And we thought finding a list of people The Undertaker had never defeated was tough. Randy Orton has been so consistently 'winning' throughout his career that finding anyone he hasn't defeated was like finding a needle in a stack of identical but defeated other needles. Except for perhaps at the very beginning around 2002, Randy Orton has been in Evolution, killing legends, and otherwise had the RKO finisher that virtually guarantees him victory regardless of opponent. On top of that, he's a perennial 'Sole Survivor', has won 2 Royal Rumbles, and several Battle Royals, meaning he's eliminated potential list entries sometimes 29 at a time!
The digging paid off, however, and I've compiled the short list of superstars who've captured victory over The Viper and are yet to return the favor. The unfortunate fact that almost half this list has now passed on and another pair are never likely to wrestle again means that the list of living, competing people Randy is yet to beat is ever shrinking. Hell, by the time this list is published Randy could've shortened it by a further pair, so let's get to the business.
10 10. Big Boss Man: 2-0
Mostly a case of an established veteran tag team taking on a rookie and an underdog. Big Boss Man alongside Mr. Perfect took on a fresh-faced Randall Keith Orton (hmm, good initials) and the baby-faced Crash Holly. Everyone except Randy was hovering around the lowest tiers of WWE at the time, and Big Boss Man specifically was in his 3rd or 4th makeshift tag team since the Attitude Era ended. This configuration faced off twice, and Bossman and Perfect emerged victorious both times.
Super eerily, everyone in this match except Randy Orton would pass away within the next two years for various reasons.
9 9. Mr. Perfect: 5-0
Are you ready for this? We're entering the 'MR.' phase of Randy Orton's lose-list. For some reason, Randy Orton has a strange dearth of wins against wrestlers who officially go by Mr., and the trend started with the perfect candidate.
Not only did Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig team with Big Boss Man for a couple of wins over the future viper, but he also teamed with a Pre-Batista Leviathan for another. Add on a further pair of singles victories, and Mr. Perfect holds a 'Perfect' 5-0 record.
8 8. Mr. McMahon: 1-1-0
The next Mr. on the lister... list, is none other than the chairman of the board, Vincent Kennedy McMahon himself. However, he routinely goes by Mr. McMahon whenever he's officially announced, especially for the few times he got physical in a sanctioned match, so here he is.
Vince has two official matches against Randy Orton, both in 2009 during Orton's Legacy years. They fought to a 'no contest' draw after Wrestlemania and later that year Vince teamed with D-Generation X (and an interfering John Cena) to win a No DQ Tag Team match against the entire Legacy faction. Vince actually pinned Orton as well, and on Vince's own birthday to boot. Happy Birthday Vince!
7 7. Mr. Kennedy: 3-0
The third Mr. to have the wood over Randy, and I couldn't believe it when I found it. Randy Orton is famous for actually getting Mr. Kennedy fired from WWE, throwing a fit over Kennedy's lack of care during their final match together. Kennedy nevertheless never suffered defeat at the hands of The Viper. They were together on the losing side as parts of tag-teams 7 times. They won together a couple of times. But when going head to head, Mr. Kennedy defeated Randy Orton in a singles match by DQ, the aforementioned final tag match which got him fired, and crucially, the oft-overlooked Wrestlemania 23 Money In The Bank match that Mr. Kennedy won, featuring Orton. Who got the last laugh though? Randy Orton...
6 6. Test: 2-0
Test's victories are much the same as Big Boss Man and Mr. Perfect's in that they came in 2002 right at the beginning of Randy's career. He was far from the lethal Viper he would become. Thus, he was susceptible to losing to mid-level opponents like Test.
A pair of forgettable singles victories on Velocity and Smackdown that Randy Orton never got to avenge. A lesser person would make a joke about Randy being unable to pass the test, but I'm above that. I'll just clumsily allude to it and be done.
5 5. Michael Tarver: 1-0
Remember this guy? No? Well, you remember The Nexus and he was one of those guys. The Nexus here took on about as star-studded a team as you could get at the time. Orton of course, partnered by Edge, Chris Jericho, Cena, and WWE Champion Sheamus.
When everything boiled down (it was an elimination match) Randy did pin Tarver to eliminate him, but ultimately lost the match to The Nexus as a whole when Wade Barrett followed up by pinning The Viper. It's a technicality, but Michael Tarver of all people holds a winning* record over Randy Orton.
4 4. Shinsuke Nakamura: 2-0
The next utterly surprising person I found on this list. Considering how they've been in close proximity on Smackdown Live for years, it's astounding that Nakamura has never actively lost to Orton. The pair have teamed together and won and lost literally dozens of times, but in head to head it's all one-way traffic.
In their only singles contest, a number one contenders match in September 2017, Shinsuke Nakamura beat Randy Orton clean. The only other time one came out on top over the other? Or literally 'over the top'? Shinsuke Nakamura's 2018 Royal Rumble win.
3 3. Samoa Joe: 1-0
Good ol' Samoey Joey is another surprise here. Funnily, Joe and Orton have competed in one each of a selection of different matches. They both entered a Rumble together, both lost. They teamed together in a 6-Person tag and lost. They were in an Elimination Chamber together, neither captured the gold.
Even in a Fatal 5-Way, neither man could best the other. The only time either of them could claim victory over the other has a giant asterisk on it, but 'stats is stats'. At Survivor Series 2017, both men were eliminated before the final bell rang, but Samoa Joe's Raw team bested Orton's Smackdown one. Look at the Samoan Scoreboard, Randy!
2 2. Eddie Guerrero: 3-0
Unfortunately taking place a mere month before Eddie's untimely passing, Randy Orton competed against the legendary luchador in a series of tag and singles matches. Every time Eddie faced off with Randy Orton though, it wasn't so much Eddie stealing victory as it was Randy getting himself disqualified.
Except in a 6-man tag where Roddy Piper made Randy's father submit, Randy chose to end most matches with a steel chair. Still, he was never on the winning side of a match with Latino Heat, so Eddie forever has that one over Orton while enjoying his Sky-Rider. See, it's a Low-Rider, but up in Heaven.., you get it.
1 1. Hulk Hogan
Well, this one might not fall into the 'surprise' bucket. The Immortal Hulk Hogan took his vitamins and said his prayers to defeat Randy Orton not once, but twice. First, in Randy's rookie year of '02, Hogan outlasted him to win a Smackdown Battle Royal alongside Triple H.
Then years later, Hogan had a match with The Legend Killer at SummerSlam and remained decidedly un-killed. Randy actually thought he'd won the match until the referee waved off a 3-count due to Hogan's foot on the ropes. Then it was Hulk-Up, Yooooooooou!, big right hands, the Big Boot, the Legdrop, and Randy was looking at the lights for 3. Randy probably beat up Curtis Axel later during 'Axelmania' though, so swings and roundabouts.