Randy Orton has logged his share of This Day in Wrestling History moments, and this one came the night after we won the WWE World heavyweight Championship, and right after he successfully defended it.
It’s one of the cool things about stables as we get to see new members embraced while others are cast aside.
On August 16, 2004 on WWE Raw, Randy Orton faced Chris Benoit in a rematch for the WWE Championship. Orton won the match and was on top of the world, then things changed.
Kicked to the curb
After defeating Benoit, Batista hoisted Orton onto his shoulders to celebrate.
Triple H gave Orton his approval, then switched to a thumbs down. The result was the rest of Revolution attacked Orton and left him a bloody mess to close out the show.
The why was given the following week when Triple H told Orton that if he made things right and handed the WWE Championship to him, then Hunter would forget he existed.
Orton refused and we were off to the races in a fun feud as he became a face until just prior to WrestleMania 21.
This was a cool angle we’ve seen so many times over the years because it works, but what’s really fun about it is This Day in Wrestling History did a 180 degree turn 17 years later on Raw.
RK-Bro Reunites
Yep, on this past week’s WWE Raw (8/16/21), Randy Orton and Riddle reformed RK-Bro a week after Orton dropped Riddle with an RKO.
This came after weeks of Riddle trying to emulate and honor Orton, and then insisting they become a team. It wasn’t until Riddle came out to save him against Omos that Orton softened.
While everyone watching expected him to hit an RKO again, Orton embraced Riddle and announced RK-Bro was back together.
It was a cool contrast to how Orton was drummed out of Evolution years earlier, and we can’t help but think it was timed to happen on the anniversary of Triple H and Evolution turning on him.
What’s even more fun is the way this slipped by us at first, and it may have been a happy coincidence, though we’re sure Vince McMahon won’t hesitate to take responsibility for this.
Whether planned to happen when it did or not, it’s a cool compliment to Orton being kicked out of Evolution on This Day in Wrestling History.
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