a concussion also. As if the third generation superstar had not done enough damage, he soon set his sights on a Hall of Famer that could quite possibly be one of the best wrestlers to date, Dusty Rhodes. Their showdown came to an end at The Great American Bash, where Randy quickly defeated the Legend at his own game, a Texas Bullrope match.

After defeating Cody Rhodes, the son of ‘The American Dream’, the following night on Raw, Randy was awarded the Number One Contender’s spot for John Cena’s WWE Championship. The weeks leading into Summerslam, Orton was as relentless as ever as he attacked any living thing in his path. Not only did he attack Sgt. Slaughter to the point where he had to be taken to hospital, week after week he would deliver unexpected RKO’s to Cena. Going into their match-up at Summerslam, Randy seemed to be the one with the advantage, but yet again, things did not go to plan for ‘The Legend Killer’ as John Cena successfully retained his Championship.

The following night, Orton demanded a rematch but it was to no avail as William Regal quickly declined. Taking his problems to the chairman, Vince McMahon, he was told that he could not have another rematch unless he proved himself. The young superstar did just that as later on in the night, he interfered in the WWE Champion’s match but instead of assaulting Cena, he instead punted John’s father in the head. Randy was granted his rematch for the Championship but it was yet again to no avail as at the pay per view Unforgiven, Cena lost by Disqualification when he refused to stop punching Orton in the corner, meaning that the title would not change hands.

Although Randy had been unsuccessful in becoming the WWE Champion, it seemed that luck had finally swung his way when John Cena was forced to relinquish the title in early September of 2007, due to a torn pectoral muscle. Orton was finally awarded the WWE Championship the following week at No Mercy, and although in the opening match of the pay per view he was defeated by Triple H, he quickly enacted his rematch clause later on that night. He successfully defeated ‘The Game’ in a last man standing match, meaning that Orton had become the Champion twice in one day.

Throughout late 2007 and early 2008, the third generation superstar has continued his reign as WWE Champion and has managed to successfully defend it for a number of times.
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