Someone once said that if you had to assemble the perfect pro wrestler, it would turn out like Randy Orton. 13 World Titles to his name, a badass persona to die for and one of the most over move-sets in contemporary pro wrestling.
Yet, why is it that Randy polarises opinion unlike any other top guy in recent history?
Of course, in terms of the spectrum of reaction that is elicited from the audience, no one divides opinion like John Cena. But beneath all the play-hate, everyone knows Cena is a good guy. Most of us actually like John Cena.
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Can we say the same for Randy Orton, though?
And that is in no small part due to how he comes across as an annoying and entitled character in reality. No matter how strongly he may be attuned to his “Viper” persona on WWE programming, one can almost sense that his on-screen character borrows off from who he really is – cold, unforgiving and calculative with a vicious mean streak to go.
For Vince McMahon and co, however, Randy Orton has been their golden boy from day one, given a monster push that is still going strong 15 years on from his debut. In addition, it would seem that whenever he’s transgressed the boundaries of good conduct (plentifully, mind you), he’s been let off with nothing but a slap on the wrist too.
Sometimes, the extent to which the WWE was willing to bend over backwards to let his misdemeanours slide has been nothing short of alarming – especially when put into perspective by how little other Superstars have to do to fall afoul of the powers that be.
Blatant favouritism, blind partiality or however else you choose to term it, Randy Orton is WWE’s very own Prince of Darkness. And here are 5 instances where he totally got away with misdeeds that almost every other WWE Superstar would have been punished for.
#5 Wrecking a hotel room
Randy Orton’s been known to throw a hissy fit when things don’t go his way... like blatantly berating Kofi Kingston on live national television for screwing up a punt kick/RKO spot or costing Mr. Kennedy his WWE career by making a big deal out of a slightly botched backdrop.
Well, he took his temper tantrums to another level in 2007, while touring Europe with the WWE.
Apparently, Orton had the stomach bug (an excuse propagated by the WWE to explain away his actions, no doubt) and acted out in his hotel room because he was in pain. When they found him the next morning, he was passed out having wrecked $50,000 worth of furniture and equipment.
What did the WWE do? They sent him back home for “unprofessional conduct” and had him pay for the damages out of his own pocket.
Everyone was talking about him being cut and this being the final straw that broke the camel’s back (he was notoriously ill-tempered and hard to work with then) but when they came back, the incident was forgotten and Orton resumed his winning ways.
#4 Bullying female performers
Rochelle Loewen was signed on to the WWE as a model in 2005 (because women were still Divas back then) and found that the pro wrestling business wasn’t exactly to her liking. And a big part of that was thanks to Randy Orton.
According to a candid and forthcoming interview that Loewen did much later on, she insinuated that Orton couldn’t deal in a healthy way with his ‘infatuation’ with her and ended up bullying her when the very first encounter between the two went awry.
Having not been a fan of the industry before joining, Rochelle didn’t exactly know who Orton was and asked him if he’s from Canada when they spoke for the first time. This apparently triggered him and he snuck into the women’s dressing room and serenaded all her belongings with self-tanning lotion and baby oil as revenge.
There were also disturbing rumours around that time that he took a dump in her bag to spite her, although that was proven to be false ultimately.
At least JBL bullied only the men.
#3 Wellness Policy violation
Well, everyone knows WWE’s Wellness Policy is a joke – how else can Brock Lesnar not pop for anything in the WWE but test positive when USADA conducted examinations for his one-off fight against Mark Hunt at UFC 200?
Even still, the extent to which its guidelines have been stretched for Randy Orton makes it thoroughly laughable.
According to the rules of the Wellness Policy, any Superstar that has three strikes against his name would be released by the WWE. But as it would turn out, not Randy Orton.
Randy Orton obtained his first strike in 2006 and his second official one in 2012... but in all fairness, he should have gotten that in 2007 when his name popped up on the list that Sports Illustrated released, bearing WWE Superstars that were involved in a mini-steroid scandal with a defunct pharmaceutical.
The WWE, however, inexplicably let him off the hook then, still allowing them to keep him on the books despite popping again in 2012. And that’s not it. Today, Randy Orton has zero strikes against his name.
Apparently, he attended rehab and ‘worked’ off his strikes.
Go figure.
#2 Kissing Stephanie McMahon
Although this was discussed backstage and executed as a storyline, it’s rather unlikely that any other Superstar would have been given the licence to kiss Stephanie McMahon on live television, in front of Triple H no less.
And this was long past the time when their marriage was still hush-hush and Kurt Angle could work a believable angle with her.
Triple H, as ever, works the best rivalries with his real-life friends and his relationship with Randy Orton really helped in getting this one over too. Orton, flanked by his Legacy sidekicks, went on a sadistic romp to try and concuss the entire McMahon family, punt kicking Vince and Shane in the head before laying out Stephanie McMahon herself.
Having handcuffed Triple H to the ropes, he then proceeded to plant a kiss on the unconscious Stephanie McMahon – who was agonisingly inches away from the reach of her despairing husband.
Although it was a terrific storyline and one of the highlights of the PG era in hindsight, you can’t help but marvel at just how much the WWE actually let Randy Orton get away with.
#1 Public shaming of Kelly Kelly
Perhaps the lowest and most forgettable moment of Randy Orton’s WWE career was when he went on-air with the 98KUPD’s Real Rock Radio Show in 2011 and publicly shamed Kelly Kelly, after being questioned about a romantic angle that they worked in 2009.
Let’s face it, everyone knows that a few WWE Superstars are a little lax with their moral code due to being on the road for around 300 days a year, but what Orton did was just downright despicable.
Cajoled into it by the hosts of the interview, he went on a brazen rant about how former WWE Diva Kelly Kelly had ‘slept around with’ at least 10 different Superstars on the roster, even going as far as to name them.
He then followed it up by profusely apologising on his Twitter handle upon receiving nuclear heat from Vince. But do you know what his punishment for tarnishing the image of a fellow employee publicly and causing her immense emotional duress was?
Yes, you guessed it. Absolutely nothing.
Let’s just chalk that one up to being a ridiculously talented third-generation Superstar, shall we?
