Give the bodacious loudmouth Mr. Kennedy credit: He sure knows how to make an entrance. And he sure as hell won't let anyone outtalk him – ask any poor soul who has been on the receiving end of a verbal drubbing by the Green Bay, Wis., native since he burst onto the WWE scene in 2005.
No one else in WWE, before or since, has made his own ring introductions. Hell, if no one else can do it right, you might as well do it yourself. But with Mr. Kennedy, there's always been the impression that he likes to hear himself talk … loudly.
Still, Kennedy is more than just talk – he knows how to dish it out in the ring. He can talk smack and give it back at the same time. Kennedy has billed himself as the "future of WWE."
Those are quite bold statements, but Kennedy's record speaks for itself. The laundry list of former World Champions and future Hall of Famers he has defeated reads like a Who's Who of the elite in WWE. Kane, Undertaker, Rey Mysterio, Batista and Shawn Michaels, among others, have all tasted defeat at the hands of Mr. Kennedy. Though he has held the United States Championship and is a former Mr. Money in the Bank winner, Kennedy will not be content until he is a World Champion. Only then will he shut up … then again, maybe not.
So what fuels Mr. Kennedy's desire? Maybe it is his huge ego; maybe it's greed. Maybe it's his memories of growing up in the frozen tundra of Green Bay, watching legends such as Hulk Hogan, Randy "Macho Man" Savage and later, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. His toughness was forged by a stint in the U.S. Army and battling before hundreds – not thousands, hundreds – of onlookers in dirty rings while on the independent wrestling circuit before hitting the big time in WWE. If nothing else, Mr. Kennedy is a survivor who is living his dream.
Mr. Kennedy was drafted to SmackDown in the WWE Draft, where he hopes to continue the hot streak he has been on in 2008. Source: WWE.com
Abilities
Move Theft
Steal Taunt
Durability
Ladder Match
Possum Pin
Signature Moves
Green Bay Plunge 1
Swanton Bomb 1
Finishers
Mic Check
Green Bay Plunge 2
Randy Orton doesn't have many interests. Other than listening to Metallica or Pantera and watching the occasional movie, wrestling is his life…or, as he would tell you, his destiny.
It's easy to understand why. His father is WWE Hall of Famer "Cowboy" Bob Orton, his uncle Barry "Barry O" Orton, and his grandfather "The Big O," the late Bob Orton, Sr. Most kids remember their first ball game or school play; Randy's childhood memories include sitting in the kitchen of his family's St. Louis home with "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, and repairing a broken banister leaned on by Andre the Giant. He wasn't even five years old when he watched his father knock out "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff in the main event at the inaugural WrestleMania, but he already knew he wanted to be a WWE Superstar.
Randy's parents tried dissuading him; his father even warned that life in the ring meant a life on the road, away from family. Yet Randy, seeing how his friends perceived his world-traveling dad in "a different light," recalls only thinking the prospect was "quite appealing, and something I wanted to do."
Still, he agreed to try other avenues first. After graduating Hazelwood Central High School in 1998 (where he was an accomplished amateur wrestler), Orton enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. His plan was to serve a four-year tour of duty, then focus on a wrestling career; his reality was a dishonorable discharge one year later, due to unauthorized absences on two occasions (one for 82 days) and for disobeying a superior officer's direct order. After spending 38 days in the brig of Camp Pendleton Base, he would resume his civilian life…and to pursuing his destiny.
Back home in St. Louis, Orton accompanied his father backstage at a local WWE live event in late 1999. He left the show with an opportunity to try out in Stamford, which soon resulted in a developmental deal to train at Ohio Valley Wrestling. Orton quickly rose through OVW's ranks, and in April 2002, he officially made his WWE debut as a member of SmackDown. The third-generation Superstar had at last fulfilled his dream, though a long-standing rivalry with Mick Foley (and a brutal Hardcore Match at Backlash in 2004 that Orton remembers as one of his greatest contests) provided him with a new purpose:
What better way to make himself a WWE legend…than to destroy the legends before him? Since then, many WWE legends have fallen to Randy Orton. And many more will follow. It's his destiny. Source: WWE.com
Abilities
Dirty Pin
K.O.
Steal Taunt
Object
Resiliency
Durability
Signature Moves
Backbreaker 14
Orton Stomp
Finishers
Hunting RKO
Punt Kick