Randy Orton

Randy Orton
Orton in 2018
Birth nameRandal Keith Orton
Born (1980-04-01) April 1, 1980 (age 44)
Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.
Spouse(s)
Samantha Speno
(m. 2007; div. 2013)
Kimberly Kessler
(m. 2015)
Children2
RelativesBob Orton Jr. (father)
Barry Orton (uncle)
Bob Orton (grandfather)
Professional wrestling career
Billed height6 ft 5 in (196 cm)[1]
Billed weight250 lb (113 kg)[1]
Billed fromSt. Louis, Missouri[1]
Trained byBob Orton Jr.
Fit Finlay
Mid Missouri Wrestling Alliance
Ohio Valley Wrestling[2]
DebutMarch 18, 2000[3]
Military service
AllegianceUnited States
Service/branchUnited States Marine Corps
Years of service1998–1999
Rank Private First Class
Unit 1st Battalion, 4th Marines

Randal Keith Orton (born April 1, 1980) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand. With the tied-third most world championship reigns in history, and a career spanning over 20 years, Orton is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time.[4][5][6][7][8][9]

Orton is a third-generation professional wrestler; his grandfather Bob Orton, father Bob Orton Jr., and uncle Barry Orton were all wrestlers.[10][11] Before being signed by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), he trained in and wrestled for the Mid-Missouri Wrestling Association and Southern Illinois Conference Wrestling. He was then signed by the WWF and was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where he held the OVW Hardcore Championship twice.[12] He became a member of the stable Evolution shortly after his WWE debut, which quickly led to an Intercontinental Championship reign, his first championship with the company.[13] 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.[1]

At the age of 24, Orton became the youngest world champion in WWE history after he won the World Heavyweight Championship.[14][15] 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.[16] After Rated-RKO disbanded in mid-2007, Orton gained two WWE Championship reigns in one night, becoming the second youngest two-time WWE Champion at the age of 27.[17][18] He formed the group The Legacy with Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Jr. in 2008. They disbanded in 2010, and Orton returned to singles competition. From 2013 to 2015, he was aligned with The Authority, who named him the "face of the WWE". In 2016, he joined The Wyatt Family, winning the SmackDown Tag Team Championship with Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper before turning on them in 2017. He won his first United States Championship in 2018, becoming the 18th overall Grand Slam Champion after already having been the 17th Triple Crown Champion.

Orton's rivalry with John Cena is one of the longest rivalries in WWE history and ranked among its greatest.[19] Orton has held the WWE Championship[a] 10 times and WWE's World Heavyweight Championship four times. He was the final holder of the World Heavyweight Championship, which he unified with the WWE Championship to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs in 2013.[20] Orton is recognized by WWE as having the third-most world championship victories in history at 14, behind John Cena and Ric Flair (both 16) and tied with Triple H (also 14). All totaled, he has won 20 championships in WWE.

Orton is also the winner of the 2013 Money in the Bank ladder match, as well as a two-time Royal Rumble match winner (2009[21] and 2017) and has headlined multiple WWE pay-per-view events, including WrestleMania 25[22] and WrestleMania XXX.[23] Following his match at the 2021 Survivor Series, he broke Kane's record for wrestling the most PPV matches in WWE history.[24]

  1. ^ a b c d "Randy Orton bio". WWE. Archived from the original on April 9, 2024. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  2. ^ "The kids from OVW that changed WWE". WWE. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference MMWA-SICW was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Gales, Aaron (February 17, 2020). "Why Randy Orton is one of the all-time greats in WWE". Sportskeeda. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  5. ^ Winkie, Luke. "A definitive ranking of the 101 greatest wrestlers". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  6. ^ "Looking at Randy Orton's Case for the GOAT in WWE". May 7, 2022.
  7. ^ "Jim Ross on Randy Orton Being the Best Wrestler". May 22, 2021.
  8. ^ "WWE: Is Randy Orton establishing himself as the G.O.A.T.?". August 12, 2020.
  9. ^ "5 reasons why Randy Orton is the greatest Superstar of all time". August 18, 2020.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference pwhof was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ WWE: The Most Powerful Families in Wrestling (DVD). WWE Home Video. 2007.
  12. ^ "OVW Hardcore Championship (retired)". Ohio Valley Wrestling. Archived from the original on April 5, 2011. Retrieved April 3, 2011.
  13. ^ "W.W.F./W.W.E. Intercontinental Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-Titles. Retrieved October 8, 2007.
  14. ^ "How old is WWE star Randy Orton?". ProWrestling.net. April 1, 2015. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  15. ^ "World Heavyweight Title (W.W.E. Smackdown!)". Wrestling-Titles. Retrieved October 8, 2007.
  16. ^ "W.W.W.F./W.W.F./W.W.E. World Tag Team Title". Wrestling-Titles. Retrieved October 8, 2007.
  17. ^ "History of the WWE Championship". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved August 10, 2007.
  18. ^ "5 youngest WWE World Heavyweight Champions: 5 Things". WWE. March 9, 2016 – via YouTube.
  19. ^ "Read our list of John Cena's 10 greatest rivalries". WWE. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  20. ^ "Retired Championships". WWE. Archived from the original on January 9, 2016.
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference RR09 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  22. ^ "Full WrestleMania XXV results". WWE. Retrieved April 19, 2013.
  23. ^ Clapp, John. "WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton vs. Batista". WWE. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  24. ^ Casey, Connor (November 21, 2021). "John Cena Congratulates Randy Orton on Breaking a Huge WWE Pay-Per-View Record". WWE. Retrieved November 21, 2021.


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