Brace yourselves for a thrilling journey through the tumultuous rise of one of WWE's most iconic and controversial figures – Randy Orton, the Legend Killer! Join us as we delve deep into the career of the Apex Predator, exploring the moments that defined his legacy and solidified his reputation as one of the most dangerous and unpredictable Superstars in WWE history.
This video is a must-watch for wrestling enthusiasts and fans of Randy Orton alike. Whether you're a longtime follower or a newcomer to the world of WWE, join us on this nostalgic ride through the career of the Viper himself, as we explore the captivating story behind the Legend Killer and his impact on the wrestling landscape.
Don't forget to hit that subscribe button, ring the notification bell, and share your thoughts in the comments below! Let's celebrate the incredible journey of Randy Orton and relive the moments that made him a true legend in the world of professional
You can also visit our site: https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe
#RandyOrton #LegendKiller #WWERaw #WWE #Wrestling #Sportskeeda
This video is a must-watch for wrestling enthusiasts and fans of Randy Orton alike. Whether you're a longtime follower or a newcomer to the world of WWE, join us on this nostalgic ride through the career of the Viper himself, as we explore the captivating story behind the Legend Killer and his impact on the wrestling landscape.
Don't forget to hit that subscribe button, ring the notification bell, and share your thoughts in the comments below! Let's celebrate the incredible journey of Randy Orton and relive the moments that made him a true legend in the world of professional
You can also visit our site: https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe
#RandyOrton #LegendKiller #WWERaw #WWE #Wrestling #Sportskeeda
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SportsTranscript
00:00 (crowd cheering)
00:02 (crowd cheering)
00:05 - When it's all said and done, Randy Orton,
00:15 he's gonna be considered one of the upper, upper tiers
00:18 of any wrestling hall of fame class.
00:21 He's certified hall of fame at this point.
00:24 He's one of the first names that comes to mind
00:26 when you say wrestling royalty for a good reason.
00:29 It's Sportskeeda Wrestling, I'm Kevin.
00:31 We're getting into Randy Orton's big career.
00:34 Let us know your favorite Randy Orton memories and matches
00:37 before we break it all down.
00:39 Get into the comments below.
00:40 From a young age, everyone knew the great things
00:43 that were awaiting him.
00:45 In a 14 World Championship run,
00:47 a grand slam career later would come.
00:50 It's safe to say that Randy Orton lived up to his potential,
00:54 his family name, and so much more.
00:57 He now has over 20 years under his belt
00:59 in WWE, but there's been no period of his career
01:03 remembered more fondly than the time
01:05 he really shook things up as the legend killer.
01:08 And when you think of how it all came about,
01:10 it makes total sense,
01:12 even if he was victimizing some of your favorites.
01:15 He's a third generation superstar,
01:17 the son of WWE Hall of Famer, Cowboy Bob Orton Jr.,
01:21 and was groomed by Ric Flair and Triple H
01:24 in the early stages of his WWE career,
01:26 and also graduated from Ohio Valley Wrestling,
01:29 WWE's developmental territory,
01:31 with other future Hall of Famers.
01:34 Essentially, he was raised by legends,
01:36 raised with other future greats,
01:38 and had all of the elements to become
01:40 one of the generational performers he would become.
01:44 It's only fitting that he would be a guy
01:45 who was all about taking out the previous generation,
01:49 hence the name Legend Killer.
01:51 But how did this incredible four-year run,
01:53 how did this incarnation of Orton come together?
01:56 Where did it begin?
01:57 The date is September 15th, 2003.
02:00 Believe it or not, the first victim was the fabulous Moolah.
02:04 It was her 80th birthday,
02:06 and she defeated Victoria in just 31 seconds
02:09 in a feel-good fun moment on Raw.
02:12 Orton was young, brash, and did not respect anyone
02:16 when he was running with the Evolution faction.
02:18 And when he was in the ring
02:20 and he was singing the praises of Moolah,
02:22 who he described as a legend, something happened.
02:26 Right then and there, he introduced himself as Randy Orton,
02:30 Legend Killer, and hit one of the most vicious
02:33 and violent RKOs you'll ever remember.
02:35 That's right, he did this to an 80-year-old woman.
02:38 He was a little over a year into his WWE run,
02:41 but there wasn't a moment like this before
02:44 where fans got to see such unbridled, unfiltered ruthlessness
02:49 that would define him throughout the rest of his career.
02:52 This incarnation of Orton
02:54 would have its first significant challenge
02:56 in a real sink or swim moment for him
02:59 when he was put up against Shawn Michaels
03:01 at just 23 years old.
03:04 He was in there with the Heartbreak Kid,
03:06 and boy, did he swim, he did not sink.
03:09 In what was the first of many
03:10 Legend versus Legend Killer matchups,
03:13 he defeated Shawn Michaels thanks to the help of Ric Flair.
03:16 Around the same time, Orton defeated
03:18 the legendary Sgt. Slaughter on Monday at Raw.
03:21 He managed to capture the Intercontinental title
03:23 by the end of the year in that famous moment
03:25 where all four members of Evolution
03:27 held gold at the same time.
03:30 And the special guest referee was Mick Foley.
03:33 This is important because Mick Foley would be the next
03:36 and maybe the most formative man
03:38 that Randy Orton would face on this run.
03:41 At WrestleMania 20, Randy Orton, Batista,
03:44 and Ric Flair of Evolution faced Mick Foley
03:46 and this guy you may know by the name of The Rock.
03:49 - I never had a pretty pony.
03:50 - You never had a pretty pony?
03:51 - I didn't play with those, those were my sisters, okay?
03:53 - Yeah, what's up?
03:54 - Yes, The Rock was coming back to be at Foley's side
03:57 in Madison Square Garden in a two-on-three handicap match
04:01 that Orton won with an RKO on Foley.
04:04 This was definitive Legend Killer
04:06 and maybe even definitive Mick Foley.
04:08 And this was the best of the late stages of Foley's career
04:11 where he truly went to different emotional depths
04:14 and would pursue Orton into his match,
04:17 a hardcore match at Backlash.
04:20 This might just be one of the best hardcore matches
04:22 in WWE history, maybe one of the best in Foley's career
04:26 because the amount of both vile hatred
04:29 that both men expressed through violent expression
04:32 in the ring was purely paced and truly showed off
04:36 the type of characters they could be
04:38 through pure, gritty, undisputed war.
04:43 While it just felt like a foregone conclusion
04:45 that Randy Orton would come out the winner
04:47 in this situation, that's not really the biggest part of it.
04:51 It was the true expression of endurance
04:53 that Mick Foley was able to go back to,
04:56 the ability to simply win you over
04:58 in the face of the oncoming storm of a younger star.
05:02 Mick Foley is one of the most selfless performers
05:04 in WWE history, and on a promo 18 years later
05:08 on Monday Night Raw, Randy Orton said the words,
05:11 "It's because of Mick Foley
05:12 "that I became the Legend Killer."
05:14 Weeks later, with a happy feeling in the air
05:16 on Monday Night Raw, Jerry "The King" Lawler
05:18 with a smiling Stacey Keebler acknowledged
05:21 one of the toughest kings of wrestling legendary fame,
05:25 eight-time world champion Harley Race at ringside.
05:29 And once the word "Legend" was uttered,
05:31 that cued up Orton hitting the ringside area
05:34 to ruin the whole thing, insulting Harley Race
05:37 and adding disgusting levels of disrespect,
05:40 spitting in the face of Harley, literally.
05:44 If you're wondering why Orton only spit on Race
05:47 and they didn't get more physical,
05:49 it was because Harley Race at that point
05:51 wasn't physically able to get in the ring and do any of that.
05:53 So it was just left to him simply being, yet again,
05:57 opportunistically despicable.
05:59 Bruce Prichard, WWE executive producer,
06:02 recalled being grossed out by the entire idea
06:05 of the spitting incident on an episode
06:07 of his Something to Wrestle With podcast,
06:09 and said it was actually Harley Race who insisted on it
06:12 because of the mutual respect between him and Randy Orton.
06:16 Reportedly, Orton was understandably not crazy
06:19 about the idea of introducing spit to the entire angle,
06:22 especially on the face of such a legendary figure
06:24 that he genuinely respected out of character.
06:27 But according to Prichard, Harley Race simply said,
06:30 "No, kid, this is going to get you over."
06:33 But in a surprising twist, Randy Orton would turn
06:37 to a fan favorite by becoming the youngest world champion
06:40 in WWE history at the age of 24.
06:44 It felt like an abrupt, maybe out of touch decision
06:46 to also have him get pulled out of the Evolution faction
06:50 and have him be the next big baby face champion.
06:53 Yeah, we're not feeling it.
06:55 When he was out there killing legends so frequently
06:57 and proving to be such a natural heel,
06:59 the decision to turn him the other direction
07:02 kind of backfired and led to Batista becoming
07:05 the biggest beneficiary of the entire Evolution story.
07:09 We're also not including any kind of out of the ring antics
07:12 that may have influenced WWE going in a different direction.
07:15 It was rather why WWE decided to have Randy Orton revert
07:18 to becoming the legend killer once again
07:20 and start a career-defining feud against the Undertaker
07:23 right before he turned 25.
07:24 - Enjoying the ride, Randy?
07:29 - It's also worth considering in retrospect
07:31 that many superstars really don't hit their peak
07:33 until maybe their late 30s or early 40s.
07:36 Look at Bobby Lashley, for example.
07:38 It's a bit crazy to see that Orton was given
07:40 that top-level world title run so early in his career
07:45 when he was still developing within the WWE system.
07:48 Keep in mind, this was literally just three years
07:51 into his main roster run that he became a world champion.
07:55 He came closer than almost anybody before him
07:57 in breaking the Undertaker's streak at WrestleMania
08:01 and was presented as the biggest threat
08:02 to the Undertaker in years.
08:04 Despite some things that happened out of the ring
08:07 in preparation for the match, like Orton reportedly
08:10 being late for a rehearsal that his father was at.
08:14 Yeah, when you do that with the Undertaker,
08:16 maybe your reputation starts to catch up with you.
08:18 It's another example of reality, the real person,
08:21 whoever they are in that moment, in that frame of time,
08:24 turning up the volume on that
08:26 and becoming a great character from it.
08:28 Orton was a guy who had so much given to him
08:30 right out of the gate, and here he was
08:32 being a completely disrespectful, overly confident villain.
08:37 While the streak itself was acknowledged,
08:38 this was the first time that WWE really used the streak
08:42 as a key part of the Undertaker's story
08:44 heading into WrestleMania.
08:46 But you know what else has a key part in that story?
08:49 Him RKO-ing his then girlfriend, Stacey Keebler,
08:53 and then later hitting the RKO on Jake "The Snake" Roberts
08:57 when he was warned by the legend about the overconfidence
09:00 that he had against the Undertaker.
09:02 So that's another legend on the list.
09:05 Although Orton failed to end the streak of the Undertaker,
09:08 the feud with the Undertaker would continue
09:10 later into that year and the summer.
09:13 Orton managed to defeat the Undertaker
09:15 at SummerSlam that year, and then again in a casket match
09:19 at No Mercy 2005 while teaming up
09:21 with his father, Bob Orton Jr.
09:23 This time, it wasn't simply enough to defeat the Undertaker.
09:26 He wanted to make sure to solidify
09:28 his truly evil legend killer status
09:32 that was being questioned simply 'cause he couldn't beat him
09:35 at WrestleMania earlier in the year.
09:37 So what did Randy Orton do?
09:38 He set the casket with the Undertaker inside on fire.
09:41 And with that, probably the 1,000th time
09:43 that the Undertaker has quote-unquote died.
09:46 But it's the Undertaker, he doesn't die.
09:48 I will never forget the look on Randy Orton's face
09:51 looking into those flames.
09:53 Orton would come out the better on the other end
09:55 of the Undertaker feud, and at Survivor Series that year,
09:58 he would be the sole survivor for Team SmackDown
10:01 in the Elimination Tag Team match.
10:04 A fun little fact, he became the sole survivor
10:06 for the third year in a row, and would arguably go on
10:09 to become one of the greatest performers
10:11 in the history of Survivor Series.
10:13 Yeah, he's done with the Undertaker,
10:15 moving on to the next thing, no, gong,
10:17 classic Undertaker return at Survivor Series.
10:20 And he would go on to defeat Randy Orton
10:22 inside hell in a cell at Armageddon,
10:26 ending their feud, possibly the best of 2005.
10:30 Going into deep wild waters with the Undertaker
10:32 did just as much for Randy Orton
10:35 as his program with McFoley did at Backlash the year before.
10:38 Now an established main event player,
10:40 re-dialed into his villainous persona,
10:43 Orton would actually tone down a bit
10:45 on the legend killer moniker
10:47 as he went up in a world championship pursuit.
10:50 - Eddie A. Kevin, Eddie's down there, and ha!
10:54 - He lost again at WrestleMania 22
10:58 against Rey Mysterio, who would be coronated,
11:01 and soon faced a 60-day suspension
11:03 for violating the WWE wellness policy.
11:06 Yeah, now that out-of-the-ring stuff was creeping up again.
11:09 Let's just say that he wasn't the most popular guy
11:11 backstage around this time,
11:13 nor did he have the reputation of being easy to deal with,
11:17 but still, people knew he was one of the top performers
11:20 in the company.
11:21 But WWE was still determined to push him on the big screen
11:24 throughout all of these problems.
11:26 He brought back the legend killer moniker
11:28 in a feud with the greatest legend maybe in WWE history,
11:32 the guy who helped put the company on the international map,
11:35 Hulk Hogan, where he RKO'd the Hulkster
11:38 onto the back of a car.
11:40 It led to a big clash at SummerSlam,
11:42 one of the very rare matches for Hulk Hogan
11:44 around this time, with Orton,
11:46 him in once again a prime featured position,
11:49 and for reasons unknown to anybody,
11:52 Hulk Hogan walked out victorious.
11:55 The legend ain't being killed, brother.
11:57 Oh, and that was the last match
12:00 Hulk Hogan ever wrestled in WWE,
12:02 yet another notch on Randy Orton's belt.
12:05 Orton stayed at the forefront of WWE television,
12:08 teaming up with another disruptive superstar in Edge
12:11 to feud with DX, but the focus was more on the run
12:14 as tag team champions, and he repeatedly failed
12:17 in his chances at the WWE Championship in 2007.
12:21 When they split a little after WrestleMania 23,
12:24 Orton once again reverted to being the legend killer,
12:27 and defeated Ric Flair on Monday Night Raw,
12:30 then Shawn Michaels again on pay-per-view,
12:33 this time at Judgment Day,
12:35 two absolutely underrated classics of the time.
12:38 The victory itself was controversial
12:40 because it was technically a knockout when HBK collapsed.
12:44 Orton pursuing yet another trophy for his case of names
12:48 that he's taken down would then face
12:49 the returning Dusty Rhodes, a great American bash,
12:53 an event that he actually created
12:55 in a match he was famous for, a Texas bull rope match,
12:59 putting away the American dream
13:00 in what would be the dream's last match for the WWE.
13:04 See what we're saying here?
13:05 He's literally ending careers in WWE.
13:09 It was noticed around this time
13:10 that Randy Orton had a snake-like movement in the ring,
13:14 and some of that persona aesthetically worked its way
13:17 in his presentation, and his next major character
13:21 reinvention or just renaming was The Viper.
13:25 That's right, he's the Snake Man of the WWE.
13:28 As Randy Orton went on to become
13:30 an established multi-time world champion,
13:33 he was quickly reaching veteran status,
13:36 and that was seen most notably
13:38 when he started the Legacy Faction.
13:40 Yes, a group made up of second-generation superstars
13:43 that initially had members of the Anawahi family
13:47 and Snim Snuka.
13:49 The group was actually made up mostly of Orton,
13:51 Cody Rhodes, and Ted DiBiase,
13:52 and the focus shifted away from them actively
13:55 destroying legends.
13:57 This didn't stop him from doing that, though,
13:59 to Vince McMahon in 2009, but by that point,
14:02 his legend-killer run had truly come to an end.
14:05 Orton would spend the next decade truly defining his legacy,
14:09 headlining WrestleMania a couple of times,
14:11 becoming an all-time great.
14:12 This isn't to say that it was all flowers and roses,
14:16 because at one point, he lost a lot of the momentum
14:19 that he had while he was the legend-killer.
14:22 It was only in 2020 when WWE attempted to revive
14:26 the whole legend-killer persona,
14:27 with Randy Orton coming off of his ruthless victory
14:30 over Edge in the greatest wrestling match ever at Backlash.
14:35 It was also brought back to return
14:37 the infamous punt to the head,
14:39 a move that Vince McMahon reportedly banned for years
14:42 before Orton convinced him to reintroduce it safely.
14:45 Orton would go on to assault a flurry of legends,
14:48 including Christian, Michaels, The Big Show, Rick Flair,
14:51 before winning his 14th world title from Drew McIntyre
14:55 in the unfortunate no-fans era of WWE in the pandemic.
14:59 But overall, the legend-killer run
15:01 was really only four to five years,
15:03 and even that's a stretch considering the number of times
15:06 WWE dropped that and then brought it back in between.
15:09 The legend-killer run made Randy Orton into who he is today,
15:14 and since he's now a two-decade veteran
15:17 of the wrestling business
15:19 in the biggest company in the world,
15:21 it seems like he's far too deep
15:23 into being a legend himself to become a legend-killer again.
15:27 It was a Hall of Fame-worthy run in and of itself,
15:31 and when you factor in that he was 23 to 27
15:34 during most of it,
15:35 and that titles and other accolades came along,
15:38 but really the reactions he earned along the way
15:42 were some of the biggest things that were a part of it,
15:44 that's the stuff you remember about Randy Orton.
15:47 Now just imagine if there was another legend-killer
15:50 on the horizon who wanted to take out Randy Orton himself.
15:54 You can never say never.
15:55 [MUSIC]