Randy Orton: Difference between revisions
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== Personal life == |
== Personal life == |
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Revision as of 23:39, 11 January 2006
| Randy Orton | |
|---|---|
| File:RandyKOrton.jpg | |
| Born | April 1, 1980 Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Randy Orton |
| Billed height | 6 ft 4 in (193 cm) |
| Billed weight | 245 lb (111 kg) |
| Trained by | Cowboy Bob Orton South Broadway Athletic Club Ohio Valley Wrestling |
| Debut | 2000 |
Randall "Randy" Keith Orton (born April 1, 1980 in Knoxville, Tennessee), is an American third-generation professional wrestler currently working for World Wrestling Entertainment's SmackDown! brand.
Orton comes from a family of professional wrestlers starting from his grandfather Bob Orton, Sr., to his father Cowboy Bob Orton. His uncle Barry O was also a former wrestler.
Career
After graduating from Hazelwood Central High School, Randy Orton made his professional wrestling debut in 2000 with the MMWA-SICW in his hometown of Saint Louis, Missouri. In MMWA-SICW or South Broadway Athletic Club as it is known in St. Louis, he was trained by such wrestlers there as Ron Powers, Gary Jackson, Mark Bland, Jeremy Lightfoot, Phil E. Blunt and promoter Tony Costa as well as father, Cowboy Bob Orton. This is a organization that was a off-shoot of the old Wrestling at the Chase headed by Sam Munchnick between 1950-1983. Randy Orton then had a match with another St. Louis group, Central Championship Wrestling, with O.G. Stevie B. Not long after, he signed a developmental deal with WWE and was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling.
The legend killer
Orton trained at Ohio Valley Wrestling in Louisville, until he was brought up to the main roster . Orton debuted on WWE programming in April 2002, but made little impact as a face on SmackDown! before being drafted to RAW, where he became a heel.
Orton's heel turn was drawn out over several months. While sidelined with a separated shoulder, Orton launched the "Randy News Network", a weekly vignette which featured Orton explaining the current status of his shoulder. He also provided an e-mail address by which fans could contact him to express their support (GetWellRandy@wwe.com). His smug, self-centred attitude gradually turned the fans against him.
Upon his return on January 20, 2003, Orton helped Triple H, Ric Flair and Batista beat down Scott Steiner, a rival of Triple H's. Triple H later called the foursome Evolution. At this point Orton was given the gimmick of The Legend Killer which saw him defeating or humiliating legendary wrestlers and personalities. Orton gained infamy when he spat in the faces of wrestling legends Mick Foley and Harley Race. At Unforgiven 2003 on September 21, Orton defeated Shawn Michaels with the help of Ric Flair.
Orton went on to defeat Rob Van Dam for the WWE Intercontinental Championship at Armageddon 2003 on December 14. He became one of the longest-reigning Intercontinental Champions of recent years, holding the title for seven months.
World Heavyweight Champion
On the July 26, 2004 episode of Raw, Orton won a 20-man battle royal last elminating Chris Jerchio to become the number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship. On August 15, 2004 at SummerSlam 2004, Orton defeated the World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit by pinfall following an R.K.O. to capture his first World Heavyweight Championship, making him the youngest ever World Heavyweight Champion in the WWE at the age of twenty-four. After the match, Orton and Benoit shook hands in which Benoit encouraged Orton to "Be A Man." The match was held in Toronto, Ontario at the Air Canada Centre.
Orton was kicked out of Evolution the night after winning the World Heavyweight Championship, which the group's leader, Triple H, believed belonged to him. Orton became a face, and Triple H began feuding with him over the title. Just under a month later on September 12, Orton lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Triple H at Unforgiven 2004. His short reign as World Heavyweight Champion was largely regarded as a dismal failure, in part due to his unwanted and sudden rise to main event status but largely because his face turn was not well received by the majority of the WWE audience, especially as Chris Benoit had clearly been a popular World Heavyweight Champion. Backstage politics by Triple H were also rumoured to have played a part in his short run as champion.
Orton versus Evolution
After being kicked out of Evolution the night after winning the World Heavyweight title, Orton began a lengthy feud with Triple H over the title. Towards the end of October, Orton was in a match where if he lost, he would not be allowed a shot at the title as long as Triple H was the champion, so when Orton was one of the one-night-only General Managers of RAW, he tried to make sure Triple H lost the title, by putting the belt on the line in a Battle Royal.
He began using new entrance music - Burn in My Light by Mercy Drive a week after spitting in the face of Triple H and refusing to surrender the World Heavyweight Championship.
Orton, along with Maven, Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit, emerged victorious at Survivor Series 2004 in a match which entitled the winners to each be General Manager for one of the four weeks following the event. On the November 29, 2004, episode of RAW, Orton booked a Battle Royal for the World Heavyweight Championship. However, Vince McMahon overruled Orton, changing the Battle Royal to a number one contender match. Orton also gave Eugene and William Regal a match for the WWE World Tag-Team Championships against La Résistance, and scheduled a lingerie contest between several RAW Divas.
After the World Heavyweight Championship was vacated, Orton was chosen to face Triple H, Chris Benoit, Edge, Batista and Chris Jericho in an Elimination Chamber match at New Year's Revolution to determine a new champion. Triple H managed to win the match, thus keeping their feud active for a longer period of time. He was later unsuccessful in his attempt to win back the World Heavyweight Championship from Triple H at the 2005 Royal Rumble.
Return of the legend killer
After Batista's push began, Orton was marginalized. He began an onscreen relationship with Stacy Keibler and briefly feuded with Christian. After "Superstar" Billy Graham advised Orton to "go where no wrestler has gone before", Orton challenged veteran SmackDown! wrestler The Undertaker to a match at WrestleMania 21, making the ambitious claim that he would defeat The Undertaker, thus ending Undertaker's undefeated WrestleMania streak.
This feud saw Orton hitting the R.K.O. on Jake "The Snake" Roberts, who had warned him about facing The Undertaker. Just two weeks before WrestleMania, Orton cemented his heel status by knocking Stacy out with the R.K.O. He went on to slap The Undertaker and assault him following a distraction by his father, Cowboy Bob Orton. Despite interference from his father, Orton was defeated by The Undertaker at WrestleMania 21 after he attempted a Tombstone Piledriver, but was off-balance, enabling The Undertaker to reverse the move into his own Tombstone Piledriver for the pinfall victory.
In storyline terms, a match with Batista the night after WrestleMania aggravated Orton's shoulder problems stemming from the previous night (in real life he was sidelined for several months while recuperating from his third genuine shoulder injury). Despite appearing RAW on May 16 to talk about he was going to stay on RAW to get revenge on Batista and take back the world title. While Orton claimed that he could not be drafted to SmackDown! because he was on the injured list, Vince McMahon clearly informed him that he could get drafted.
Orton returned on the June 16, 2005 edition of SmackDown!, attacking The Undertaker and announcing that he had been drafted back to SmackDown! as the second pick in the 2005 draft lottery. He made his in-ring return two weeks later, drawing with Kamala (with Kim Chee) and defeating Chris Benoit in consecutive weeks. Orton went on to defeat The Undertaker at SummerSlam following interference from his father. Cowboy Bob Orton had dressed up like a fan and ran into the ring and distracted the Dead Man, allowing Randy enough time to hit the RKO on a surprised Undertaker. After Summerslam, an overconfident Orton announced that he was creating a retirement fund for The Undertaker. However, The Undertaker returned on the first episode of Friday Night SmackDown!, setting the check ablaze with a mysterious bolt of lightning.
At WWE Homecoming, Randy interfered on Pipers Pit and gave the R.K.O to Roddy Piper, adding Piper to the list of legends killed.
A loss to the Undertaker on SmackDown! and several weeks of taunting each other with caskets caused the Ortons to be scheduled to face The Undertaker in a handicap casket match at the 2005 No Mercy event. The Ortons went on to defeat The Undertaker, thanks to Bob blinding Undertaker with a fire extinguisher followed by a chair shot from Orton. Orton went on to set the casket on fire.
Orton went on to compete in a number one contender's match with Rey Mysterio for a place in Team Smackdown, this ended in a disqualification when Bob interfered. The folloing week, Orton was scheduled for a Triple Threat match against Eddie Guerrero and Batista on the November 18 edition of SmackDown for the World Heavyweight Championship, But because of the unfortnate passing of Eddie, this match didnt happen. Instead A No Holds Barred match between Batista and Orton was held but resulted in a no contest after interference from Team RAW.
It was soon confirmed that Orton would be taking Eddie's place on Team SmackDown. At Survivor Series 2005, Orton was once again the sole survivor for the third year in a row as Team SmackDown! defeated Team RAW in a Survivor Series elimination match. SmackDown's victory was short lived though as a returning Undertaker came down and made Orton run out of the ring.
On a special live edition of SmackDown! on November 29, Orton drove a car with the Undertaker laying stunned on the trunk backwards through the SmackDown! stage, setting one of Eddie Guerrero's lowriders on fire in the process. The following weeks after, The Undertaker played more mind games on Orton setting up a Hell in a Cell match between the two at WWE Armageddon. On December 16 edition of SmackDown just days before Armageddon, Randy finally got one up on the Undertaker by announcing his supposed "retirement". This soon prompted Taker to come out, unbeknownst to Taker, Cowboy Bob was dressed as one of the Undertaker's druids, holding up the urn and stayed out by the ring while the others went back. Taker soon noticed this and took his eyes off Randy, who went on to attack Taker, which included an RKO, several vicious shots with a steel chair, and a final hit using the Undertaker's urn.
At Armageddon, the mind games came to an end, and Undertaker defeated Randy Orton inside Hell in a Cell.
Throughout the match, both combatants took turns brutalizing each other, using chairs, the ring steps, the steel cage itself and any other weapons they could find to inflict punishment. One particularly vicious chairshot by the Deadman busted the Legend Killer open early in the match.
After the Deadman controlled much of the early going, Orton hit an RKO out of nowhere and seemed to get a second wind. It was then Orton’s turn to brutalize the Deadman, and the Legend Killer drew blood by rubbing Undertaker’s face into the steel cage of the cell. Outside the cell, even Cowboy Bob Orton shed blood. Cowboy Bob held Undertaker’s hair through the cage to help Randy assault the Deadman, but Undertaker avoided a charging Randy, and father and son crashed into each other.
After escaping an Undertaker chokeslam, Orton took control and set the Deadman up on a table. Orton then climbed the ropes and delivered a death-defying splash through the table, but Undertaker escaped the pinfall attempt at 2. The Deadman was able to come back, but Orton escaped the Last Ride, and an errant swing by the Deadman knocked the referee unconscious.
Orton then reversed a chokeslam attempt into the RKO, but by the time a new referee was able to make the count, the Deadman escaped the pinfall. Undertaker later hit the Last Ride on the Legend Killer, but Cowboy Bob, who entered the cell when referee Charles Robinson entered, pulled him out of the ring to stop the count. Undertaker then attacked Cowboy Bob, but that gave Randy precious time to recover. Back in the ring, Undertaker attempted to put Randy away with a Tombstone, but in a role reversal of what happened at WrestleMania 21, Orton reversed it into a Tombstone of his own. However, there was once again no referee, and Undertaker sat up. A flabbergasted Orton tried to keep the Deadman down, but he kept popping up after every punch.
Undertaker then attempted another chokeslam, but Cowboy Bob re-entered the ring. The Deadman stopped to attack Cowboy Bob, allowing Randy to set up for an RKO, but the Deadman blocked that as well. Undertaker then hit both Ortons with an urn, and after delivering a Tombstone to Cowboy Bob, the Deadman nailed the Legend Killer with a Tombstone as well to secure the victory. After the match, Undertaker climbed the Cell, kneeling down to worship the urn as the Ortons lay bloody and beaten in the ring below.
Two weeks later Randy filled in for an injured Booker T to face Chris Benoit in the 5th match for the best of seven series. Orton lost this match because of interference from Booker T's wife Sharmell. The following week, he faced Benoit again, but this time the interference came from Orlando Jordan as Orton attempted to set up the RKO on Benoit securing Booker's US Championship Belt.
Finishing and signature moves
- RKO (Jumping cutter) - a reference to the initials of his full name (Randall Keith Orton).
- Super RKO - (RKO with opponent sitting on the top turnbuckle.)
- O-Zone (Overdrive)
- Top-rope flying crossbody (Typically with a frog splash style jump)
- Elevated DDT
- Gutwrench elevated neckbreaker
- European uppercut
- Rotated inverted-facelock into a back stretch
- Rear chin lock with forearm shots to the chest and neck
- Wheelbarrow german suplex (Done in OVW)
- Falling clothesline
- Dropkick
- Jumping Knee drop
- Scoop Powerslam
Personal life
Before becoming a wrestler, Orton enlisted with the United States Marine Corps out of high school. Orton was dishonorably discharged about a year later after going AWOL on two occasions, the first time for eighty two days, and disobeying an order from a commanding officer, under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Private First Class Orton was convicted under a special court-martial, and was put into a military prison for thirty eight days. As this was before the law changed in 2002, Orton did not become a felon as a result.
While on RAW, Orton was accused of harassing fellow WWE employees Amy Weber and Rochelle Loewen, leading to the departure of Weber from the company, while Loewen was transferred to SmackDown! (she was later released). Loewen claimed that he vandalized her possessions and directed racist remarks towards her, calling him "an animal." It should however be noted that Orton's friend Mark Jindrak refuted several of Loewen's accusations in an interview with Voice of Wrestling, and claimed that Orton had apologized to Loewen at the time of the 2005 Royal Rumble, and that fellow Diva Search contestant (and eventual winner) Christy Hemme denied what she knew of the allegations in an interview with The Sun [1].
In late 2004 and early 2005, it was rumored that Orton was in a relationship with Stacy Keibler after appearing on RAW together. It was later confirmed that they were not romantically linked off-screen.
In November 2005, Orton announced his engagement to long term girlfriend Samantha. [2]
Championships and accomplishments
- 1-time World Heavyweight Champion
- 1-time WWE Intercontinental Champion
- 2-time OVW Hardcore Champion
- PWI Rookie of the Year Award (2001)
- PWI Most Improved Award (2004)
- PWI Top 500 ranked number 29 (2005)
Championship succession
Trivia
- Though Orton is the youngest World Heavyweight Champion in the history of WWE, he is only the fourth youngest person to hold the title belt itself. Lou Thesz won the title at the age of 21 when it was known as the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, The Giant won the belt when it was known as the WCW World Heavyweight Championship at the age of 23, and Kerry Von Erich won the belt at the age of 24 years and three months in May 1984 when it was known as the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.
- Orton was the sole survivor of elimination tag matches at Survivor Series in three successive years (2003, 2004 and 2005). In 2003 and 2005 he defeated Shawn Michaels to win both matches, while in 2004 he pinned Triple H.
External links
