Bio
Height: 6 foot 4
Weight: 111 kilograms
From: St. Louis
Signature Move: RKO
Career Highlights: World Heavyweight Championship; Intercontinental Championship
WWE Debut: April 2002
Randy Orton is back, and he has one thing on his mind - revenge.
Orton was knocked out of action for two months when Kurt Angle broke the Legend Killer's ankle during a King of the Ring Match. Ever since the incident, Orton has been anxiously awaiting the perfect time to get back at Angle.
The Wrestling Machine, who was just drafted by ECW, posed an open challenge. Angle took his challenge to RAW and it looked like there were no takers, but Orton showed up form out of nowhere and laid him out with an RKO.
The brash Orton said that he accepted Angle's challenge, and now the two will square off at One Night Stand.
Orton also revealed that his SmackDown! contract had expired, so he decided to back to RAW - the same brand that saw him become the youngest World Heavyweight Champion in WWE history.
The cocky and athletic Orton can and will do (or say) just about anything to regain the world championship.
After Rey Mysterio won the Royal Rumble Match, Orton found himself on the outside looking in at the potential WrestleMania main event. Orton couldn't stand for that, so he began a war of words with Mysterio that even went so far as to cast the late Eddie Guerrero in a negative light.
Orton pushed and pushed until Mysterio finally snapped and put his world championship opportunity on the line at No Way Out.
There, Orton won and took Mysterio's WrestleMania main event spot. But Orton's winning tactics were controversial, resulting in General Manager Theodore Long making the World Heavyweight Championship Match at WrestleMania a Triple Threat Match.
So on April 2, Orton had to try to regain the world championship against both Kurt Angle and Rey Mysterio. Rey emerged as the new World Heavyweight Champion, further infuriating Orton.
Orton also holds another distinction: he's the only person in WWE history to win a championship for another Superstar, battling as a substitute.
When Booker T was injured after going up 3-0 in a best-of-seven series for the United States Championship, Randy Orton was tapped to take over.
Chris Benoit battled back to 3-3, but Orton then narrowly won the final match and claimed the United States Championship ... for Booker T.
Randy Orton entered WWE and quickly morphed from just a third-generation Superstar into “The Legend Killer.” Feasting on legend after legend, Orton took down dozens of top WWE Superstars, Hall of Famers and legends.
Those "killed" include Harley Race, Sgt. Slaughter, Shawn Michaels and Cactus Jack, among others.
Randy Orton may be one of the cockiest Superstars on the SmackDown! roster, but he’s just as determined and effective inside the ring. Orton has sports-entertainment is in his blood. His father is WWE Hall of Famer Cowboy Bob Orton.
After being advised by another WWE Hall of Famer, Superstar Billy Graham, to make an impact, Orton did just that by challenging Undertaker for a match at WrestleMania 21.
Orton was already known as The Legend Killer, but no Legend was bigger than Undertaker and his 12-0 record at WrestleMania.
Orton gave it everything he had, including some help from his father, but it wasn’t enough to stop the Deadman from going 13-0 at the biggest event of the year.
Orton was put on the shelf with a shoulder injury suffered during his match with the Undertaker at WrestleMania — only for the injury to be severely aggravated during a match the following night on RAW with Batista for the World Championship.
Randy wouldn’t be seen again until he was drafted to SmackDown! in the 2005 Draft Lottery. Orton was more focused than ever on burying the Legend of Undertaker.
Orton made another impact when he cost Undertaker an opportunity to win the World Heavyweight Championship when he interfered in the Phenom’s No. 1 Contender match with JBL.
It was clear this rivalry would not just go away, so the two met in a grudge match at SummerSlam.
During the match, an unidentified man entered the ring, distracting Undertaker long enough for Orton to hit the RKO and pick up the big win. The man then revealed himself to be none other than “Cowboy” Bob Orton. The Ortons had outsmarted the Deadman.
It didn’t stop there, though. The Ortons raised money for the “Undertaker Retirement Fund” and presented a cheque on SmackDown!.
The mysterious Phenom, however, somehow caused the cheque to go up in flames as the frightened Ortons fled the scene. The two met up again in a SmackDown clash that saw Undertaker picking up the win.
But the Ortons seemed able to get inside the Deadman’s head like no one has before. The Ortons followed that up by holding a mock-funeral for Undertaker’s career, but the Phenom turned the tables and got in the Ortons’ heads this time as he sat up inside the casket that was in the ring and cleaned the house.
The Ortons were then slated to face Undertaker in a Handicap Casket Match. Undertaker is nearly unstoppable in Casket Matches, but the Ortons proved to be too much to overcome.
After picking up the win, the Ortons chopped a hole in the casket and poured gasoline into it. Then they callously lit the casket on fire. But Undertaker wasn't inside when the flames were extinguished.
Being a third-generation Superstar, Randy Orton's arrival in WWE was seemingly inevitable. After all, he was practically raised in the business that both his father and grandfather excelled in.
It's no wonder he has quickly ascended to the higher echelons of the RAW roster and eventually became the youngest World Heavyweight Champion ever.
Part of that success can be attributed to Orton’s use of his finisher, the RKO. Orton has shown the ability to hit the lightning-quick, high-impact move out of nowhere and at virtually any time — confounding opponents who are beaten before they even realise what has happened.
In April 2002, he began his WWE career with an appearance on SmackDown!. A few months into his rookie run, an unfortunate injury put him out of action.
Refusing to sit idly on the sidelines, Orton continued making appearances on WWE television, going as far as attacking targeted Superstars with his crutches and giving fans constant updates on his medical progress — whether they wanted them or not.
Upon returning to active competition in May 2003, Orton was instantly recruited by Triple H to join with the legendary “Nature Boy” Ric Flair, and the Animal Batista as part of Evolution.
Orton captured his first major championship on Dec. 14, 2003, defeating Rob Van Dam for the Intercontinental Championship at Armageddon. He held on to the championship for an impressive seven months.
Priding himself as “The Legend Killer,’’ Orton has finished off the likes of Hall of Famer Sgt. Slaughter, Jake “the Snake” Roberts and hardcore legend Mick Foley.
Orton also displayed no fear and no respect when confronting legends such as Harley Race, asserting his claim as the true legend of sports-entertainment.
At WrestleMania XX, Orton teamed with Flair and Batista to take on the reunited Rock ‘n’ Sock Connection (The Rock and Mick Foley). Orton delivered the RKO to Foley, enabling his team to emerge victorious.
At the Backlash pay-per-view, Orton added Cactus Jack to his list of “killed,” pinning Mick Foley in a bloody and memorable Hardcore Rules Match.
But Orton’s meteoric rise to WWE stardom came too fast for some. When Randy capitalised on an opportunity at SummerSlam 2004 — defeating Chris Benoit for the World Heavyweight Championship — it didn’t sit well with Evolution’s leader.
The very next night, Triple H arranged a vicious beating for his former stablemate and banished him from Evolution.
Independence, however, only made Orton stronger and bolder. When Triple H threatened Orton and demanded that he “hand over” the World Heavyweight Championship, Orton just spat in his face.
He then went on to “kill” one of the greatest legends of them all: 16-time world champion (and his former mentor) Ric Flair, in a fan-selected Steel Cage Match at Taboo Tuesday.