The career of Randy Orton has seen him accomplish just about everything possible in WWE. Orton entered the company with a world of hype thanks to his look, athleticism and pedigree as a third-generation performer. WWE expected Orton to become a face of the company and he did just that. Orton was not always consistent, but he accomplished it all during this run in WWE over the past seventeen years.
The two moves associated with his career have been the RKO and the punt. Fans think about the RKO first with Orton and vice versa due to how much success he’s had with it since the start of his career. The punt was added as a secondary finisher meant to be used in certain situations when the story calls for it. Fans all have a preference between the two movies. We’ll break them down with five reasons why the RKO is Randy Orton’s best finisher along with five reasons why it’s the punt.
10 RKO: Works tremendously as a face move
Randy Orton gets a huge pop whenever he hits the RKO regardless of his role on television. The current heel character still gets cheers out of love for the finisher. Orton however uses it to his advantage whenever he is getting to play the face role.
Heels like Christian and Seth Rollins took some of the best bumps for the RKO during their feuds with Orton. The RKO is like a cheat code for a wrestling match. Even if it’s not going well and the crowd is silent, seeing the RKO finisher by Orton will wake them up.
9 Punt: Works better as a heel move
The punt entered Randy Orton’s arsenal when WWE wanted him to get more heat as a heel. Orton was getting the top heel spot in the company as he entered the WrestleMania 25 main storyline getting a WWE Championship match against Triple H in the main event.
Fans reacted in awe at the vicious nature of the punt compared to the other wrestlers moved often delivered in the ring. The punt can help Orton make fans look at him differently as a heel which is necessary to find success in such a role.
8 RKO: Most associated with his career
The career of Randy Orton will always be linked most to the fun RKO finishers he hit throughout the years. Videos of the best RKOs get huge views online and the move has even gone viral. Friends hitting the RKO out of nowhere into a pool added more interest to the movie.
Orton was lucky enough to have an all-time great finisher. Even when using the punk, it makes sense to keep the RKO in the rotation for overall entertainment. Orton’s eventual retirement or phasing into part-time status will only increase the legacy when he does return to hit the RKO.
7 Punt: Injured Vince McMahon with it
One of the most memorable moments of Randy Orton’s career came when punting Vince McMahon in the head. The segment featured Vince returning to WWE to demand apologies from top heels Orton and Chris Jericho regarding their heinous acts at the time.
Jericho apologized, but Orton went the opposite route. The older McMahon was attacked by Orton. Fans were stunned silent at the visual of Orton lining up the punt and kicking Vince right in the head. It gave him strong momentum before winning the Royal Rumble match to start a feud with Triple H.
6 RKO: Won him more accolades
The most successful moments of Randy Orton’s career came when hitting the RKO. Orton’s first World Championship win over Chris Benoit came thanks to the RKO to cement his name in wrestling history. All the classic matches in his best rivalry with Christian also featured the RKO dominating.
Orton’s entire career was predicated around the RKO which makes it instantly a memory when thinking back to most of his best moments. Talents like John Cena, Edge and CM Punk all fell victim to the RKO at some point when facing Randy.
5 Punt: Can always do it
Randy Orton has referenced that he would like to make some changes in his career as he gets older. Aside from wishing he wore gear like Roman Reigns, Orton may want to make some changes in his wrestling style to avoid injury.
The punt is one move that does not provide much risk. Orton is required to take a back bump most times when hitting the RKO, but the punt just involves him lining and kicking someone. It would not be the craziest thing in the world for Orton to make the punt his finisher in a few years over the RKO.
4 RKO: Unpredictable
The RKO out of nowhere created the coolest moves in WWE history. Randy Orton always delivered great RKO moves, but he started to experiment with it to make it even more beloved. Evan Bourne was the first victim to get the surprise RKO when Orton hit the finisher when Bourne was mid-air attempting a Shooting Star Press.
This created the phenomenon of Orton and WWE trying to find new ways to hit the RKO out of nowhere. Orton found more viral moments because of these moments than the bigger moments of his career. Fans still pop huge when Orton can hit the move out of the blue.
3 Punt: Took people off television
The importance of the punt became apparent when it started writing off people from television. Vince McMahon was gone for months to sell the vicious aftermath of getting kicked in the head by Randy Orton. This was the most compelling part of Orton’s 2009 as a top heel.
Rob Van Dam was another person getting ready to leave WWE for a while and Orton was able to get the perk of writing him off. Fans started taking Orton more seriously in the way his character intended thanks to the punt.
2 RKO: More versatility
Randy Orton could do so much with the RKO that it added a lot to his matches. The finisher is a lot of fun to set up given the excitement of the crowd starting to sense it. Opposing wrestlers have easier opportunities to reverse it and add that element of entertainment.
Orton also could hit it in different ways to make it fun. The RKO out of nowhere always surprised the viewer. Top rope RKOs were rare, but they always got the intended response. Orton could make the RKO count with the way he went about it with each opponent as a great finisher.
1 Punt: More dangerous
The danger of the punt made Randy Orton one of the most sinister wrestlers in the industry at the time. Orton wanted to stop all cheers by playing a legitimately hated heel character and the punt becoming his finisher at the time helped the cause.
One thing that made the punt even more dangerous was that it didn’t come off like a wrestling move. Instead of exchanging moves to set it up, Orton stalked his prey and just kicked them in the head with full force. It made fans forget the scripted element of wrestling which is always successful.