Randy Orton is a huge legend in the wrestling industry, and a sure-fire entrant into the WWE Hall of Fame whenever he hangs up his boots, with several World Titles, WrestleMania main events, and Royal Rumble victories to his name. He has done everything from being a psychotic heel to a comedic babyface in more recent times, but his face turn in 2004 was a complete and utter failure when it could and should have been a huge success, and that is through the fault of WWE’s booking.
Evolution Turned On Orton, Setting Up A Face Turn
Orton made his debut in WWE with it widely known that he was a third-generation performer, with his father being the legendary “Cowboy” Bob Orton. He was initially a clean-cut babyface, with no real character or momentum. A few months into his run, Orton received an injury, and in that time, he developed into a heel character, which brought out a whole new side of him, with arrogance suiting him much better than humbleness. This led to Orton finding a place in the Evolution stable upon his return.
Under the tutelage of the likes of Triple H and Ric Flair, Orton developed even further in the Evolution stable, becoming “The Legend Killer”, which would be one of the most defining gimmicks of his entire career. Legendary feuds, for example with the likes of Mick Foley, in which Orton would go over, turned him into a certified star in WWE, even at just a young age. Taking out some of the biggest legends, and even beating them in the ring, spoke volumes in how highly WWE saw Orton.
His stock would rise so much that at Summerslam 2004, Orton challenged for the World Heavyweight Championship, going head-to-head with Chris Benoit, who had previously dethroned Evolution leader, Triple H. Orton would make history by becoming the youngest World Heavyweight Champion in history, at the age of just 24. Following the match, Benoit shook his hand, and Orton took it, with the fans respecting Orton more and more as time went on. Whether it be through his incredible heel work, not afraid to take scary thumbtack spots, or showing respect to his opponents, fans were naturally rallying for Orton.
Orton’s Face Turn Got Off To A Good Start… For Just A Month
On the night following his victory, Orton would defend the title again in the main event. Following the match, his Evolution stablemates would throw a celebration, which was cut short with the group turning on Orton in one of the most infamous turns of all time. HHH, Batista, and Flair gave Orton a brutal beatdown, cementing his expulsion from the group, but more importantly, a face turn. Orton was now sympathetic as a babyface, which gave fans even more reason to cheer for him.
The following week, things ramped up further, with HHH giving Orton the chance to hand over the World Title. Instead, Orton spat in HHH’s face, enacting some level of revenge by attacking his former mentor. The rivalry started off explosive and hot, with the fans loving Orton, especially since he was unwilling to bow down to HHH. It seemed as though WWE had something magic on their hands, so what went wrong?
Well, just a month after winning the title, Orton lost it in his first PPV defense to HHH. And then he lost in every challenge for the title. Instead of overcoming the established heel, Orton was made to look weak, unable to win despite numerous attempts. He would gain some victories here and there, but never when it truly mattered.
A Failed Babyface Run Led To Orton Turning Heel, Where He Found Success
By the time Royal Rumble season came around, the focus was taken off Orton, and given to Batista. WWE ran a similar story with Batista overcoming HHH and Evolution, but unlike Orton, Batista would actually defeat HHH, and do so multiple times on PPV, in huge matches which elevated his stock to the moon – something which WWE didn’t commit to doing with Orton.
On the Road to Wrestlemania, before Orton’s face turn had achieved any true success, he was turned heel once again, and became to thrive, turning his attentions to The Undertaker, going back to his Legend Killer persona. From there, Orton rose up the card over the next few years, winning his next World Title in 2007 by winning the WWE Championship, with the rest being history, establishing himself as one of the major players in WWE for the next two decades, still performing to a high level today. It is a shame that WWE didn’t give his face run the proper attention it deserved, as he could have easily been built up as a face the same way Batista and John Cena did, however, he ended up doing pretty darn good regardless.