Championship Reigns: Randy Orton

[BigJerichool222]

Randy Orton is a TEN-TIME World Champion in WWE, and yet I think maybe 2-3 of those reigns/wins are memorable at best. LET US RUN DOWN HIS LEGENDARY TITLE REIGNS, SHALL WE?

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1. Randy beats Chris Benoit for the WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP, and loses it 4 weeks later to Triple H. He is pretty much stuck in upper-midcard for a few years afterwards.

2. Randy is HANDED the WWE CHAMPIONSHIP by Vince McMahon and proceeds to lose it to Triple H, and not even thanks to a finisher, about 20 minutes later.

3. Randy beats Triple H for the WWE CHAMPIONSHIP soon afterwards, after Hunter had a 2nd match that night with Umaga. This is the AGE OF ORTON, one of his only true memorable reigns, where he proceeds to get disqualified in about 90% of his title defenses.

4. Randy beats Triple H for the WWE CHAMPIONSHIP in a 6-Man Tag Team Match where he has Legacy to help him while Triple H has Batista...and Shane McMahon. Loses the title 2 months later to a legitimately injured Batista in about 10 minutes, who he then kayfabe injures to vacate the belt.

5. Randy beats Cena, Triple H, and Big Show for the WWE CHAMPIONSHIP in a fatal-4-way on Raw for the vacant title using the generic STEAL A COVER AFTER SOMEONE ELSE HITS A FINISHER. He loses the title in an I Quit match where he tortures Cena forever before IMMEDIATELY quitting the second Cena even looks at him.

6. Randy beats Cena for the WWE CHAMPIONSHIP in a Hell in a Cell match with a punt that barely connects. Loses the title 3 weeks later in an Iron Man Match that has him trying to MURDER CENA VIA PYROTECHNICS.

7. Randy wins a 6-Pack Challenge for the WWE CHAMPIONSHIP. Proceeds to do absolutely nothing and is a complete afterthought during the John Cena vs. Nexus feud. Loses the title to THE MIZ of all people thanks to MITB.

8. Randy beats Christian for the WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP because Teddy Long decided to throw Christian in a title match 5 days after his Ladder Match with Del Rio. Orton theoretically has the same odds of being World Champion that night as the Great Khali. He proceeds to lose his title in the dumbest way possible as he gets spat on and kicks Christian in the nuts.

9. Randy beats Christian for the WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP and proceeds to get his ass handed to him by Mark Henry for a few months during this transitional title reign.

10. Randy beats Daniel Bryan for the WWE CHAMPIONSHIP in a MITB Cash-In after Triple H pedigrees him. Daniel isn't even on his feet (much like his own cash-in on Big Show) during the opening bell. Randy pretty much takes a back seat to and is the in-ring representation of Triple H during the HHH/DB feud.

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I guess Daniel was right...not really the heart of Champion, just a bunch of MEH title reigns.

[Deleted]

I'll grant, the end of the I Quit match never bugged me that much. The way Cena had the STF on with the handcuffs there is absolutely no way Orton could have escaped from it.

[Deleted]

I was thinking about this last week. I only remember 5 of Orton's reigns, literally.

I'm glad you've laid them out because the majority of these I've forgotten. Mind you I've skipped a good amount from 06-11 but I've been updated heavily and I've backtracked. I don't know why but the only ones I remember are 1, 2, 8, 9 and 10.

[mizerable]

That's most multiple time champions, really. I never understood why certain wrestlers need to exceed a certain number of reigns, especially when a lot of those reigns are super short; Triple H, Hogan, Orton, Cena and so forth. I've always measured a champion based on how long he was champion for, as opposed to how many times he won, which is why while I didn't care for the character of either Shawn Michaels during his 1st reign, or CM Punk's character during his 2nd reign, both had impressive reigns with a lot of diverse opponents. Winning a title and losing it a few weeks later is not impressive.

[Savage Gambino]

No wonder Orton as champion doesn't pull in ratings. Every time he gets the strap, he's booked like shit.

Barring Reign #8, I think that second week of his first reign, when he spat in Triple H's face, was probably the strongest he's ever looked as champion.