Wrestler Retrospect: Randy Orton

So I've been thinking about this series for about a week now. I've wondered if I did finally get around to it who I should start with. After much debating I figured I should start with someone I currently like. Without further ado....

Randy Orton

Stats:

Height: 6'4"

Weight: 245lbs

Hometown: St. Louis, MO

Finisher: RKO

History: Orton's been around since 2002. He first premiered as a face (Good guy in wrestling lingo) on Smackdown. He quickly became somewhat of a favorite in a series of matches against Hardcore Holly. It wasn't until Orton got injured that he started coming into his own. He began to air segments updating his injury status. He began to show the egotism that made up his character on his return. On coming back he joined Evolution, the supergroup containing Ric Flair, Triple H, and Batista. He quickly started a gimmick as a Legend Killer, taking on established or Hall of Fame wrestlers and beating them. Most of these wins were by underhanded means, but a wins a win in wrestling. At Summerslam 2004 Orton joined the annals of WWE history by being the youngest man to win the World Heavyweight Championship by beating then champion Chris Benoit. The next night his stablemates turned on him and turned face again. Triple H took his title the next month. At this time Orton kind of plateaued for me. His face run just wasn't up to par with the stuff he'd done as a heel. It wasn't until he decided to turn his attention to Undertaker's Wrestlemania win streak that Orton began to rise again. His sights set on the streak turned him heel (a wrestling term for villain) again,

a fact made evident by delivering an RKO on his onscreen girlfriend. The fued ended with Taker's streak in tact, but remains one of my favorite Orton matches.

Orton continued on after that winning even more titles. It wasn't until he formed Legacy, a stable of mutli-generational wrestlers, that he came up with, in my opinion, the best gimmick he's had. During matches Orton began to act as if someone was talking to him, without it looking cheesy by him talking back to the voices. His eyes would begin to roll and he'd cock his head, then usually proceed to kick his opponent in the head, a move known as the Punt. The announcers began to call him The Viper and the Apex Predator, names that weren't just cool sounding, but true in the events that unfolded. The gimmick ended up breaking up Legacy because it began to gain favor with fans.

Reasons Why I like him: I've always had a like for villains. They can do the violent things that the face wrestlers can't. Orton is no exception. Match with that the fact that he does those things as a fan favorite makes him even more awesome. He can do the heel things without turning tale when another wrestler shows up to break things up. In normal face fashion he'll stay and fight. Couple with that his impressive use of the RKO makes it awesome. Normally I've never thought of a cutter as an impressive move, Orton makes it impressive. He's able to turn any move into an RKO in such a fashion that I'm like "How the heck did he do that?!" One instance was the aforementioned Wrestlemania match with the Undertaker. By somehow turning a chokeslam into an RKO left me stunned and talking about the rest of the event. Another, which is probably my favorite, is his RKO of Evan Bourne. I still marvel at the fact that Orton hit the move while starting on his back and Evan Bourne in mid air. If it sounds interesting look it up you won't be disappointed. Finally I dig his theme music. I'm not sure why but I do. I've liked it since he started using it as a heel. It might be the lead singer's gravelly voice or the fact that he's talking about listening to voices and what they're telling him to do, but it's awesome.

Final Thoughts: I've watched wrestling for a long time and in that time I've seen many anti-hero types. I'm not sure what makes Orton so different. It could be his athleticism. It could be his pedigree, being a 3rd generation wrestler. I think it's that look in his eyes that make me believe that his nickname of the Viper is not just something catchy someone came up with, but the fact that he'll strike from anywhere and it's usually deadly for his opponent.