Randy Orton

Randal Keith Orton (born April 1, 1980) is an American professional wrestler and actor.

He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand.

With the third most world championship reigns in history, and a career spanning over 20 years, Orton is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time.

Orton is a third-generation professional wrestler; his grandfather Bob Orton, father Bob Orton Jr.., and uncle Barry Orton were all wrestlers.

Before being signed by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), he trained in and wrestled for the Mid-Missouri Wrestling Association and Southern Illinois Conference Wrestling.

He was then signed by the WWF and was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where he held the OVW Hardcore Championship twice.

He became a member of the stable Evolution shortly after his WWE debut, which quickly led to an Intercontinental Championship reign, his first championship with the company.

He also acquired the moniker "The Legend Killer" during a storyline where he began disrespecting and then physically attacking WWE Hall of Famers and wrestling veterans.

At the age of 24, Orton became the youngest world champion in WWE history after he won the World Heavyweight Championship.

With this win, he departed from Evolution and a feud with his former stablemates began.

Randal Keith Orton was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, on April 1, 1980, to nurse Elaine and professional wrestler Bob Orton Jr.. He is a grandson of Bob Orton and nephew of Barry Orton, both professional wrestlers.

He has a younger brother named Nathan, who is a stand-up comedian, and a younger sister named Rebecca.

Knowing the hardships of life as a professional wrestler, his parents tried to convince him to stay away from the business and his father warned him that life in the ring meant a life on the road and away from family.

Orton attended Hazelwood Central High School, where he was an amateur wrestler.

After graduating in 1998, he enlisted with the United States Marine Corps.

At the base, he received a bad conduct discharge in 1999 after going AWOL on two occasions and disobeying an order from a commanding officer.

Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, he was tried and convicted under a special court-martial, subsequently spending 38 days in the brig at Camp Pendleton.

He previously had a Marine tattoo on his left arm, but covered it up after receiving his bad conduct discharge.

Orton made his wrestling debut in 2000 at the Mid-Missouri Wrestling Association-Southern Illinois Conference Wrestling (MMWA-SICW) in St. Louis, Missouri, an offshoot of the historic St. Louis Wrestling Club headed by Sam Muchnick.

There, he was trained by both the staff of the promotion and his father, Bob Orton Jr.. He wrestled for the promotion where he performed with wrestlers such as Ace Strange and Mark Bland.

Orton also refereed a few matches with World Organized Wrestling (WOW), a promotion where his uncle Barry Orton worked.

In 2000, Orton signed a deal with the then World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and was sent to its developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) in Louisville, Kentucky, where he continued his training.

During his time in OVW, he wrestled the likes of Rico Constantino and The Prototype and teamed with Bobby Eaton during a tag team title tournament.

He won the OVW Hardcore Championship twice by defeating Mr. Black on February 14, 2001, and Flash Flanagan on May 5, 2001, respectively.

On several occasions he faced Rico Constantino on combined WWF/OVW events, and also lost to The Prototype (John Cena) in a tag match on July 28 in Jacksonville, Indiana.

In 2006, Orton joined forces with Edge in a tag team known as Rated-RKO.

Together, they held the World Tag Team Championship.

After Rated-RKO disbanded in mid-2007, Orton gained two WWE Championship reigns in one night, becoming the second youngest two-time WWE Champion at the age of 27.

He formed the group The Legacy with Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Jr.. in 2008.

They disbanded in 2010, and Orton returned to singles competition.

From 2013 to 2015, he was aligned with The Authority, who named him the "face of the WWE".

He was the final holder of the World Heavyweight Championship, which he unified with the WWE Championship to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs in 2013.

Orton is recognized by WWE as having the third-most world championship victories in history at 14, behind John Cena and Ric Flair (both 16) and tied with Triple H (also 14).

All totaled, he has won 20 championships in WWE.

Orton is also the winner of the 2013 Money in the Bank ladder match, as well as a two-time Royal Rumble match winner (2009 and 2017) and has headlined multiple WWE pay-per-view events, including WrestleMania 25 and WrestleMania XXX.

Following his match at the 2021 Survivor Series, he broke Kane's record for wrestling the most PPV matches in WWE history.

In 2016, he joined The Wyatt Family, winning the SmackDown Tag Team Championship with Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper before turning on them in 2017.

He won his first United States Championship in 2018, becoming the 18th overall Grand Slam Champion after already having been the 17th Triple Crown Champion.

Orton's rivalry with John Cena is one of the longest rivalries in WWE history and ranked among its greatest.

Orton has held the WWE Championship 10 times and WWE's World Heavyweight Championship four times.