Randy Orton's RKO Is the Greatest Finisher in WWE History

For 20 years, Randy Orton has headlined pay-per-views, won titles and built a Hall of Fame resume through grit, determination, cunning and the three most dangerous letters in sports entertainment: RKO.

Over the course of two decades, the 42-year-old has developed and perfected his finishing maneuver but most importantly, he has consistently evolved it to ensure it never became stale.

His take on the Ace Crusher, introduced on a grand scale by now-Head of Talent Relations for WWE John Laurinaitis and popularized in WCW as the Diamond Cutter by Hall of Famer Diamond Dallas Page, Orton has helped it transcend the world of sports entertainment and become recognizable in pop culture.

In the process, he has ensured its place in WWE history as the best finisher of all time.

Outta Nowhere

The success of the RKO lies in its simplicity. There is no long setup, and it's not convoluted. Here is a guy, at roughly 240 pounds, grabbing his opponent and forcefully pulling him to the mat head-first. It makes sense logically and visually, it is dazzling.

The reason the move is so effective, though, is because it can be executed from any position in the ring and at any point in a match. Hence the "outta nowhere" tagline that has been placed on it over the years.

Orton is a thinker and a complex storyteller who strives to make everything in his contests make sense. He also concocts new ways to execute his trusted finisher on opponents, preventing fans from becoming numb to its repetitiveness.

Whether he was catching Evan Bourne mid-shooting star press or countering a Chad Gable ankle lock and flattening him with it, Orton has consistently developed new and crowd-pleasing ways to utilize the same old finisher to tremendous success.

If you look at other great finishers of decades gone by, that has rarely been the case. There was no way to spice up Hulk Hogan's leg drop. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin could not add a different wrinkle to the Stunner to alter it. The Rock Bottom was a simple uranage slam, and the Pedigree could only be executed one way.

Orton recognized the potential he had with the move and improved upon what Page was able to do in WCW with his creativity. A simple execution, it lent itself to being adapted to fit certain situations. Without The Viper's situational awareness, though, it would still be a simple Ace Crusher.

It is Orton who has set the move apart from others and helped define it. In the hands of a less thoughtful performer, it is a setup move. 

How many times does a competitor in AEW, Impact, Major League Wrestling or any of the major indie promotions use a cutter as an afterthought in a match, sometimes with a springboard assist? It usually gets a two-count before the fight continues as if it was a basic clothesline.

In an era when finishers have to be bigger, flashier and highlight-friendly, Orton has managed to take a move that has been around for 30-plus years and develop it into the most captivating, crowd-popping finisher of all.

Not to mention a social media staple.

Transcending Wrestling

Go to YouTube right now and search "RKO." 

You will find approximately 370,000 results. Among them are supercuts of his best RKOs, sure, but you will also find fan-made videos depicting The Viper wiping out Darth Vader in Star Wars or Superman in Man of Steel. You will see him execute the move on a falling pre-teen, a tumbling skater, or even one of his son catching him with his own finisher into a swimming pool.

No one is immune to the Orton RKO video treatment.

The move has become ingrained in popular culture and social media, thanks to his ability to catch opponents from out of nowhere with it.

People who have never watched an Orton match are familiar with his finisher because they stumbled upon it on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram or TikTok. It is a truly transcendent finisher and for that reason alone, it enters the greatest finisher ever argument.

But it all circles back around to the man executing it and his belief in the move. 

Orton does not half-ass the RKO. He is not gingerly skipping across the ring and pulling his opponent to the mat. He takes the bump with him. He throws his weight into the air and comes down on the mat or announce table, sometimes even the bare arena floor, with conviction.

He never short-changes the audience and always finds a new and creative way to put opponents away with it. He does not have to do that. Some 20 years into his WWE career, he could settle for standing up, grabbing his opponent and executing it. He could play the hits and the crowd would still love him.

However, he respects the fans, his craft and that particular move too much.

Orton's care and desire to create new scenarios in which to deliver it and keep the fans coming back for more, as well as the simplicity and believability of it, is why the RKO will always be the greatest finisher in WWE history.