Randy Orton

Orton is a third-generation professional wrestler as his grandfather Bob Orton, Sr., his father “Cowboy” Bob Orton, and his uncle Barry Orton all competed in the professional wrestling business. Before being promoted to the main World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now 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 Wrestling (OVW), where he held the OVW Hardcore Championship twice.

Orton became a member of the stable Evolution shortly after his WWE debut, which quickly led to an Intercontinental Championship reign, his first title with the company. He also acquired the moniker “The Legend Killer” during a storyline where he began disrespecting and then physically attacking WWE Hall of Famers and wrestling veterans. At age 24, he became the youngest world champion in WWE history after he won the World Heavyweight Championship from Chris Benoit . With this win, he 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, they held the World Tag Team Championship. After Rated-RKO disbanded in mid-2007, Orton gained two WWE Championship reigns in one night, when at 27 he became the second youngest two-time WWE Champion. He formed the group The Legacy with Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase in 2008. It disbanded in 2010 and Orton returned to singles competition. From 2013 to 2015, Orton was aligned with The Authority, who named him the “face of the WWE”. In late 2016, he joined The Wyatt Family, winning the SmackDown Tag Team Championship with stablemates Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper before turning on Wyatt in February 2017.

He won his first United States Championship in 2018, becoming the eighteenth overall Grand Slam Champion after already having been the Seventeenth Triple Crown Champion. He was the final holder of the World Heavyweight Championship, which he unified with the WWE Championship at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs in December 2013 to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion by defeating John Cena.

Orton is recognized by WWE as having the third-most world championship victories in history, behind Cena, Ric Flair (both 16) and tied with Triple H (14). He is the winner of the 2013 Money in the Bank ladder match, both the 2009 and 2017 Royal Rumble matches and has headlined multiple WWE pay-per-view events, including WrestleMania XXV and WrestleMania XXX.

Notable Matches

vs. Triple H at No Mercy 2007.

vs. The Undertaker at Wrestlemania 21.

vs. Chris Benoit at Summerslam 2004.

vs. Mick Foley at Backlash 2004.

vs. Rob Van Dam at Armageddon 2003.

Notable Feuds

vs. John Cena

vs. Triple H

vs. The Undertaker

vs. Mick Foley

vs. CM Punk

vs. Shawn Michaels

vs. Kane

vs. Wade Barrett

vs. Bray Wyatt

vs. Jeff Hardy

vs. AJ Styles