Randy Orton

Randal Keith Orton (born April 1, 1980), is an American professional wrestler and actor. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand.

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. 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". 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 is regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. Orton's rivalry with fellow wrestler John Cena has been recognized as one of the longest and greatest rivalries in WWE history. Orton has held the WWE Championship[a] 10 times and WWE's World Heavyweight Championship four times. 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 at 14). He is the winner of the 2013 Money in the Bank ladder match, as well as the 2009 and 2017 Royal Rumble matches, 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.

Early life

Orton as a Marine

Randal Keith Orton was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, on April 1, 1980, the son of nurse Elaineand professional wrestler Bob Orton Jr. He is the 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, Orton's 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 Marines. 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.

Professional wrestling career

Training and early career (2000–2001)

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 for one month, where he performed with wrestlers such as Phil e. Blunt and Ace Strange and Mark Bland. Orton also refereed a few matches with World Organized Wrestling (WOW), a promotion where his uncle Barry Orton worked.

World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment / WWE

Ohio Valley Wrestling (2001–2002)

In 2001, 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, Orton 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.[9] 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. He also began appearing on several WWF house shows that were unaffiliated with OVW, the first being on May 1, 2001, when he faced Billy Gunn. After taking the mic and promising to beat Gunn, Orton was defeated. That fall he began appearing regularly on WWF house shows and dark matches, facing Chuck Palumbo, Steven Richards and Shawn Stasiak, but mostly wrestling in tag team matches. Orton's promotion to the main roster made him a member of OVW's now legendary Class of 2002 as part of what has now been dubbed as the OVW 4 alongside the aforementioned Cena as well as Brock Lesnar and Dave Bautista.

Evolution (2002–2004)

Main article: Evolution

One of Orton's first official WWF appearances was March 16, 2002 at WrestleMania X8's Fan Axxess, where he was defeated by Tommy Dreamer. Orton's first televised WWF match was a victory against Hardcore Holly on SmackDown! on April 25, 2002. Soon after, Orton became a face and was placed in a series of matches with Holly.[citation needed] In September 2002, Orton was traded to the Raw brand, where he defeated Stevie Richards in his debut on the show. Within weeks of his debut on the Raw brand, Orton suffered a shoulder injury,[citation needed] leaving him sidelined for months. While recovering, Orton still appeared on Raw in his own Randy News Network (RNN) segment, a weekly vignette featuring him talking about his condition. The show interrupted other segments of Raw programming, which caused Orton to slowly transition himself into a narcissistic and self-centered heel.

After his injury healed, Orton joined the Evolution stable, which consisted of Ric Flair, Triple H, and relative newcomer Batista. The group was pushed on Raw from 2003 to 2004, with the height of their dominance occurring after Armageddon in 2003 when all of the men's titles on Raw were held by Evolution members. In 2003, Orton spent much of his time helping Triple H overcome challenges for the World Heavyweight Championship. He joined Triple H in an Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam, involved primarily to secure Triple H's title defense, and was eliminated by Goldberg, but the stable managed to fulfill its purpose and Triple H went on to eliminate Goldberg and retain his title.

Orton then began proclaiming himself the "Legend Killer", with his gimmick becoming that of a young upstart who was so talented that he touted himself as the future of wrestling. He embarked on numerous feuds with older, well-respected names in wrestling and gained infamy for blatantly disrespecting them. With the help of his stablemate and mentor Ric Flair, Orton defeated Shawn Michaels at Unforgiven in the first of many high-profile matches billed as "Legend vs. Legend Killer".During this time, Orton began using the move that would become his signature finisher, the RKO, a jumping cutter named after his initials.He defeated Rob Van Dam for the Intercontinental Championship at Armageddon in December 2003. With this win, Orton started the longest Intercontinental Championship reign in seven years, holding the title for 210 days. Orton continued to establish himself as a "Legend Killer" throughout 2004, challenging the semi-retired wrestler Mick Foley. Famed for his brutal hardcore matches and ability to handle excruciating pain, Foley challenged Orton to a hardcore "Legend vs. Legend Killer" match for his Intercontinental Championship, which Orton reluctantly accepted. At Backlash, Orton defeated Foley in a hardcore match to retain the Intercontinental Championship, which included spots involving barbed wire and Orton being thrown onto hundreds of thumbtacks. Orton later spat in the face of Harley Race on the April 26 episode of Raw. Two months later at Bad Blood, he retained the Intercontinental Championship against Shelton Benjamin. In July at Vengeance, he lost the title to Edge

World Heavyweight Champion (2004–2005)

Orton became the youngest World Heavyweight Champion in WWE history at SummerSlam in August 2004

After losing the Intercontinental Championship, Orton became the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship after winning a 20-man battle royal on July 26.At SummerSlam, Orton defeated Chris Benoit for the championship, thus becoming the youngest world champion in WWE history at the age of 24. Benoit congratulated Orton after the match, shaking his hand for showing the ability to "be a man".The following night on Raw, after Orton successfully defended the title against Benoit in a rematch, Evolution threw Orton a mock celebration only to reveal that they were not pleased with his new victory. While Batista had Orton propped on his shoulders in elation, Triple H gave him a pleased thumbs-up and then abruptly changed it to a thumbs-down, which was followed by Batista dropping Orton to the mat. Triple H, Flair and Batista attacked Orton in the ring, resulting in Orton being kicked out of Evolution. The following week, he called out Orton and ordered him to hand over the championship, but he refused, spitting in Triple H's face and hitting him with the title belt.Orton's breakup with Evolution led to him turning face when he continued to feud with his former stablemates. A month later, Orton lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Triple H at Unforgiven after interference from Flair, Batista, and Jonathan Coachman.

Seeking revenge, Orton lashed out at his former Evolution members, catching them by surprise during a show by giving them a large cake as a make-up gift, which he came out of nowhere to beat and humiliate the group. At Taboo Tuesday, Orton defeated Ric Flair in a steel cage match. After this, Orton experienced another push, becoming general manager of the Raw brand for a week following a match stipulation at Survivor Series where he picked up the win for his team by last eliminating Triple H in a four-on-four Survivor Series elimination match. He continued to feud with Triple H, using his authority to place his opponents at severe disadvantages during title defenses. In January 2005 at New Year's Revolution, Orton participated in an Elimination Chamber match for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship, where he was the last man eliminated by Triple H after interference from Ric Flair and Batista. On the January 10 episode of Raw, Orton defeated Batista to earn a match against Triple H at the Royal Rumble for the World Heavyweight title, which he lost.

Feud with The Undertaker (2005–2006)

Orton began an on-screen relationship with Stacy Keibler and briefly feuded with Christian in February 2005.On the February 28 Raw, Superstar Billy Graham made an appearance, in which he advised Orton to "go where no wrestler [had] gone before".

Rated-RKO (2006–2007)

Main article: Rated-RKO

After Armageddon, Orton entered the 2006 Royal Rumble match as the thirtieth and final wrestler, but he was eliminated by the eventual winner of the match Rey Mysterio, who earned a world championship at WrestleMania 22. Orton challenged him to a match for his title shot at No Way Out. In the weeks preceding No Way Out, Orton made controversial remarks about Eddie Guerrero, Mysterio's friend who had died a few months previously, in an attempt to gain villain heat. Many fans felt the comments were highly distasteful so soon after Guerrero's death in November 2005. Orton won at No Way Out, earning Mysterio's title shot for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 22. SmackDown! General Manager Theodore Long re-added Mysterio to the WrestleMania 22 title match, making it a triple threat match between Orton, Mysterio and then-champion Kurt Angle.[citation needed] On April 2 at WrestleMania, however, Orton lost after he was pinned by Mysterio. On the following episode of SmackDown!, Orton challenged Mysterio for the World Heavyweight Championship, but failed to win the title.

On April 4, Orton was suspended for sixty days for "unprofessional conduct". In an interview, Orton stated, "my conduct was unbecoming of a champion, which is what I will be again when I return". To cover for the suspension, a scripted injury was devised, where Kurt Angle broke Orton's ankle during a King of the Ring quarterfinal match. Orton returned from his suspension in June to the Raw brand, where he entered a rivalry with Angle, culminating in matches at ECW One Night Stand (which he lost) and Vengeance (which he won) before engaging in a storyline feud with Hulk Hogan. Orton began cutting promos insulting the aging Hogan and flirted with Hogan's then-eighteen-year-old daughter Brooke. At SummerSlam, the two met in a "Legend vs. Legend Killer" match, which Hogan won.

Edge and Orton as Rated-RKO

After the newly reformed D-Generation X (D-X) (Triple H and Shawn Michaels) cost Edge the WWE Championship, Edge approached Orton and asked him to join forces to defeat the team. Orton, whose championship reign had been ended by Triple H in 2004, agreed, forming the tag team Rated-RKO. The two defeated D-X at Cyber Sunday with help from special guest referee Eric Bischoff, becoming the first team to defeat D-X since their reunion in June and they quickly dominated the Raw brand's tag team division to become World Tag Team Champions by defeating Ric Flair and Roddy Piper on the November 13 episode of Raw. As part of the angle, Rated-RKO attacked Ric Flair with steel chairs to enrage D-X on the November 27 episode of Raw. At New Year's Revolution, Rated-RKO defended the World Tag Team Championship against D-X, but the match was declared a no-contest when Triple H suffered a legitimate injury during the match. Afterwards, Rated-RKO were attacked by D-X. With Triple H out of action, Rated-RKO continued their on-screen rivalry with Michaels. At the Royal Rumble, both men competed in the eponymous match and made it to the final four, but both were eliminated by Michaels. Michaels later teamed with WWE Champion John Cena to defeat Rated-RKO to win the World Tag Team Championship the following night on Raw. After losing the tag team titles, both Edge and Orton focused on the WWE Championship, causing friction between them. On the February 5, 2007 episode of Raw, they lost a triple threat match against Michaels to earn a WWE Championship match at WrestleMania 23. They both competed in the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania, but the match was won by Mr. Kennedy. On the April 9 episode of Raw, Orton and Michaels wrestled to a no contest in a number one contender's match for the WWE Championship after both men's shoulders were down during the pinfall. Finally, Orton and Edge faced off in a fatal four-way match for the title against Cena and Michaels at Backlash, however Cena retained the title after pinning Orton. On the April 30 episode of Raw, they competed against each other in a singles match, which Edge won. Their alliance was effectively ended once Edge joined the SmackDown! brand. Orton then continued his "Legend Killer" persona, attacking Shawn Michaels by using frequent attacks to the head, including an elevated DDT and a running punt to the face. Orton defeated Michaels at Judgment Day via knockout when Michaels suffered a kayfabe concussion and collapsed during the match. Orton continued his attacks when he engaged himself in feuds with Rob Van Dam at One Night Stand (after losing a stretcher match to Van Dam), Ric Flair,[citation needed] Dusty Rhodes, and Sgt. Slaughter. During this time the commentators noted how Orton slithered around and stalked his victims like a snake; this led to "The Viper" becoming a nickname for Orton.

On the July 23 episode of Raw, Orton was named number one contender for John Cena's WWE Championship.[citation needed] Three times before their scheduled bout at SummerSlam, Orton assaulted Cena with the RKO.[ Orton lost the title match at SummerSlam when Cena pinned him after an FU. The next night on the August 27 episode of Raw, Orton demanded a rematch, but Raw General Manager William Regal denied him. He then appealed to Mr. McMahon, who offered him the shot if he "proved himself". That night, Orton interfered in Cena's match with King Booker, assaulting him before kicking his father, who was at ringside, in the head.McMahon granted Orton his rematch at Unforgiven, which he won by disqualification when Cena refused to stop punching him in the corner; however, Cena retained the championship because titles cannot change hands by disqualification. After the match, Cena's father, who was again at ringside, kicked Orton in the head, which led to a match the next night on the September 17 episode of Raw, in which Orton defeated Cena's father by disqualification, then hit him with an RKO while Cena was handcuffed to the ropes. Cena suffered a legitimate injury during a match with Mr. Kennedy on the October 1 episode of Raw, after which Orton attacked Cena with an RKO. After this, he adopted the nickname of "The Viper". Orton then threw him outside the ring, and gave him an RKO on the broadcast table. Due to this injury, John Cena was forced to vacate the WWE Championship.

At the start of No Mercy, Mr. McMahon awarded Randy Orton the WWE Championship, which John Cena had vacated due to injury. Orton lost the title to Triple H in the opening match, but regained it later that night in a Last Man Standing match. Orton then restarted his feud with Shawn Michaels, who returned on the October 8 episode of Raw during Orton's championship coronation and superkicked him.Michaels was chosen by fan voting over Jeff Hardy and Mr. Kennedy to meet Orton for the WWE Championship at Cyber Sunday, where Orton was disqualified after low blowing Michaels, but retained the title. They had a rematch at Survivor Series with a pre-match stipulation that if Michaels had used Sweet Chin Music, he would have lost and never had another chance at the title, while if Orton was disqualified, he would have lost the championship; Orton pinned Michaels at Survivor Series after an RKO to retain the title. Orton then began a feud with the returning Chris Jericho, who challenged Orton for the WWE Championship at Armageddon, in which Jericho won by disqualification after interference from SmackDown! color commentator John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL), but Orton retained the title.[87]He then feuded with Jeff Hardy, during which he punted Hardy's brother Matt in the head and Hardy performed a Swanton Bomb off the Raw set onto Orton. He successfully defended the title against Hardy at the Royal Rumble.[88] He then restarted his feud with John Cena, who had returned from injury to win the 2008 Royal Rumble match.[88] Instead of taking his title shot at WrestleMania XXIV, as Royal Rumble winners typically do, Cena took it at No Way Out and defeated Orton, who intentionally got himself disqualified by slapping the referee to retain the title. The following night on Raw, Cena defeated Orton in a non-title match with Triple H as the special guest referee, resulting in Cena being added to Orton's title match with Triple H at WrestleMania, making it a triple threat match. At WrestleMania, Orton retained the WWE Championship against Cena and Triple H by pinning Cena after Triple H executed a Pedigree on him.[ The next month at Backlash, Orton lost the title to Triple H in a fatal four-way elimination match, also including Cena and John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL). After failing to win it back at Judgment Day in a steel cage match, he faced Triple H for the title once more in a Last Man Standing match at One Night Stand, which he lost after Triple H countered an RKO by throwing Orton over the top rope, legitimately breaking his collarbone and putting him out of action. During this time, he gained a new entrance theme, "Voices", performed by the band Rev Theory.

Upon being medically cleared to return to the ring, Orton was reinjured in a motorcycle accident. He returned to Raw on September 1, criticizing all the champions, including World Tag Team Champions Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase, who he berated and slapped for letting Cryme Tyme steal their belts. This inspired them to try to gain Orton's respect. They achieved this at Unforgiven when, with new stablemate Manu, they assaulted World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk, forcing him to vacate his title before his scheduled defense that night. Orton returned to in-ring action on the November 3 episode of Raw, losing to Punk by disqualification when DiBiase interfered, resulting in Orton punting DiBiase in the head in retaliation. On the December 1 episode of Raw, Orton proposed that he, Rhodes and Manu form an alliance.The stable, called "The Legacy", debuted the next week, defeating Batista and Triple H, Orton's former Evolution stablemates, in a three-on-two handicap match.

Orton after winning the 2009 Royal Rumble match

Orton began feuding with the McMahon family on the January 19, 2009 episode of Raw when he confronted both Mr. McMahon and Stephanie, claiming that he was worth more than her, and that she had become "worthless". This infuriated Mr. McMahon, who demanded that Orton apologize, or he'd terminate him on the spot. As Mr. McMahon was about to fire him, Orton attacked and punted him in the head, leading to him being carried out of the arena on a stretcher. On January 25, Orton won the Royal Rumble match, last eliminating Triple H. The next night on Raw, Orton claimed that he suffered from IED, and that he was not responsible for his actions towards Mr. McMahon, claiming that he suffered a "loss of control" because of the disorder. He also claimed that WWE knew of the condition, but did nothing, and threatened to sue WWE for that reason, and also, if Stephanie were to fire him, threatened a second lawsuit for breach of contract, due to the fact that he was legally entitled to compete at WrestleMania because he won the Royal Rumble. Though Stephanie teased firing Orton, she changed her mind and said that she had "bigger plans", leading to Shane McMahon returning to Raw and attacking Orton. This led to Orton facing Shane in a No Holds Barred match at No Way Out, which he won. The next night on Raw, Orton faced Shane again in an unsanctioned match, which ended in a no contest when he punted Shane in the head, thus rendering him unable to continue the match. Stephanie then ran down to the ring to tend to her brother, but Orton attacked her with an RKO. This drew Triple H into the feud, who claimed that Orton "crossed the line" when he attacked Stephanie, his real-life wife. Later, Orton claimed that everything he had done was part of a plan to get revenge on Triple H after he kicked him out of Evolution back in 2004; according to Orton, Triple H "ruined his life", so Orton was going to do the same and take everything that Triple H cared about away from him. He challenged Triple H for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 25, where he was unsuccessful. He won it the next month at Backlash by pinning Triple H in a six-man tag team match between The Legacy and Triple H, Batista and Shane McMahon. At Judgment Day, Orton defended the championship against Batista, where he retained via disqualification after Rhodes and DiBiase interfered. At Extreme Rules, he lost the title to Batista in a steel cage match. The following night on Raw, Orton and Legacy attacked Batista and injured his arm, forcing him to vacate the title. On the June 15 episode of Raw, Orton regained the title in a fatal four-way match against Big Show, Triple H and John Cena. The following week, Orton defended the WWE Championship against Triple H in a Last Man Standing match, which ended in a no-contest after both men failed to answer the referee's ten count. They faced off for the championship once more at The Bash in a Three Stages of Hell match, which Orton won after interference from Legacy.At SummerSlam, he defended the title against John Cena, during which he used several underhanded tactics to retain the championship. He lost the title to Cena in an "I Quit" match at Breaking Point, but regained it from Cena in a Hell in a Cell match at Hell in a Cell. At Bragging Rights, Orton again lost the championship to Cena in a one-hour Iron Man match to end the feud.

Randy Orton with a shaved head in 2009.

Orton then began a rivalry with Kofi Kingston, whom Orton blamed for him losing the WWE Championship due to Kingston interfering in his match with Cena to chase away Rhodes and DiBiase. On the November 16 episode of Raw, Orton and Kingston engaged in a brawl that ended with Kingston putting Orton through a table in the crowd. Both men were named captains for their respective teams at Survivor Series, where Kingston's team defeated Orton's team after Orton was last eliminated by Kingston. The two traded victories over each on following episodes of Raw, leading to a match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 13, which Orton won. The next night, he competed in a tournament to crown the 2009 Superstar of the Year, defeating The Undertaker by countout in the first round after interference from Legacy to advance to the finals later that night, where he lost to Cena. Orton won a triple threat match on January 11, 2010, episode of Raw, with help from Rhodes and DiBiase, for the right to challenge Sheamus at the Royal Rumble for the WWE Championship. Orton lost by disqualification when Rhodes interfered, which prompted Orton to attack both Rhodes and DiBiase after the match. On the February 15 episode of Raw, Orton was again disqualified in a non-title rematch when Legacy interfered. Orton and DiBiase both competed in the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match at Elimination Chamber, where DiBiase eliminated Orton after hitting him with a pipe Rhodes had given him.The next night on the February 22 episode of Raw, during a six-man tag team match, Orton attacked them in retaliation, turning him face. At WrestleMania XXVI, Orton defeated Rhodes and DiBiase in a triple threat match.

World championship reigns (2010–2013)

After The Legacy disbanded, Orton spent most part of the year in World Title feuds. He unsuccessfully challenged Jack Swagger for the World Heavyweight Championship at Extreme Rules in April. At Fatal 4-Way in June, Orton competed in a fatal four-way WWE Championship match involving champion Cena, Edge, and Sheamus, who won the title after interference from The Nexus. On July 18 at Money in the Bank, Orton competed in a Money in the Bank ladder match for a WWE Championship contract, which was won by The Miz and, at SummerSlam, he faced the WWE Champion Sheamus in a match that ended in a disqualification, giving Orton the win, but not the title. Immediately afterward, Orton hit Sheamus with the chair and an RKO onto the broadcast table.

Orton at Tribute to the Troops in December 2010

At Night of Champions, Orton won the WWE Championship in a six-pack challenge elimination match After successfully defending the title against Sheamus in a Hell in a Cell match at Hell in a Cell, He feuded with Wade Barrett, who was blackmailing Cena to help him capture the title. Orton retained the title against him at Bragging Rights and Survivor Series. However, on the November 22 episode of Raw, after Orton defeated Barrett again in a title match, he lost the championship against The Miz when he cashed his Money in the Bank contract.Orton received his rematch against The Miz in a tables match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs and the Royal Rumble, but he lost both matches.

The next month at Elimination Chamber, Orton failed to win a WWE Championship number one contender Elimination Chamber match after being eliminated by CM Punk.Over the next three weeks, Orton punted and injured all members of The New Nexus, Michael McGillicutty, David Otunga and Mason Ryan.At WrestleMania XXVII, Orton defeated Punk after a mid-air RKO. Two weeks later in the 2011 WWE draft, Orton was drafted to the SmackDown brand and later beat Punk in a Last Man Standing Match at Extreme Rules, ending his feud with The New Nexus.

On the May 6 episode of SmackDown, Orton defeated Christian to win the World Heavyweight Championship for the second time.At Over the Limit, Orton made his first successful title defense in a rematch against Christian. At Capitol Punishment, Orton pinned Christian to retain the championship again, despite Christian's foot being under the bottom rope.[In July at Money in the Bank, Orton defended the championship against Christian once more, with the stipulation that if Orton got himself disqualified, or if there was "bad officiating", Christian would win the title. Christian spat in Orton's face, causing him to lose control of his temper, kick Christian in the groin and get disqualified, resulting in Orton losing the championship. A month later at SummerSlam, Orton regained the title when he defeated Christian in a No Holds Barred match.Orton ended his feud with Christian when he retained the World Heavyweight Championship in a steel cage match on the August 30 episode of SmackDown.Orton then began a feud with Mark Henry after Henry became the number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship. Over the next few weeks, Henry regularly attacked Orton. At Night of Champions, Orton lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Henry, and failed to regain it two weeks later in a Hell in a Cell match at Hell in a Cell. He then began feuding with his former stablemate Cody Rhodes, who believed that Orton had mistreated and abused him during their time together in Legacy.[citation needed] On the October 14 episode of SmackDown, Orton won a 41-man battle royal to earn a title shot of his choice, and he chose to challenge Henry for the World Heavyweight Championship later that night; he won by disqualification after interference from Rhodes, but did not win the championship. He then defeated Rhodes at Vengeance, and on the November 4 SmackDown in a Street Fight.