Randy Orton

Randy Orton is the main antagonist of the WWE franchise. He is the tyrannical leader of The Authority and is Triple H's former boss and current rival. He serves as the main antagonist of 2004-2010, the tertiary antagonist of 2010-2015, and the true main antagonist of 2015-present.

Role and villainous acts
In 2004, he fought and defeated Mick Foley. He also intended to usurp the place of Triple H among the officers. Triple H told him to hand over the championship to him, however, Randy spat into his face, and started beating him up, causing him to be very injured.

Randy later sought revenge on Triple H, and jumped out of a cake, thus landing on Triple H, and giving him fists on his neck and face, thus almost killing him, and then letting him get up, just in order to push his face into the cake. Triple H's face was stuck inside the cake, as Triple H struggled to get out of it. Randy Orton got another championship.

He later became a manager of the survivor games, alongside Triple H. He was however defeated in a championship battle, as he couldn't be manager again after.

In 2005, he made enemies with The Undertaker, and published on him a false WWE SMACKDOWN! magazine. He later beat up his girlfriend, causing her to be unconscious and heavily injured. He then fought and defeated The Undertaker and Jake Roberts.

He also assaulted The Undertaker in many later battles.

He also formed an alliance with Vince McMahon, who offered him training under the WWE SMACKDOWN!. That meant for him success with his own evil scheme, to lead the WWE once again.

He and his father later fought The Undertaker, locked him inside a casket, and attacked the casket with an axe, thus causing The Undertaker to be heavily injured, thus in the same moment, The Undertaker was thought to be dead. He spread gasoline on the casket, thus making the material of the casket strong enough to hold him tight and inside.

Randy then RKOd The Undertaker while he fought Big Show and Mysterio. he then struck the Undertaker with a tire iron and set him on the back of the low-rider Mysterio had driven to the ring, he then reversed the low-rider into the SmackDown set, causing an explosion.

In 2006, he was defeated by Mysterio. However, Randy Orton insulted his deceased friend Eddie Guerrero, just to get him humiliated and gain his reaction. Randy then won at No Way Out, earning Mysterio's title shot for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 22.

He then won a triple threat battle against Mysterio and Kurt Angle.

On April 4, 2006, Orton was suspended for sixty days for "unprofessional conduct."[91] In an interview, Orton stated, "my conduct was unbecoming of a champion, which is what I will be again when I return".

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 agreed, forming the tag team Rated-RKO.

The two then defeat DX. As part of The Angle, Rated-RKO attacked Ric Flair with steel chairs to enrage DX on November 27.

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.

After losing the tag team titles, both Edge and Orton focused on the WWE Championship, causing friction in the group. They lost a triple threat match against Shawn Michaels to earn a title match at WrestleMania 23. They both competed in the Money in the Bank ladder match at the same event, but the match was won by Mr. Kennedy. Finally, they faced off in a fatal four way for the title against Cena and Michaels at Backlash, however Cena retained the title.

McMahon granted Orton his rematch at Unforgiven, which he won by disqualification when Cena refused to stop punching him in the corner; however, Cena retained the championship because titles cannot change hands by disqualification. 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 on him while Cena was handcuffed to the ropes. Before No Mercy, Cena suffered a legit injury during a match on Raw, after which Orton attacked Cena with an RKO. After this, he adopted a new nickname, The Viper. Orton then threw him outside the ring, and gave him an RKO on the broadcast table. He later fought in No Mercy, however, he lost for Shawn Michaels, who super-kicked him. However, seeking revenge, Randy had defeated Shawn Michaels in The Survivor series, and he RKOd Michaels.

The next month, at Backlash, Orton lost the title to Triple H in a fatal four-way elimination match, also including Cena and John "Bradshaw" Layfield. After failing to win it back at Judgment Day, Orton faced Triple H for it in a Last Man Standing match at One Night Stand, which he lost when Triple H countered an RKO by throwing him over the top rope, breaking his clavicle. During this time, he gained a new entrance theme, "Voices", performed by the band Rev Theory.

He later won Shane McMahon in No Way Out. He then revealed on stage that he planned to revenge Triple H and take his place as an officer on WWE, then ruin Triple H's life, just like Triple H did so to him. He then won the title of WrestleMania XXV, the next month at Backlash, by pinning Triple H in a special six-man tag match between The Legacy and Triple H, Batista and Shane McMahon. At Extreme Rules, he lost the title to Batista in a Steel Cage match. The following night on Raw, Orton and Legacy attacked Batista and broke his arm, forcing him to vacate the title.

The following night on Raw, Orton and Legacy attacked Batista and broke his arm, forcing him to vacate the title.

On the June 15 Raw, Orton regained the title in a fatal four-way match, over Triple H, John Cena and Big Show. He lost the title to John Cena in an "I Quit" match at Breaking Point. He then regained it from Cena in a Hell in a Cell match at Hell in a Cell.

After a rivalry with Kofi Kingston, Orton won a triple threat match on January 11, 2010 edition of Raw, with help from Rhodes and DiBiase, for the right to challenge Sheamus at the Royal Rumble for the WWE Championship. Orton lost by disqualification when Rhodes interfered. After the match, Orton attacked Rhodes and DiBiase On the February 15 Raw, Orton was again disqualified in a rematch when The Legacy interfered. Orton and DiBiase both competed in the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match at Elimination Chamber, where DiBiase eliminated Orton after hitting him with a pipe Rhodes gave him. The next night on Raw, during a six-man tag match, Orton attacked them in retaliation. At WrestleMania XXVI, Orton, now a face for the first time since 2005, defeated Rhodes and DiBiase in a triple threat match.

In 2011, on the October 14 episode of SmackDown!, Orton received another title shot against Henry after winning a 41-man battle royal, he was successful in winning the match by disqualification but failed to win the title after interference from rival Cody Rhodes. He then defeated Rhodes at Vengeance, and on the November 4 SmackDown in a Street Fight.

On the December 3 Raw during 2012, Orton began a feud with The Shield, after he was attacked by them following a victory over Brad Maddox. On the December 14 SmackDown, Orton was once again assaulted backstage by The Shield. This was used to write him off television due to a shoulder injury.[224] Orton returned on the New Year’s Eve Raw, helping Ryback and Sheamus fend off The Shield.[225] On the January 4 SmackDown, Orton declared his entry in the 2013 Royal Rumble match.[226] On the January 11 SmackDown and the January 16 Main Event, Orton was again attacked by The Shield during his matches with Antonio Cesaro.

n the February 13 episode of Raw SuperShow, Orton suffered a concussion after World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan smashed Orton over the head with the title belt. Due to the injury, Orton was taken out of his elimination chamber match at Elimination Chamber and was replaced by Santino Marella. Orton returned on the March 2 SmackDown, losing to Bryan by count-out, following interference from Kane, who then attacked Orton after the match. In retaliation, Orton hit Kane with an RKO on the March 5 episode of Raw Supershow, after the latter defeated R-Truth. On the next SmackDown, Orton attacked Kane with another RKO before his match. They later brawled as the show ended. At WrestleMania XXVIII, Orton was defeated by Kane in a singles match. Orton defeated Kane on the next SmackDown in a No Disqualification match and at Extreme Rules in a Falls Count Anywhere match to end the feud.

On the December 3 Raw, Orton began a feud with The Shield, after he was attacked by them following a victory over Brad Maddox. On the December 14 SmackDown, Orton was once again assaulted backstage by The Shield. This was used to write him off television due to a shoulder injury. Orton returned on the New Year’s Eve Raw, helping Ryback and Sheamus fend off The Shield. On the January 4 SmackDown, Orton declared his entry in the 2013 Royal Rumble match. On the January 11 SmackDown and the January 16 Main Event, Orton was again attacked by The Shield during his matches with Antonio Cesaro. On the February 1 SmackDown, Orton defeated longtime rival Wade Barrett to earn a spot in the Elimination Chamber match. On February 17 at Elimination Chamber, Orton eliminated Mark Henry and Chris Jericho before being the last man eliminated by Jack Swagger. In late February, Orton aligned himself with Sheamus to feud with the Shield. Over the next weeks, Orton and Sheamus saved each other from attacks by The Shield and Big Show. On the March 15 SmackDown, Orton and Sheamus were then allowed to pick a third partner to face the Shield in a six-man tag team match at Wrestlemania 29 an chose Ryback. Three days later on Raw, however, Ryback was booked in another match for the event, leaving the spot open. Later that night, Big Show saved the two from an attack by The Shield and was immediately recruited as their partner. On April 7 at WrestleMania 29, Orton, Sheamus and Show were defeated by The Shield, after which, both men were knocked out by Show. The following night on Raw, Orton and Sheamus faced off in a match to earn a match with Big Show, however, the match ended in a no contest after Show interfered Orton and Sheamus then teamed up to defeat Show in two handicap matches, first on the April 12 SmackDown via cont-out, and second on the April 15 Raw via pinfall. On the April 19 SmackDown, Orton and Sheamus were defeated by Big Show and Mark Henry in a tag team match. The feud between Big Show and Orton led to an Extreme Rules match at Extreme Rules, which Orton won. After Extreme Rules, Orton began pairing with Daniel Bryan despite their poor relationship to face a common enemy in the Shield.

On the June 14 SmackDown, Orton teamed with Bryan and Kane to end the Shield's unpinned and unsubmitted streak in televised six-man tag matches. Three days later at Payback, Orton and Bryan's poor teamwork resulted in an unsuccessful challenge for Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins' WWE Tag Team Championships. The following night on Raw, Orton and Bryan faced off in a No Disqualification match, that Orton won via referee stoppage after Bryan suffered a legitimate nerve injury.Four days later on SmackDown, Orton was defeated by Bryan in a singles match via count-out. Orton and Bryan faced each other for the third time on the next Raw, but their match ended in a no-contest after both men were counted out. Later that night, Orton was defeated by Bryan in a Street Fight Match after he was forced to submit to the Yes! Lock with a kindo stick applied to the move.

On August 18 at SummerSlam, Orton turned heel for the first time since 2010 after he cashed in his Money in the Bank contract on Daniel Bryan, who had just won the WWE Championship and had been subsequently attacked by special guest referee Triple H, who also counted the pinfall to give Orton his seventh WWE title. The following night on Raw, Orton was endorsed as the "face of the company" by Vince McMahon and the newly formed Authority (Triple H and Stephanie McMahon). On September 15 at Night of Champions, Orton lost WWE Championship back to Bryan, however, Triple H stripped Bryan of the title the next night on Raw, due to a fast count by referee Scott Armstrong, but refused to give the championship back to Orton.Orton and Bryan faced off for the vacant title on October 6 at Battleground, but the match ended in a no contest after Big Show interfered and knocked out both men.[257] Orton once again challenged Bryan for the vacant championship at Hell in a Cell, where he was successful in regaining the WWE Championship after the special guest referee Shawn Michaels superkicked Bryan for attacking Triple H.

On November 24 at Survivor Series, after successfully defending the title against Big Show, Orton was confronted by World Heavyweight Champion and long-time rival John Cena. The following night on Raw, Cena suggested that there should only be "one champion" in WWE, so Triple H stated there would be a unification match at the TLC pay-per-view. On December 15, Orton defeated Cena at TLC to unify both titles, and becoming the first WWE World Heavyweight Champion as well as officially being recognized as the final World Heavyweight Champion. Orton made his first successful title defense as WWE World Heavyweight Champion on January 26, 2014, at the Royal Rumble, defeating Cena in a rematch after interference by The Wyatt Family. On February 23 at Elimination Chamber, Orton defeated Cesaro, Christian, Daniel Bryan, John Cena, and Sheamus to retain his WWE World Heavyweight Championship and secure his position in the title bout at WrestleMania XXX against Royal Rumble winner Batista. On April 6 at Wrestlemania XXX, the main event was changed to a triple threat match after Bryan defeated Triple H, and won the match after submitting Batista to end Orton's reign at 161 days.

The following night on Raw, Orton and Batista were each denied a rematch for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and instead were forced by The Authority to team together to face WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos for the title, despite their issues with one another. The title match ended in a double count-out after the two united and delivered a beat-down to the champions. Later that night, Batista and Orton, along with Kane, attacked Bryan before he was set to defend his title against Triple H. Before Triple H could defeat Bryan, The Shield interrupted by spearing Triple H and taking out Batista, Orton and Kane, causing Bryan to retain his title via disqualification. On the April 14 episode of Raw, Batista, Triple H and Randy Orton came down to the ring to attack The Shield after their 11-on-3 handicap match, using the name and the theme of Evolution. At Extreme Rules and Payback, Evolution lost to The Shield.On the June 9 episode of Raw, The Authority automatically granted Orton a spot in the 2014 Money in the Bank ladder match for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship, but he couldn't regain the title. 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. At the pay-per-view, Orton was defeated after Reigns kicked out of an RKO, and delivered a spear shortly afterwards, to pick up the victory. At the Night of Champions pay-per-view, Orton defeated Chris Jericho in a singles match with an RKO.

On the October 20 episode of Raw, Orton asked The Authority to face the loser of John Cena and Dean Ambrose's No Holds Barred Contract on a Pole match. That match was won by Ambrose, setting up a Hell in a Cell match between Orton and Cena. On the Raw before the event, Triple H revealed that the winner would face Brock Lesnar for a future WWE World Championship match. Later in the night in a 3-on-2 handicap street fight which pitted Orton, Kane, and Seth Rollins against Cena and Ambrose, Orton picked up the win but was immediately Curb Stomped by Rollins. On October 26 at Hell in a Cell, Orton lost the match after Cena pinned him after sending Orton into a table with an AA from the top turnbuckle. The following night on Raw, Orton RKO'd Rollins thus defying The Authority for not controlling Rollins the previous week beginning a face turn in the process for the first time since 2013. On the November 3 Raw, after increasing frustration, Orton attacked Rollins during his Intercontinental Championship against Dolph Ziggler, causing Rollins to win by disqualification, and demanded a match with Rollins to settle their dispute, which Triple H granted in order to keep Orton on their side. Rollins got the win with a backside pin, and Orton completed his face turn by attacking The Authority before being Curb Stomped by Rollins. He was then carried on a stretcher after he sustained a scripted injury so he could start filming The Condemned 2: Desert Prey.

On February 22 at Fastlane, after The Authority (Big Show, Seth Rollins, and Kane) defeated Dolph Ziggler, Erick Rowan and Ryback, Orton returned and saved Ziggler, Rowan and Ryback from a post-match beatdown. He later gave an RKO to Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury (J&J Security) and Kane. The next night on Raw, The Authority tried to convince Orton to come back to the "family", but Orton did not give an answer straight away until he saw them backstage. During a tag team match later that night, Orton became frustrated and upset after Rollins tagged himself into the match. After the match, Orton made his way towards Rollins in the ring, but was briefly interrupted by Jamie Noble who got an RKO for his troubles. Then Orton, much to Rollins' surprise, picked him up and only patted him on the shoulder, leaving his alignment at the time in question. On the March 9 edition of Raw, Orton insulted several members of The Authority, only to pass it off as a joke. During a 2-on-1 handicap match in which he teamed with Seth Rollins against Roman Reigns, he abandoned Rollins, allowing Reigns to get the victory. Following this, Orton viciously beat Rollins, eventually hitting an RKO on the broadcast table. On the March 16 episode of Raw, a match between the two was made official for WrestleMania 31 on the condition that Orton would meet Rollins later on that same night in the ring. The bout never took place as every member of The Authority made their way to the ring to attack Orton. Their attempt to avenge Rollins was thwarted by Sting, who aided Orton in holding them off. Orton defeated Rollins at the event. After the loss, Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the main event. With Rollins as the new champion, Orton defeated Roman Reigns and Ryback in a triple threat match on the April 6 episode of Raw to become the number one contender to face Rollins at Extreme Rules, but he failed to win the title from Rollins in a steel cage match that saw par the stipulation his RKO banned and Kane as the gatekeeper. At Payback, Orton failed to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship when he was defeated by Rollins in a fatal four-way match that also included Dean Ambrose and Reigns.

In 2016, he becomes an archenemy for John Cena and for Roman Reigns, as he won them both in fights.

He also fought against Lesnar in SMACKDOWN!.