Randy Orton Reveals His Favourite Match To Date

Randy Orton has named a match from his ‘Legend Killer’ days as his favourite to date and discussed how much it meant to him.

Over his two-decade career, Randy Orton has clashed with a who’s who of legendary top WWE Superstars. In the early days of his career, ‘The Viper’ was already sharing the ring with the likes of Triple H, Ric Flair and The Undertaker.

In a new interview on ‘Out of Character with Ryan Satin’, Orton was asked which match in his catalogue of classics was his favourite and he didn’t hesitate to name the Hardcore bout with Mick Foley at Backlash in 2004.

During 2003, Orton’s career was on the rise as the self-proclaimed “Legend Killer,” a run that saw him disrespecting and attacking various WWE legends. It was during this time that he set his sights on Mick Foley.

The feud saw Orton repeatedly disrespecting Foley, including spitting in his face and even throwing the ‘Hardcore Legend’ down a flight of stairs. This led to Foley coming out of retirement to return to action at the Royal Rumble where he took both himself and Orton out of the match. This set up a blockbuster bout at WrestleMania XX with Foley and The Rock reforming The Rock ‘n’ Sock Connection one last time to take on Evolution’s Ric Flair, Batista and Orton.

On the night, Evolution emerged victorious, but the rivalry continued on to Backlash a few weeks later. At the event, Orton faced Foley, wrestling as Cactus Jack, in a Hardcore Match.

The match was a brutal affair, with Orton taking a bump on a pile of thumbtacks, while barbed wire and an arsenal of other weapons came into play.

Reflecting on the match, Randy Orton praised how far Mick Foley went for him and how much it means to him.

“Not just because I landed in thumbtacks. It’s what he was doing for me in that match. Like he came out of retirement, allowed me to end the year (2003) spitting in his face. The new year’s chiming in and all the wrestling fans are talking about is how I disrespected like that. He gave me so much. So that match because of what he did for me makes it mean even more.”

H/t to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.