As the WWE continues to invade pop culture after a star-laden WrestleMania last month, headlined by Travis Scott’s interference in John Cena’s record-setting 17th world title triumph, one name that has RKO’d its way into the main event of these conversations is that of Randy Orton.
Known for his brazen, bullish personality, Orton has captivated fans beyond the squared circle, courtesy of his now-viral finisher. In recent years, artists like Key Glock and Eladio Carrión have made songs honoring The Viper and his precocious move-set. Carrion went far enough to include Orton in his “RKO” video, where the WWE legend demonstrated the move first-hand, delivering it unsuspectedly to a photographer.
“In the video, I get dressed for a wrestling match, and I’m on the pitcher’s mound with Eladio, acting like an overzealous fan,” remembers Orton. “It was great because they told me that it was freezing outside. They could tell I would be miserably cold and said, ‘You don’t have to put on your wrestling gear.’ You can just be in regular clothes.’ Then, I was like, ‘Man, but it’d be way better if I were in wrestling gear. So I did that, and I was really happy with the finished product and how they edited everything together. Eladio was great. Being part of that culture and getting the love is a great feeling.”
After 20 years in the WWE, Orton remains an indomitable force, striking fear into the hearts of his opponents. With a Hall of Fame-caliber resume, the apex predator appears coiled and ready to strike at his next challenger, John Cena, this Saturday (May 10), at Backlash in Orton’s hometown of St. Louis. Billed as a “One Last Time” match, with Cena’s retirement looming, the two wrestling gods hope to deliver a slobberknocker and add a final chapter to a storybook of a rivalry.
“It’s different, because I’m the good guy, and that’s never been the case before — so I don’t know what to expect,” Orton tells Billboard ahead of his match. “I wouldn’t say I’m nervous, but I’m very excited to see, because usually I know the type of reaction I’m going to get, or at least I know the type of reaction I want. Usually, it’s close to that. But with this, I don’t know. They might love John. They might s–t on me and be booing me.”
He adds: “I know it’s my hometown and I’m from St. Louis and I grew up here — but as far as being the hometown guy, I’m not at all the Cardinals games, or wearing the Blues jersey, and doing all that s–t. I’m a homebody. I’m not out. I have my kids and wife, and we stay to ourselves when I’m in town. It’s not that I don’t rep the city, but I’m not out there repping the city. So it’s not like everyone is going to love me necessarily. I’m very curious to see how Saturday goes.”
Billboard spoke to Randy Orton about his potential final match with Cena, being beloved in the hip-hop community, his Mount Rushmore of female rappers, and how he managed to transcend sports entertainment with the most three dangerous letters: RKO.
You’re coming off a fun WrestleMania where you took on Joe Hendry. Being a month removed from your 20th Mania, how special was that match knowing how things fell apart with your original opponent Kevin Owens?
There was a lot up in the air just a couple of things prior to Mania. Owens had the neck thing and it was starting to bug him. So once they took a closer look at that, the doctors said he was a no-go. This one was important to me because it was my 20th, and I’m closer to the end of my career than the beginning.
Getting these Manias in, and leaving as much of a legacy behind [as possible], is important. It kind of came down to, “OK. We need to get Orton an opponent. Who’s it gonna be?” And there was a very short list of guys on our own roster, but we had some new guys coming in — and it was one of those things where I needed to win, but considering we knew where I was going to be going thinking about Backlash, we needed me to look good coming out of Mania. It couldn’t be one of our new guys, because when we debut a new talent into the show [we couldn’t] have him start with a loss.
So we put our heads together and it was actually my idea [for it to be] Joe Hendry. I kept pushing for it, and a couple people we’re unsure, but I was able to talk everybody into it. I’m really glad that they went with him. It was perfect. It was different from anything else on the card. It was a legitimate surprise, and we were able to keep it a surprise for the most part. We got that really cool, “Holy s–t” moment when his music hit, and it was great. He was great. It was actually a stress-free fun Mania for me, because I didn’t have this crazy 30 minutes balls-to-the-walls match with all this high-risk s–t. I had this cool little segment with Joe, and we didn’t have to do much to have fun out there. So I was really able to enjoy the week and just soak it all up.
Your and Cena’s final match is headlined “One Last Time.” How special is this final encounter versus previous chapters, especially knowing that the roles are reversed with you playing a good guy to John’s heel character?
Well, I mean, you said it right there. We’ve had dozens and dozens of big matches, but it was all 10-15 years ago when he was always the good guy. They were s–tting on him for a while as a good guy. You sound like you’re a fan, so you remember when the whole arena was filled up and it was “Let’s go Cena, Cena sucks.” It was deafening, and I’m in there too. It didn’t matter — he just brought that noise whether they loved him or hated him.
Now, it has the potential to be completely opposite of how it used to be, and the pressure is on me as the good guy. But I think being in the hometown [of St. Louis], him being the bad guy, it’s just really weird. There’s no way to call it — and I think the match itself will be good, but I think the energy in that arena is going to cause it to be possibly very good. It’s completely up to the energy of that St. Louis crowd. So I’m hoping they’re all ready to go.
There’s a certain reverence behind your 2009 character that continues to live on today, especially on social media. I think I saw a post saying ’09 Randy would be the one to take out that Silverback Gorilla.
That’s funny to me — because back in ’09, no one would have thought that, right? It’s like over the course of 15, 16 years, it’s become that. It’s wild to me. I love all of that.
Why do you think that persona lives on and carries so much weight today?
I remember in ’09, it all kinda clicked as a bad guy. I just kind of let loose and acted a little bit more crazy. Even down to the body language and stuff. But I think what it came down to was who I was facing in the ring in ’09. I was booked really strong. I think I won the Rumble that year and main-evented WrestleMania with Triple H.
I did the thing where he was handcuffed and I assaulted Stephanie [McMahon] in front of him and he was an inch away. He had to sit there and watch as I messed with her. I kicked Vince in the head. I destroyed the entire McMahon family, and looked real strong doing it. I think when a company gets behind a character like that — I mean look at Roman Reigns. I think it’s been 11, 12 years since they decided he was the guy, and when the company gets behind somebody, they can make that guy a star. If that’s what they want, that’s what they’ll get. So for a chunk of ’09, that was the case with me. I think it was [a matter of] being given an opportunity in ’09 and I had a home run with it.
How surprised are you that the “RKO” has transcended wrestling and entered pop culture the way it has?
Yeah, I just look at it like I’m lucky. Right place, right time. I had a great fans. I met Logan Paul for the first time, and it’s funny because he was a wrestling fan, but I don’t think he was following it quite as much — but he was aware of what the “RKO” was. That’s what he told me when I first met him, and I thought that was pretty funny. But to your point, it’s kind of like transcended wrestling and me and became a thing of its own.
I think that was the [era of the] Vine app, and the kids started editing videos of me RKO’ing everybody. Whether it was maybe a toddler that fell over or someone at the alter getting married, anyone taking a bump out there, they’d put a little Randy Orton RKO out of nowhere, and it became a thing. I benefitted from it only because it made people more aware of who I was as a WWE wrestler. Whoever started that trend, man, I would love to buy them a steak dinner. [Laughs.]
Because you come from a long lineage of storied professional wrestlers, how have you embraced the celebrity aspect of wrestling when entertainers like Travis, Logan or Bad Bunny step into the ring?
You can tell right away if they’re a real fan or not, because they’ll know a little bit about what’s going on. They’ll have an idea. So, very quickly, you’ll know whether they’re full of s–t and they’re just there for the press and they’re pushing their movie or they were told to be there by their agent just for the face-time. Logan definitely wants to be there, obviously. He’s just very good. He’s an amazing athlete. He’s charismatic. He works very hard. He’s one in a million.
Bad Bunny, too. These guys that I’m naming, they’ll go down to the Performance Center, they’d practice, take the bumps, and wake up sore the next day and go back. They knew it was going to be tough and was a lot harder, but they stuck with it.
Then, Bad Bunny is in the Royal Rumble one year, and then he has a match here and a match there. That s–t is hard, man — but for someone like that to be that mainstream and that well-known to come and be a part of what we’re doing, and to enjoy it, what a huge crossover that is for us. The Bad Bunnys and the Logan Pauls of the world, I praise them and am thankful they grew up as wrestling fans.
How gratifying is it seeing artists like Key Glock and Eladio Carrion pay homage to your and your legacy by naming songs after you?
It’s wild — and I felt the love more, and more, and more the longer that I’ve done it. Polo G mentions hearing voices in his head like Randy Orton. My son told me about that one a couple of years ago. I think it’s “Caroline.”
But Key Glock, I was introduced to who he was because he came out with the song. I think I reached out and I got a reply and that was it. Because he’s aware of who Randy Orton the wrestler is, that influenced him in some way to make a song and name it “Randy Orton.” To me, it doesn’t get much cooler than that. And Eladio, of course. He came out with a song called “RKO.” It was in the hook and then he had me come out at some baseball stadium up north. It was [Citi Field] and they rented out the whole stadium. I’m RKO’ing some cat. It’s like 45 degrees and I remember the day they shot the video. It’s funny, if you haven’t seen it, for anyone who’s reading this, you gotta give it a look.
You’ve mentioned during your Celtic workout with Sheamus that you’re a huge fan of female rappers like GloRilla, Megan Thee Stallion to even KenTheMan. What are the ladies bringing to the table that’s impressed Randy Orton most?
I think it’s a little bit of a lot of things, man. These women can f–king rap. It’s a little risqué, and I’m bumping it loud. I have a nice system in my home gym and when I’m working out, I’m playing Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B, GloRilla, KenTheMan, every one I name [from the Sheamus workout video]. Baby Tate, Nicki Minaj, Bia.
There’s a rapper from Italy and she was at the show. I didn’t meet her or anything. They just went to her and did a live shot. I forget where we were in Italy, but her name was Anna Pepe. I looked her up and she’s great. I put her on the playlist. There’s a Spanish girl. Snow Tha Product. There’s always a bad-ass bassline in the back. It’s just fun to workout to, but I like a little bit of everything, too. I grew up on classic rock. My dad used to have that playing. Zeppelin, Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Styx, Rush, but then in high school, Nirvana, Metallica, all that s–t.
My first rap cassette tape that I got, I was like 11, 12, 13, early ’90s, was LL Cool J, “I’m Bad.” [Starts rapping] ‘No rapper can rap quite like I can/ I’ll take a muscle-bound man and put his face in the sand,” I remember going to bed listening to that s–t and just fell in love with it. 2 Chainz, Lil Wayne, Kendrick, Mac Miller, Eminem and there’s so many different artists on the playlist that sometimes I’ll throw Pandora on and I won’t even know who I’m hearing, but I’m digging it. I love a little bit of everything, man.
Who’s in your Mount Rushmore for female rappers?
I think Cardi and Nicki have to be up there. F–k. Megan and GloRilla.
That’s a hard four.
That’s a nice team right there.
Just make sure Sexyy doesn’t hear that.
Ah, man. You know what? I get in trouble with my wife if I play her songs in the gym. [Laughs.]
You can’t play that loud. You gotta have it in the headphones.
I got to meet Sexyy at an NXT show in October and my wife and kids were there. She was great, and of course she’s from St. Louis. I don’t know who I’d take off, but maybe we’ll do a top five an throw Sexyy in there, too.
You have arguably one of the best entrance music themes of all-time. Do you remember when you first realized that the song was actually bigger than you could have ever imagined it would be?
I didn’t know, man. I mean, how do ya? Because it’s a little slower and I know the guys who sing it hate hearing me say this, but it wasn’t ever my absolute favorite. Matter of fact, I was going to change my music coming back from my back surgery in late 2023. We ended up making the decision to keep it, and we were going to change it when I got into something big or turned heel. Then, we go to Leon, France and I think it was a year ago that we were there — and I mean, everything changed. The whole place was singing my song word-for-word, and from that point forward, every venue, every show, no matter where we’re at, more or less, the crowd is singing or at least trying to sing to my song. I ain’t changing it now. It took 16, 17 years, however long I had that song, but they’re finally singing it. Hell yeah.
Seth [Rollins] comes out and the place goes wild and I’m thinking, “Man. I wish I had a song like that where the crowd went nuts.” Now, I’m closer to having that. Some times are louder than others, but overseas, come on — it gets insane with how loud those guys get singing that song. Back to your question, no, I didn’t think it was going to be as big of a song and work out well for me. As a matter of fact, I thought we could do better. But now, at this point, I’m feeling it more than I’ve ever before, because that crowd is finally singing along and feeling it too.
There have been talks about Seth Rollins’ new faction and how it could potentially mirror Evolution — with him being Triple H, Paul Heyman being Rich Flair and Bron Breakker being Batista. If you could fantasy book a young wrestler to be the Randy Orton of the group, who would it be and why?
Gosh. That’s a tough-ass question. So, you got a kid in NXT named Miles [Borne]. A lot of people compare me to him, and I guess he’s got some mannerisms. Maybe there’s a little bit of how we look similar, so his name pops up right away. I’ve seen him work, and he’s a badass in the ring. He’d be up there.
But I’ve always been an Austin Theory fan. I feel like he just needed to mature a little bit — just like we all do ’cause he started young — but starting that young and having that much going for you, you’re ahead of the game. Now that he’s becoming a man — so to speak before our eyes — I could see him finding who he is in that ring and settling down and being the fourth member for a group like that. And I did hear they’re comparing that new faction to Evolution, and all I can say is that I’m honored. That’s awesome. I love that they’re still talking about stuff that I’ve done 20 years ago today. I take pride in that.
Last question. When I had my first conversation with Cody Rhodes two years ago, if you two were to wrestle today, he were consider it a “first-time-ever match.” Flipping the question onto you, what would a match between you and Cody present-day look like, knowing the history between you both?
I think at the very, very least, you’re looking at two guys who are equals in the ring. When he was younger and we had a few matches — I might have been his first match when he got called up, if I remember correctly. I think things would go a lot differently in this day in age then they did back then.
I’m very proud of Cody. We were really close when he came in. He used to drive the car and I’d trust him behind the wheel, ’cause I’m not the best night time driver. I was doing my thing, and Cody got me town-to-town safely, and what a good kid. All we did was talk wrestling, and I know he’s got the heart for it.
That’s another thing — and I’m not s–tting on NXT in any way shape or form — but you have a lot of athletes coming from these D-1, D-2 schools, and they have this new program. I think it’s an amazing program, but they’re not necessarily wrestling fans. They don’t necessarily know who Stone Cold Steve Austin is, or The Undertaker.
I think knowing that Cody is one of the last guys that has done it all, been all over, seen the independents, and has a love for this business, not because of who his family is, but because he truly loves it — I think there’s a lot of guys who have come and gone that were fans and might say they love it, but I think Cody, this is his life. I think he’s going to do, and he has done, whatever he needed to do to get into this position he’s in now ,and it’s very fulfilling for me to see him reach that level.
So yeah, me and Cody in the ring, it would be a match with two equals going at it. I think the storytelling capabilities that we have — even though the stuff with Roman, with Brock and with John was great — it would blow all of that s–t out of the water. When the time comes for me and Cody to tell that story, I think it’ll blow anything out of the water.
