How’s it going everybody? Welcome to another edition of SLTD Wrestling’s Fantasy Fight Friday, where we look at a wrestling dream match and decide which superstar reigns supreme. I’m Thomas Robinson (of @ArmbarExpress) and I will be settling the score between a true dream match between two mega stars in WWE history that have both slithered their way to the top.
This fight will determine just who is the King Cobra around here as the Rattlesnake and the Viper clash in this edition of Fantasy Fight Friday. This fight sees Stone Cold Steve Austin fight Randy Orton.
With Randy Orton facing Kofi Kingston for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam, it seems appropriate that Orton is involved in this big SummerSlam special fight. In fact, Randy Orton has been involved in a number of high-profile moments related to the biggest party of the summer. He’s won three world titles at SummerSlam pay-per-views, with his first being as the youngest world champion of all time by defeating Chris Benoit in 2004.
He also defeated Christian to win the World title in a classic encounter in 2011 and cashed in Money In The Bank on WWE Champion Daniel Bryan in 2013, aligning with Triple H and marking the beginning of the Authority. Along with appearing in Elimination Chamber matches, as well as matches against legends like Hulk Hogan, John Cena and the Undertaker, it’s pretty fair to say that a Randy Orton match at SummerSlam is usually a big one.
Stone Cold Steve Austin seems like the perfect opponent for the ‘Legend Killer’, being one legend that Randy Orton never wrestled. Austin’s in-ring career ended as soon as Orton’s rise to fame with Evolution began. This fight will allow these two to clash, with the key to this fight being which finisher is the deadliest. The Stone Cold Stunner or the RKO?
Before we decide on a winner, let’s see just what these two venomous snakes have been capable of over the years.
Randy Orton: A Brief History
Long before NXT became WWE’s highly-acclaimed developmental territory, the future stars of WWE would be made at Ohio Valley Wrestling. In 2002, four top developmental wrestlers would all debut on the WWE main roster in the same year.
Batista, Brock Lesnar and John Cena all worked hard over the years to get to the main roster but Randy Orton seemed to be someone that was incredibly talented for his age, with the family name of a WWE legend getting him recognition. Orton seemed to be on the verge of amazing things, even battling Undisputed WWE Champion Brock Lesnar on SmackDown! in his rookie year.
As Orton seemed to be making a name for himself, he was struck with an injury. Determined to live up to the standards that his father Cowboy Bob Orton set, Orton returned with a new attitude. He declared his intention of making a name of himself as the Legend Killer, taking down legends dumb enough to get in his way. In a short amount of time, he racked up quite a legendary hit-list.
Aligning with Evolution, he was able to defeat Mick Foley and Shawn Michaels in big singles matches and won the Intercontinental Championship from Rob Van Dam. In August 2004, he captured the World Heavyweight Championship and was the youngest man in the history of the WWE to win a world title. The day after his glorious night at SummerSlam 2004, Evolution turned on their new champion.
After losing the championship only a month after winning it, Orton found it to be very hard to become world champion once again. It wasn’t until 2007 when he became champion once more, winning the WWE Championship twice in one night at No Mercy 2007.
This dawned the Age of Orton, with Orton tearing through the RAW roster and even retaining the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 24. After losing the title in 2008 and suffering another injury, Orton returned with a more sinister approach to wrestling. As the Viper, he slithered his way to the top time and time again. He’s been a twelve-time world champion, won the Royal Rumble match, won the Money In The Bank briefcase and even unified the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships at TLC 2013.
He’s been in nearly every type of match you could think off, including several Hell in a Cell matches, TLC matches and a sixty minute iron man match. He even wrestled Dusty Rhodes in a Texas Bull Rope match! On top of all the legends that Orton has taken care off in the fifteen years that Randy Orton has been on WWE television, I think it’s fair to say that the Apex Predator has more than lived up to the legacy of his family!
Stone Cold Steve Austin: A Brief History
While Randy Orton shot up to stardom right away, Stunning Steve Austin never exactly had similar successes right off the bat. His WCW days did see him capture gold, in the WCW Tag Team and United States Heavyweight titles, but the powers-that-be didn’t see a marketable superstar in the Victoria-based Texan. After suffering from a triceps injury, Eric Bischoff fired Austin over the phone.
This led to Steve Austin taking on a more rebellious and aggressive attitude, trashing WCW while wrestling for a promotion called Extreme Championship Wrestling. Austin gunned for the ECW title but was soon snapped up by the WWF. He soon became the Ringmaster and was managed by Ted DiBiase. Over time however, signs of Austin’s new “attitude” from ECW started to show.
As luck would have it for Austin, the plans for the winner of the 1996 King Of The Ring were changing. Hunter Hearst Helmsley’s scheduled victory was benched following the infamous “curtain call” incident involving the “Kliq” at Madison Square Garden. Austin was then booked to win the King Of The Ring, which may have possibly been the decision that saved the WWF in the Monday Night Wars.
Austin’s King Of The Ring victory was followed by the “Austin 3:16” promo, still raved about today more than twenty years later. Austin’s stardom sky-rocketed. Shortly after this, he was already penciled in for a feud with Bret Hart at Survivor Series. Their rematch at WrestleMania transformed Austin into a babyface, refusing to submit to minutes of punishment from the Hitman’s Sharpshooter submission.
Austin represented “anti-establishment” and it led to one of the greatest and most profitable rivalries ever in professional wrestling history, as he feuded with the evil boss Mr McMahon. Not bad for a wrestler that Eric Bischoff deemed an un-marketable wrestler. Austin was at the heart of the “Attitude Era” of wrestling, being a huge part of WWF programming. He won the WWF Championship six times, headlined WrestleMania three times and won the Royal Rumble three times. He’s also a wrestler that almost seemed unbeatable in the WWF.
With the exceptions of wrestlers like Kurt Angle and The Rock, the list of wrestlers that took the Rattlesnake down cleanly is very short. No man was safe when the Bionic Redneck was around and, of course… that’s the bottom line, because Stone Cold said so!
Both of these snakes have developed quite the CVs for themselves in the WWE but which of these men would win? Here’s my thoughts…
The Match
Austin would probably trump Orton in terms of striking, being arguably one of the greatest brawlers in professional wrestling history. However, Orton’s athleticism and technical ability would probably help the Viper in the long run. Austin was very good as a technical wrestler, but Orton was natural gifted at it and even out-wrestled and cleanly beat Chris Benoit to win a world title.
The longer the match goes on, the better it suits Orton. Due to how shows in the Attitude Era were put together, Austin was never really expected to wrestle thirty minute clinics every week. On the other hand, Orton has been well-conditioned and been able to wrestle long pay-per-view main events ever since he was 24.
I’d hate to keep going back to the same SummerSlam 2004 match as a reference point for Orton, but it just goes to show how quickly Orton settled in the main-event limelight and he has stayed there for so many years. With that said, Austin’s win/loss record easily surpasses Orton’s which is expected. Austin, as mentioned previously, was rarely beaten cleanly and decisively in the WWF. It would usually take heel shenanigans to put Austin down.
Ultimately, I think the winner comes down to the finishing moves of both men.
So, which move is the deadliest? The RKO or the Stone Cold Stunner?
Randy can hit the RKO out of nowhere, as many examples and memes can demonstrate! However, Austin’s Stone Cold Stunner has been one of the most protected finishers of all time. Unless I’m missing anybody, only The Rock, Kurt Angle and the Undertaker have kicked out of the finisher. Due to the changing of the times in wrestling as well as how main event matches are structured in WWE, finishers have nowhere near been as protected as they used to be.
To “build up suspense” during the end of the match, finishers are kicked out more frequently in modern day professional wrestling. Randy’s RKO is no exception. Undertaker, Mark Henry, John Cena, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Kane and the Big Show are just some of the names that have kicked out of RKO.
If Austin hits a Stunner, it’s more likely to finish the match than the RKO. I could see an RKO attempt easily reversed into a Stunner by Stone Cold, giving the Texas Rattlesnake the victory in this battle.
Who do you think would win this dream match between Steve Austin and Randy Orton? Leave your vote here and we encourage you to join the discussion by commentating below or tweeting us @SLTDWrestling with your pick of who would win!
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