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Randy Orton
Born	(1980-04-01) April 1, 1980 (age 44) Knoxville, Tennessee
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Randy Orton
Billed height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Billed weight	245 lb (111 kg)
Billed from	St. Louis, Missouri
Trained by	"Cowboy" Bob Orton South Broadway Athletic Club Mid Missouri Wrestling Alliance Ohio Valley Wrestling
Debut	March 18, 2000

Randal "Randy" Keith Orton (born on April 1, 1980) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) wrestling on its Raw brand. Orton is a third-generation professional wrestler; his grandfather Bob Orton, Sr., father "Cowboy" Bob Orton, as well as his uncle Barry O, all competed in the professional wrestling industry.

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 Wrestling (OVW). There, Orton became OVW Hardcore Champion on two separate occasions.

After signing with WWE, Orton became a member of the stable Evolution, which quickly led to his capture of the WWE Intercontinental Championship, his first title with the company. Orton also acquired the moniker "The Legend Killer" during a storyline where he began disrespecting Hall of Famers and physically attacking veterans of professional wrestling outside of appropriate restrictions. In 2004, Orton became the youngest World Heavyweight Champion, when he won the title at the age of twenty-four. His title win resulted in his departure from Evolution and feud with his former stablemates. In 2006, Orton joined forces with Edge in a tag team known as Rated-RKO. As a team, Orton and Edge held the World Tag Team Championship. After the team disbanded, Orton, during the fall of 2007, won the WWE Championship twice in one night.

Early life

Orton was born on April 1, 1980 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Son to Elaine and "Cowboy" Bob Orton, he is the eldest of two siblings—Becky and Nathan. Knowing from experience the hardships of life as a professional wrestler, Orton's parents tried to convince him to stay away from wrestling, and his father warned him that life in the ring meant a life on the road, away from family. Orton attended Hazelwood Central High School, where he was an amateur wrestler. After graduating from Hazelwood in 1998, Orton enlisted with the United States Marine Corps. There, he was dishonorably discharged a year later, after going AWOL on two separate occasions and disobeying an order from a commanding officer. Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Private First Class Orton was tried and convicted under a special court-martial and was put into a military prison for thirty-eight days.

Career

Wrestling training

Orton first made his professional wrestling debut in 2000 with Mid-Missouri Wrestling Association-Southern Illinois Conference Wrestling (MMWA-SICW) in St. Louis, Missouri, an organization that was an off-shoot of the old St. Louis Wrestling Club headed by Sam Muchnick. There, he was trained by both the promotion and his father, Cowboy Bob Orton. During this time, Orton performed in matches with wrestlers such as Ace Strange and Mark Bland. He worked at MMWA-SICW for a month. Orton then refereed a few matches with World Organized Wrestling, a promotion where his uncle Barry Orton worked. In 2001, Orton signed a deal with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and was sent to their farm territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) in Louisville, Kentucky, where he continued his training. During his time in OVW, Orton wrestled the likes of Rico Constantino and The Prototype and teamed with Bobby Eaton during a tag team title tournament. He won the OVW Hardcore Champion on two separate occasions by defeating Mr. Black on February 14, 2001 and Flash Flanagan on May 5, 2001.

World Wrestling Entertainment

2002–2003

Orton's first televised WWE match was against Hardcore Holly on SmackDown! on April 25, 2002. Soon after, Orton became a face (crowd favorite) and was placed in a series of matches with Holly. In September 2002, Orton was drafted to the Raw brand, where he defeated Stevie Richards in his debut on the show. Within weeks of his debut on the Raw brand, Orton suffered a shoulder injury, leaving him sidelined for months. While recovering, Orton still appeared on Raw, in his own "Randy News Network" segment, a weekly vignette featuring him talking about his condition. The show interrupted other segments of Raw programming, which caused Orton to slowly transition himself into a narcissistic and self-centered heel (villain).

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. In 2003, Orton spent much of his time helping Triple H overcome challenges from Scott Steiner and Goldberg, former World Championship Wrestling (WCW) superstars who were vying with Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship. Orton joined Triple H in a six-man Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam and was involved primarily to secure Triple H's title defense.

Afterwards, 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-regarded names in wrestling history. He defeated Shawn Michaels at Unforgiven, in the first of many high profile matches billed as "Legend versus Legend Killer", with the help of his stablemate and mentor Ric Flair. Orton then spat in the face of Harley Race on the April 26, 2004 edition of Raw.

During this time, Orton began using the move that would become his signature finisher, the RKO, a jumping cutter, named after his initials. Orton soon defeated Rob Van Dam for the WWE Intercontinental Championship at Armageddon on December 14, 2003. With this win, Orton started the longest Intercontinental title reign in seven years, holding the title for seven months.

2004–2005

Orton continued to establish himself as a "Legend Killer" throughout 2004, challenging the semi-retired wrestler Mick Foley. Famed for his hardcore matches and an 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.

In July, at Vengeance, Edge defeated Orton to win the Intercontinental Championship, ending Orton's seven month title reign. After the loss of his Intercontinental Championship, Orton continued to rise in ranks within WWE, entering the World Heavyweight Championship scene. After becoming the number one contender on July 26, he defeated Chris Benoit for the championship with the added distinction of being the youngest World Heavyweight Champion in wrestling history at age twenty-four. Benoit congratulated Orton after the match, shaking his hand for showing the ability to "be a man".

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 dropping Orton to the mat. Ric Flair and Batista attacked Orton in the ring as Triple H revealed his jealousy for Orton's title. He ordered the young champion to hand over the championship, but Orton refused, spitting in Triple H's face and hitting him with the title belt. Orton's break-up with Evolution began a new storyline for him as a face when he continued to feud with his former stablemates. A month later, Orton lost his championship at Unforgiven. 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 it to beat and humiliate the group. After this, Orton experienced another push, becoming General Manager of the Raw brand for a week following a match stipulation at Survivor Series. He continued to feud with Triple H, using his authority to place his opponents at severe disadvantages during title defenses. 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. On the January 10 edition of Raw, Orton defeated Batista to earn a match against Triple H at the Royal Rumble for the World Heavyweight title. At the Royal Rumble, Triple H defeated Orton to retain the World title.

Orton began an on-screen relationship with Stacy Keibler and briefly feuded with Christian in February 2005. On the February 28 edition of Raw, "Superstar" Billy Graham made an appearance, in which he advised Orton to "go where no wrestler gone before". Orton then produced a copy of SmackDown! magazine, which featured The Undertaker on the cover. Heeding Graham's advice, Orton claimed that he would set himself apart from all other wrestlers by ending The Undertaker's undefeated streak at WrestleMania. Throughout March 2005, Orton taunted The Undertaker, claiming he was unafraid of the eerie Deadman. On the March 21 edition of Raw, Orton turned heel once more after he delivered an RKO to his unsuspecting on-screen girlfriend, Stacy Keibler, knocking her unconscious. During Orton's promos, he would immediately run for cover when signs of The Undertaker's appearance were near (lightning, darkness, or smoke). When "legend" wrestler Jake Roberts advised Orton not to underestimate The Undertaker, Orton performed an RKO on Roberts as well. In the weeks leading up to WrestleMania, Orton became more defiant and unafraid of the Undertaker, taunting and assaulting him in the ring following distractions from his father, "Cowboy" Bob Orton. At WrestleMania 21, however, the heavily hyped match was unsuccessful for Orton, as he lost despite his father's interference.

The following night on Raw, Orton faced Batista, who had become World Heavyweight Champion. Orton stated on-screen that his match with The Undertaker had aggravated a shoulder injury. While sidelined, Orton appeared on Raw and claimed that he was ineligible for the WWE Draft Lottery due to his injury. He was informed by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon that he was indeed a candidate for the draft, leaving a possibility of a return to SmackDown!. Orton returned to WWE programming for the SmackDown! brand on June 16, announcing that he was the second pick in the 2005 draft lottery. He rekindled his feud with The Undertaker, defeating him at SummerSlam following a distraction from his father. Two months later, Orton and his father Bob Orton defeated The Undertaker in a Handicap Casket match. The following month, Orton was a participant in the Annual elimination match of Team SmackDown against Team Raw at Survivor Series. In the match, Orton was the last remaining wrestler in the match, as he pinned Shawn Michaels to get the victory for Team SmackDown. At the event, The Undertaker, who had been absent since Orton had apparently killed him on an episode of SmackDown!, returned by emerging from a flaming casket. The feud was finally settled with a Hell in a Cell match at Armageddon, where The Undertaker offered to retire if he lost. On December 16, The Undertaker entered the ring to deliver a promo while one of his druids appeared to be standing in the ring. The Undertaker sustained an RKO from Orton in a surprise attack. The druid revealed himself to be Orton's father, who gave Orton the Undertaker's urn, which, according to the storyline, allowed whomever held it to control The Undertaker. The Undertaker, however, beat both Ortons in a Hell in a Cell match, which ended their nine-month-long feud with The Undertaker.

2006–2007

Following Armageddon, Orton entered the January 2006 Royal Rumble as the thirtieth wrestler to enter the match, but he was eliminated by Rey Mysterio. Mysterio won the match at a title shot, and Orton urged him to put the title shot at stake in a match at No Way Out. In the weeks preceding No Way Out, Orton made disparaging remarks about Eddie Guerrero, Mysterio's friend, in an attempt to gain heel heat. Guerrero's death had occurred only months previously, and many fans felt the comments were unwarranted and highly distasteful. Orton won at No Way Out, earning Mysterio's title shot for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 22. General Manager Theodore Long re-added Mysterio to the WrestleMania 22 title match, however, making it a Triple Threat match between Orton, Mysterio, and then-champion, Kurt Angle. On April 2, at WrestleMania 22, Orton was pinned by Mysterio, making Mysterio the World Heavyweight Champion and ending their on-screen rivalry.

On April 4, 2006, Orton was suspended for sixty days for "unprofessional conduct." In an interview, Orton stated, "my conduct was unbecoming of a champion, which is what I will be again when I return". To cover for the suspension, a faked injury was devised, where Kurt Angle broke Orton's ankle during a grudge match. In July, Orton said his suspension resulted from smoking marijuana backstage. Orton returned from his suspension in June to the Raw brand, where he engaged in a storyline feud with Hulk Hogan. Orton began cutting promos insulting the aging Hogan and flirted with Hogan's eighteen-year-old daughter Brooke. At SummerSlam, the two met in a "Legend vs. Legend Killer" match, which Hogan won.

After the newly reformed D-Generation X (DX) (Triple H and Shawn Michaels) cost Edge the WWE Championship numerous times, Edge approached Orton and asked him to join forces to defeat the team. Orton, whose championship reign had been ended by Triple H in 2004, agreed, forming the tag team Rated-RKO. The two became the first to defeat DX since their reunion and quickly dominated the Raw brand's tag team division to become tag team champions. As part of the angle, Rated-RKO attacked Ric Flair with steel chairs to enrage DX on November 27. At New Year's Revolution, Rated-RKO faced DX in a title defense, but the match was declared a no-contest when Triple H suffered a legitimate injury during the match.

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. 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. 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. Orton continued his attacks when he engaged himself in feuds with Rob Van Dam, Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, and Sgt. Slaughter.

On the July 23 edition of Raw, Orton was named as the number one contender at SummerSlam for John Cena's WWE Championship. Weeks before their scheduled match at SummerSlam, Orton attacked Cena on three separate occasions by performing RKOs on him. At SummerSlam, Orton lost the title match to Cena, who pinned Orton after executing an FU. 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. Orton was granted his title rematch against Cena at Unforgiven and won by disqualification when Cena refused to stop punching Orton in the corner. 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. 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. Orton then lost the title to Triple H in the opening match of the show, making Orton's reign the third shortest in WWE history. 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.

Following No Mercy, Orton continued his feud with Shawn Michaels, who made his return on the October 8 edition of Raw and performed Sweet Chin Music on Orton. 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. As a result, Michaels was voted to face Orton. In the match, Orton was disqualified when he performed a low blow on Michaels, but Orton retained the title. In a scheduled rematch, Orton successfully defended the title at Survivor Series against Michaels when he performed the RKO on Michaels for the win. 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.

2008-present

After weeks of intensity between the two, Orton defeated Jeff Hardy to retain the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble. Following this, he re-engaged in his feud with John Cena, who had returned from injury and won the 2008 Royal Rumble match. Instead of cashing in his title opportunity at WrestleMania XXIV, Cena decided to face Orton for the title at No Way Out. Orton lost the match after getting himself intentionally disqualified, thus retaining the title. 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. 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. After failing to win the title back at Judgment Day, Orton faced Triple H in a Last Man Standing match at One Night Stand for the title. Orton lost the match and legitimately broke his collarbone.

He made his in-ring return on the November 3 episode of Raw losing to CM Punk by disqualification, after Ted DiBiase, Jr. interfered. Rhodes and Manu accepted Orton's offer to form an alliance a few weeks after the "DiBiase incident"; attacking John Cena along with Chris Jericho, and the trio dubbed themselves "The Legacy"; debuting the following week in a 2 on 3 handicap match against Batista and the WWE Champion Triple H , and although they were now a stable, neither one of the three made any changes in their attire.

The December 15th edition of Raw they defeated Batista and the World Heavyweight Champion John Cena, in a match where Orton punted Batista in the head, leaving him indefinately inactive (actually due to a torn hamstring) The following week; December 22, Orton qualified for a Fatal Four Way Elimination Match, his opponent being the now unable to compete Batista. After Orton grew tired of The Legacy losing matches, in an ongoing quest to mold his disciples; he informed Cody Rhodes, Sim Snuka and Manu that that very night they would have to complete their first test. Each man would have to compete in a singles match. Each man who won would have completed “step one,” any man who lost would be out of his Legacy. While same that night, Kelly Kelly confronted her real secret romance Randy Orton, After lying to Kane about his identity two weeks previous. After listening to Kelly Kelly berate him for not calling her back, Orton told Kelly that he didn’t need her to protect him against Kane. He then blew her off by telling her that he didn’t need any distractions while vying for the World Heavyweight Championship.

In the Elimination Fatal Four Way to determine who would follow to face John Cena at the Royal Rumble, in between Y2J, Orton, Shawn Michaels and JBL, just as Jericho prepared to lock JBL into the Walls of Jericho, Michaels laid out the first ever Undisputed Champion Chris Jericho with a Sweet Chin Music. Next up, it was Orton who found himself on the receiving end of Sweet Chin Music. Leaving Michaels and JBL in the ring, and because Michaels was Layfield's employee, JBL won the match without any difficulty; classifying for the match against Cena at the Royal Rumble

Controversy

While on the Raw brand, Orton was accused of harassing fellow WWE employees Amy Weber and Rochelle Loewen, which led to the departure of Weber from the company. Loewen, who has called Orton "an animal", claimed that he vandalized her possessions and subjected her to harassment. Fellow WWE Diva Search contestant (and eventual winner) Christy Hemme has stated in an interview with The Sun that she does not believe that Orton harassed Weber or Loewen.

On March 19, 2007, Sports Illustrated posted an article on its website as part of its continuing series investigating a steroid and HGH ring used by a number of professional athletes in several sports. That article mentioned several current and former WWE wrestlers, including Orton who was alleged to have obtained clomiphene citrate, anastrozole and the steroids stanozolol, nandrolone, oxandrolone, and testosterone. WWE has since made a statement on this situation, claiming that the allegations preceded the Talent Wellness program WWE launched in February 2006.

Personal life

In November 2005, Orton announced his engagement to his girlfriend Samantha Speno. They married on September 21, 2007. In December 2007, Orton announced that he and his wife were expecting their first child, a daughter due on July 15, 2008. Orton and his wife welcomed, Alanna Marie Orton, on July 12, 2008.

He had a tattoo on his left arm which read "USMC" for United States Marine Corps but covered it up after receiving a bad conduct discharge from the service. He was sent home after serving thirty-eight days in military prison at Camp Pendleton in California.

Orton suffers from hypermobile shoulders. After being medically cleared to wrestle, after he broke his collarbone in a Last Man Standing match at One Night Stand against Triple H, Orton re-injured his collarbone in a motorcycle accident.

In wrestling

Template:Image stack

• Finishing and signature moves
  • Diving crossbody – 2002
  • O–Zone (Overdrive) – 2002
  • RKO (Jumping cutter) – 2003–present
  • Running punt to an opponent's head – 2007–present
  • Wheelbarrow suplex – OVW
  • Body scissors
  • Chinlock
  • Dropkick
  • European uppercut
  • Falling clothesline
  • Gutwrench elevated neckbreaker
  • Inverted headlock backbreaker
  • Jumping knee drop
  • Randy Orton Stomp (Multiple stomps while circling a fallen opponent)
  • Rapid forearm shots to head and chest of a seated opponent
  • Rope hung spike DDT
  • Scoop powerslam

• Managers
  • Ric Flair
  • "Cowboy" Bob Orton
  • Lita

• Nicknames
  • The Legend Killer

• Theme music
  • "Voices" by Rev Theory
  • "This Fire Burns" by Killswitch Engage - Used for one week; Eventually became the theme for CM Punk
  • "Burn in My Light" by Mercy Drive - After Orton was kicked out of Evolution
  • "Line in the Sand" by Motörhead - While Orton was part of Evolution
  • "Evolve" by Jim Johnston (WWE production music) - While Orton was in Evolution
  • "Blastin'" by Jim Johnston (WWE production music)

Championships and accomplishments

• Ohio Valley Wrestling
  • OVW Hardcore Championship (2 times)

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (2007)
  • PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (2004)
  • PWI Rookie of the Year (2001)
  • PWI ranked him #1 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2008

• World Wrestling Entertainment
  • World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Edge
  • WWE Championship (2 times)
  • WWE Intercontinental Championship (1 time)
  • Seventeenth Triple Crown Champion

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
  • Most Improved (2004)

Notes

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References

• James Guttman (2006). World Wrestling Insanity: The Decline and Fall of a Family Empire. Toronto. pp. 235 pages. ISBN 1550227289.
• "2007 Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts". Wrestling’s Historical Cards. Kappa Publishing. 2007.

External links

• WWE profile
• Online World of Wrestling profile
• Randy Orton at IMDb
• Template:TV.com person
• SLAM! Bio and Story archive

Template:Evolution (professional wrestling)

Template:Persondata

• Articles with dead external links from December 2008
• 1980 births
• Living people
• American professional wrestlers
• People from Knoxville, Tennessee
• People from Tennessee
• People from St. Louis, Missouri
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• United States Marines