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Randy Orton and Brock Lesnar are two of WWE's most popular wrestlers in history, and both will go down as guaranteed Hall of Famers, but they had to start at the bottom like most from that generation.
Orton and Lesnar both started out in OVW, which was the former WWE developmental territory that was even recently featured on Netflix. The Viper started out in early 2000, while The Beast arrived a few months later. They were both called up to WWE in early 2002 after graduating as a part of OVW's legendary Class of 2002, which also included John Cena and Batista.
The Apex Predator spoke with Logan Paul on his IMPAULSIVE podcast today and recalled his memory from the first day The Conqueror came to OVW. The whole facility knew a much-hyped amateur wrestler was arriving that day. Paul asked if Lesnar was there.
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"Oh yeah, oh yeah. I remember the day he [Lesnar] came to OVW... We were all like, what the f**k? So we're all talking s**t, under our breath, and here he comes. And back then there wasn't [a Performance Center], we had one ring in a s****y warehouse, and there was like twelve of us. So here comes Lesnar, we knew he was coming... we get in practice, we start doing the rope running drills, where you just burn, you just go, and he didn't hook the top rope," Randy Orton said. [From 23:00 - 24:30]
The master of the RKO continued his story, and commented on how the current WWE United States Champion was surely told why you must get your arm over the top when running the ropes. This is something The Next Big Thing did not do.
"As I'm sure you've been told - make sure to get the arm over that top rope, or you're going to end up in the bleachers. And sure enough, that m**********r... He leapt out of the ring between the second and third rope, and took out like twenty metal chairs. And then he just popped up, dusted himself off, and was like, '[laughs] I bet y'all would like to see that again. [laughs] We were like, 'That's cool... do your thing.' You know?" Randy Orton said.
Brock Lesnar defeated Randy Orton in three WWE Sunday Night Heat dark matches in November 2001 and January 2002, which were their first-ever singles bouts against each other. They then teamed for the first time on January 19th, 2002, losing to Tommy Dreamer and Stevie Richards at a non-televised WWE live event.
After a few more dark and non-televised matches in 2002, their first TV match saw Lesnar get the win on the September 5th, 2002 edition of SmackDown. The future Hall of Famers did not meet in the ring again until Lesnar won by TKO in the SummerSlam 2016 main event. The Beast then won a Suplex City Deathmatch over The Viper on September 24th, 2016 at a non-televised live event, and since then they have only met in Royal Rumble or Money In the Bank matches.
Randy Orton says he is "so blessed" over WWE chances
It's no secret how Randy Orton had a bit of a bad reputation from his early days in pro-wrestling. The ten-time WWE Champion found himself wrapped up in locker room drama, and was suspended for different reasons, among other incidents.
The former Legacy leader seems to be well-respected in today's WWE locker room as he is now a veteran talent. Speaking to Logan Paul on IMPAULSIVE, the 2013 Men's Money In the Bank winner talked about receiving multiple chances from Vince McMahon, and why he has been so blessed.
"It wasn't coming from a place of confidence, I think it was coming from a place, it was my armor, man. I was an a**hole, and maybe I would get respect that way. Maybe it was a little bit of fear, and I took it as respect, either way I was fine with it. Luckily, I was given a 2nd, 3rd, 4th chance from Vince McMahon coming up when I would get in trouble. Or I would have to get sent away for a couple of months, or have to get fined for a 2nd or 3rd time. I am so blessed. I just had the right guys in there to kind of yank my a** straight, and make sure I was walking a straight line with the times that I did veer off," Randy Orton said. [From 49:29 - 50:11]
Randy Orton, who exclusively signed with SmackDown so he can hunt The Bloodline, also discussed how Triple H's health scare changed WWE and how the Chief Content Officer does not feel like a boss.
What do you think of Randy Orton's WWE return so far? How should WWE book Randy Orton on The Road to WrestleMania 40? Sound off in the comments section below!
