Trivia / Randy Orton

• Corpsing: During a multi-man in-ring face-off on the Jan. 29 2019 episode of SmackDown, Samoa Joe came out to tear a strip off the guys in the ring. When Jeff Hardy tried to interrupt, Joe's scathing rebuke ("Heyheyhey, do me a favor- why don't you act like this is an AA meeting and you shut yo' mouth while I'm sharing with the group!") was so funny that Randy crouched down with his hands over his ears◊ to try and hide how badly he was cracking up.
• Creator Backlash:
  • Apparently hated "Burn in My Light," his first theme after leaving Evolution, and even tried to have it replaced before finally getting his wish in 2008.
  • His "[Eddie's] in Hell!" promo. Seriously, just don't bring it up to him.
• Follow the Leader:
  • WWE seems intent on trying to make as many Randy Orton clones as possible. Rob Conway tried to copy the "attack senior wrestlers" shtick, and Orton's look appears to be WWE's current gold standard. Crew cut, tribal tattoos, and trunks is practically the standard look in WWE nowadays. Hell, Ken(ny) Dykstra/Doane is a straight-up Orton clone on the indy circuit with moves like the "RKDoane."
  • Also, in a feud with Kane, he proceeded to kidnap and torture Paul Bearer - just like Edge had done about two years ago. Subverted when Kane revealed he didn't give two hoots about Bearer anymore.
• Hostility on the Set:
  • An example that led to the other party leaving the company. Amy Weber, a Diva Search contestant for the 2004 competition and JBL's 'image consultant' for a few months, had two run-ins with him. The first was when he found a flyer for a strip club with her picture on it, leading to the entire locker room believing she had used to work there (in actuality, she'd taken the photo for a catalogue years before, it had been stolen without her knowledge and she took them to court over it). The second was after she injured herself training for a match, and was advised to take two Ibuprofen from the men's locker room by the trainer. On a plane ride home from Japan, she described Randy knocking her out of her chair "like a linebacker" and yelling "this is how you're gonna learn, bitch!" as 'punishment'. That coupled with Edge pouring a drink over her while she was asleep persuaded her to leave the company as soon as the plane landed. It was falsely reported that he defecated in her handbag, but that was confusing something X-Pac did to Sable, years before he was even in the company.
  • 2011 saw him getting in hot water with Kelly Kelly when he gave a Take That! to her sex life on a radio interview ("I could name about ten guys who have method acted with Kelly Kelly"). There had been issues in a 2009 storyline where Kelly had been uncomfortable with some of the things he had been saying in promos and appealed to the higher-ups and, while she claimed years later that "there were no hard feelings", they were notably placed on different brands for her remaining two years in the company.
• Real Life Writes the Plot:
  • He lost his spot in the Elimination Chamber because of a legit concussion sustained in a match against The Big Show. First off, WWE turned the legit injury into a storyline injury by having Daniel Bryan give Orton a vicious belt shot on the episode of RAW before the PPV. Then, the last Smackdown before the PPV saw a massive Battle Royal in which the winner took Randy Orton's spot in the chamber match. And it was thus that Santino Marella found himself in the Elimination Chamber match the following Sunday.
  • Revealed in a shoot interview with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin that his original Finishing Move, the O-Zone, was retired because it put a lot of (literal) pressure on his already-dodgy shoulders. (Randy came up from OVW and then suffered a shoulder injury almost out of the gate, putting him on the shelf for months.) One conversation with John Laurinaitis later, and a finisher of memetic proportions was born.
  • There are several reports and rumors that Orton's WWE Championship win at WrestleMania 33 was an apology/reward for agreeing to go with the infamous elbow spot during his match with Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam 2016, which saw him lose a worrying amount of blood and suffering a legitimate concussion that took him out of the next PPV. Supporting that, Orton only held the title for two months before he lost it to former Jobber Jinder Mahal in what has since been alleged to have been a summer experiment for WWE's expansion into India, suggesting they never had any long-term plans for Orton's reign.
• Reality Subtext:
  • Probably not intentional at all, but it's... interesting that Orton seemed to slowly drift away from the most sadistic parts of his "Viper" persona as his real-life self settled into being a husband and father. But then, in summer 2013 he and his wife divorced (she has custody of their daughter for obvious reasons)... and in fall 2013, the "Viper" was back in full force.
  • His pre-2016 characterization as something of an entitled brat that Triple H constantly had to placate is viewed as only a slight exaggeration of what some circles believe is his Real Life personality backstage. Although it may be intentional on Orton's part, as he readily admits to having been that way, at least earlier in his career.
  • Some people can't help but notice parallels between his Kayfabe expulsion from Evolution, where Triple H grew jealous of how fast his protege was climbing the ladder, stripped him of his championship and tried to end his career; and with how Randy's IRL push subsequently seriously faltered when he had seemed poised to become the company's next top guy.
• Teasing Creator: In 2019, Randy posted on his Instagram a picture of himself pointedly eyeing a sign reading "ELITE" with the description "tick tock tick tock", referencing how his contract with WWE was set to expire. Many interpreted this to be a tease that upon free agency, he would end up jumping ship to All Elite Wrestling due to the Elite connection, though this didn't come to pass as he ended up resigning with WWE for another deal lasting to 2024. In retrospect, it's highly likely that this wasn't strictly a tease for the fans, but rather a means for him to blackmail WWE to fork out more cash to keep him onboard.
• What Could Have Been:
  • During the planning for his WrestleMania 21 match with The Undertaker (who then was still undefeated on the said pay-per-view), the latter actually wanted Orton to win, putting him over as one of the company's top stars, but Orton himself refused out of respect. Had the plan pushed though, "The Streak" as it is would not have been the WrestleMania draw that it turned out to be.
  • What would have been Orton's second World Title reign was delayed due to the death of Eddie Guerrero. The stories are conflicting, but Randy was either going to win the title that November in a triple threat with Eddie and Batista, or win the Rumble before winning the title at Wrestlemania. The triple threat was cancelled, the Rumble was rewritten for Rey Mysterio to win in tribute, and it'd be nearly two years before Orton won the title again, and didn't win the Rumble until 2009.
  • Orton was apparently going to use "This Fire Burns" by Killswitch Engage in 2006. However, this only lasted a single episode of SmackDown before he returned to "Burn In My Light"; "This Fire Burns" became the theme of that May's Judgment Day PPV, then the long-running theme of CM Punk, while Orton eventually shed "Burn In My Light" in 2008 for "Voices" which he uses to this day.