Is Randy Orton One Of The Greatest Wrestlers Of All Time?

His finisher alone deserves its own Hall of Fame induction.

Randy orton 2014

Names like Hulk Hogan, John Cena, and Stone Cold Steve Austin are all wrestlers that people put into the conversation of being the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. One person who has been as consistent as these wrestlers has to be Randy Orton. Debuting with WWE in 2002, Orton has carved out a legacy that even casual wrestling fans over the years will remember.

He has been the owner of many different monikers; The Legend Killer, The Apex Predator and The Viper. Son of the legendary ‘Cowboy’ Bob Orton, grandson of Bob Orton Sr. and nephew of Barry Orton, wrestling has been in Randy’s blood from a young age. Starting in OVW, Orton began his journey to the WWE with many great battles with fellow OVW wrestlers John Cena, Batista, and Brock Lesnar in what turned out to be possibly the most loaded rookie class in WWE history.

Randy Orton has been a part of Evolution, won the World Title 13 times, been the 10th ever Grand Slam Champion and won both the Money in the Bank and Royal Rumble. We have seen him feud with John Cena, Triple H, and countless other future Hall of Famers. Very few people have had the accomplishments of ‘the Viper’, but very few ever talk about him being one of the greatest of all time.

Randy Orton

Just looking at name value alone, Randy Orton is known outside of the wrestling community. People have created a trend of filming themselves doing the RKO to friends or just random people, culminating in what we all know now as the “RKO meme”. When people know so much about a wrestler but don’t have any idea about wrestling in general, you know they’re one of the greatest. Only a few names can take that credit: John Cena, The Rock, Hulk Hogan and of course, Randy Orton.

Very few wrestlers have stayed mainly on top for over a decade, but here we are 17 years later and he is still one of the best in the ring and on the mic. As is often the case with many wrestlers, Orton has been vastly more popular as a heel than a face. He can work both roles better than most and that is the mark of a huge star. He is able to work with wrestlers as big as The Big Show and as small as Rey Mysterio without missing a beat. This level of adaptation is so important in the performance as a whole.

Just due to his longevity and body of work, Orton is possibly the most underrated professional wrestler of all time. The majority of his career high-points came during the time of John Cena becoming the face of WWE, so people often lose track of Orton’s accomplishments over the late 2000s to the beginning of the 2010s. He has always stayed the sadistic type character, but never fails to put his own twist on it when the act is running a bit stale. Chris Jericho has always talked about needing to recreate your character to stay relevant and ‘The Viper’ has taken a page out of that book.

Randy Orton at the Wyatt Compound

Possibly one of the reasons Orton has been overlooked is down to a few personal issues that have derailed portions of his career. He has been very public with his public issues, such as substance abuse and anger problems, which he has sought treatment for. He has stated that the problem was so bad that in 2006 he overdosed but miraculously survived. Being suspended a few times due to failed substance tests has definitely taken a toll on his legacy, but it never seemed to hurt his favor backstage because he always finds a way back to the main event scene.

When the day comes for Randy Orton to finally retire, there will be many opinions on how his career went. He will without a doubt be a WWE Hall of Famer. He will be looked upon as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time and some would argue for a place in the top five. Very few can perform the way he does and even fewer have the pure skill to cut such seething promos. He has worked on his more personal issues and that shouldn’t play much of a role in how his professional career is looked back on. We will always remember the letters RKO and think of an in-ring legend. He probably doesn’t get the full credit he deserves for his years of great work, but 17 years later, he doesn’t look close to slowing down.

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