Slaughter. [28] Soon after, Orton became a fan favorite and was placed in a series of matches with Holly.
[143] This led to a Falls Count Anywhere match on December 30 episode of SmackDown, in which Barrett pushed Orton down a flight of stairs,[144] resulting in a herniated disc, which sidelined Orton for four weeks. [301][302][303] They separated in late 2012 and divorced in June 2013.
He embarked on numerous feuds with older, well-respected names in wrestling and gained infamy for blatantly disrespecting them. Orton would also engage in a bitter feud with Jimmy Snuka through 1985 and 1986.
He unsuccessfully challenged Jack Swagger for the World Heavyweight Championship at Extreme Rules in April. Orton was defeated.
On the March 21 Raw, Orton turned into a villain once more after he delivered an RKO to his unsuspecting on-screen girlfriend, Stacy Keibler, knocking her unconscious. [10][11] With this win, he departed from Evolution and a feud with his former stablemates began. [citation needed] During this time the commentators noted how Orton slithered around and stalked his victims like a snake; this led to "The Viper" becoming a nickname for Orton. [71] Orton lost the title match when Cena pinned him after an FU. Randy Orton, Rusev and Bobby Roode to win the United States Championship", "United States Champion Jeff Hardy def.
At Backlash, Orton defeated Foley in a hardcore match to retain the Intercontinental Championship,[41] which included spots involving barbed wire and Orton being thrown onto hundreds of thumbtacks. 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. [27] That fall he began appearing regularly on WWF house shows and dark matches, facing Chuck Palumbo, Steven Richards and Shawn Stasiak, but mostly wrestling in tag team matches.
[73] After the match, Cena's father, who was again at ringside, kicked Orton in the head, which led to a match the next night on Raw, in which Orton defeated Cena's father by disqualification, then hit him with an RKO while Cena was handcuffed to the ropes. That same year, Orton wrestled for the American Wrestling Federation, and during his time in the AWF, he was managed by Oliver Humperdink. [1] At age 24, he became the youngest world champion in WWE history after he won the World Heavyweight Championship from Chris Benoit. [6] After his release, Orton made a one-time appearance at a WCW house show in Kiel, Missouri, defeating Dutch Mantell.[7]. In the UWF, Orton was awarded the UWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship as well as winning the UWF Southern States Championship from former rival and tag-team partner Ron Garvin. By 1987, the team of Muraco and Orton was clearly stepping down the card. Both men were named captains for their respective teams at Survivor Series, where Kingston's team defeated Orton's team after Orton was last eliminated by Kingston. In the match, Orton was the last remaining wrestler in the match for the third straight year, as he pinned Shawn Michaels to get the victory for Team SmackDown. 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 Evolution members. After wrestling a few more matches in 1989 with a low number of victories, Orton left New Japan. [111] After successfully defending the title against Sheamus in a Hell in a Cell match at Hell in a Cell,[112] He feuded with Wade Barrett, who was blackmailing Cena to help him capture the title. [11][12], Championship Wrestling from Florida (1972–1980), International World Class Championship Wrestling, UWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship, ICW Southeastern Heavyweight Championship, Mid-South Sports/Georgia Championship Wrestling, NWA Georgia Junior Heavyweight Championship, "WWE SmackDown! The internet is currently bobbling about the death of “Cowboy” Bob Orton, the father of WWE Superstar Randy Orton. episode after Survivor Series, The Undertaker interfered in a match between Rey Mysterio and Big Show after Kane interfered. Randy Orton", "Randy Orton undergoes successful knee surgery", "Powell's WWE Extreme Rules live review: Roman Reigns vs. Bobby Lashley, AJ Styles vs. Rusev vs. for the WWE Championship, Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins in a 30-minute Iron Man match for the IC Title, Bludgeon Brothers vs. Orton was fired after this for getting arrested for causing a disturbance at a Calgary airport. The article mentioned several current and former WWE wrestlers, including Orton, who was alleged to have obtained nandrolone, oxandrolone, stanozolol, and testosterone, as well as ancillary drugs anastrozole and clomiphene citrate.
He then adopted the nicknames of "the Viper" and "the Apex Predator" due to his untrustworthy, snake-like character. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. He won the OVW Hardcore Championship twice by defeating Mr. Black on February 14, 2001, and Flash Flanagan on May 5, 2001, respectively. On the July 21 episode of Raw, Roman Reigns attacked Orton, which cost him another shot at the title, causing Orton to retaliate the following week by viciously attacking Reigns and challenging him to a match at SummerSlam, which Reigns won. Orton, just like with Santana, managed to achieve victories over Snuka but mainly in untelevised shows. In 2009, Orton appeared at the IWC "Night of Legends" event, performing against former rival Jimmy Snuka. In 1981, Orton competed in the World Wrestling Federation. However this distraction proved enough for Jinder to hit Randy with the Khallas for the victory. They won the tag team title from the promotion. [citation needed] On the February 28 Raw, Superstar Billy Graham made an appearance, in which he advised Orton to "go where no wrestler [had] gone before". [203] He was carried on a stretcher after he sustained a scripted injury, so he could start filming The Condemned 2. On March 21, 2015, Orton participated in a 6-man tag team match teaming with Ricky Cruz and Red River Jack with Nikolai Volkoff as their manager to take on Chris Hargas, Bull Bronson and Attila Khan. [215] On July 24 at Battleground, Orton returned as a guest on Chris Jericho's Highlight Reel to be interviewed about his match with Lesnar. [241] SmackDown commissioner Shane McMahon later returned the belt to Orton. [96] On the June 15 episode of Raw, Orton regained the title in a fatal four-way match against Big Show, Triple H and John Cena. [162] On the December 14 episode of SmackDown, Orton was once again assaulted backstage by The Shield. [270][271] As part of the 2019 WWE draft, Orton was drafted to Raw. [citation needed] Throughout March 2005, Orton taunted The Undertaker, claiming he was unafraid of him. [230] On the December 27 episode of SmackDown Live, they lost the SmackDown Tag Team Championship to American Alpha in a fatal four-way tag team elimination match, after Orton accidentally hit Harper. In July at Vengeance, he lost the title to Edge. Orton felt offended that Muraco was trying to steal his hold. [20] He has a younger brother named Nathan, who is a stand-up comedian,[21][22] and a younger sister named Rebecca. He won several matches, with the cast and without the cast.
[citation needed] A month later, Orton lost his championship to Triple H at Unforgiven after interference from Flair, Batista, and Jonathan Coachman. He had a brief feud in 1997 against "Sexy" Ace Steele in MVWA in St. Louis. [126][127] A month later at SummerSlam, Orton regained the title when he defeated Christian in a No Holds Barred match. Lee-Stephanie McMahon promo exchange, U.S. Robert Keith Orton Jr. (born November 10, 1950), better known by the ring name "Cowboy" Bob Orton, is the son of professional wrestler Bob Orton Sr., the brother of professional wrestler Barry Orton, and the father of professional wrestler Randy Orton. [163] This was used to write him off television due to a shoulder injury.
to promote Taboo Tuesday. They faced off for the championship once more at The Bash in a Three Stages of Hell match, which Orton won after interference from Legacy. [150] He participated in a fatal four-way match at Over the Limit for the World Heavyweight Championship, where Orton failed to win after Sheamus pinned Chris Jericho to retain the title. On July 18 at Money in the Bank, Orton competed in a Money in the Bank ladder match for a WWE Championship contract, which was won by The Miz[109] and, at SummerSlam, he faced the WWE Champion Sheamus in a match that ended in a disqualification, giving Orton the win, but not the title. [280][281] The move was brought back in June 2020 as part of the feud between Orton and Edge where Orton used the Punt Kick to defeat Edge at Backlash.
[298], Orton married Samantha Speno on September 21, 2007.