Batista, Lesnar, Cena, Orton & Benjamin - OVW class: 1999-2000

Brock Lesnar

Brock Lesnar and Shelton Benjamin rose together in OVW, but Lesnar was called up first, attacking Al Snow, Maven and Spike Dudley on his debut, with Paul Heyman alongside him. In his first two televised matches, he defeated both the Hardy Boys, separately, by knockout. In June 2002, Lesnar won the King Of The Ring tournament, enabling him to have an Undisputed Championship shot at SummerSlam, where he defeated The Rock, when he became the youngest champion of all time (until broken later), and also the holding the record for shortest time taken since debut to win a major championship.

As the face of SmackDown, Lesnar feuded with The Undertaker, defeating him on every occasion, and later Edge, to retain his championship. At Survivor Series, Lesnar was betrayed by Heyman in a match against The Big Show, leading to him losing his title and turning face. Lesnar would go on to win the Royal Rumble in 2003, which enabled him to defeat Kurt Angle in the main event of WrestleMania XIX, after which he would defeat John Cena to retain. He would go on with various feud involving the WWE Championship for the rest of the year.

Brock ‘The Beast’ Lesnar

At the Royal Rumble in 2004, Lesnar, who was still champion, attacked Bill Goldberg to cost him the match, and begin the feud which would lead up to WrestleMania XX, during which Goldberg cost Lesnar his championship to Eddie Guerrero. With Stone Cold as guest referee for the match at WrestleMania, it was expected to click, but failed miserably, and soon after that, Lesnar departed from WWE, and went on to NJPW, and after that, a career in MMA.

On the Raw after WrestleMania XXVIII, Lesnar made his return to WWE by attacking John Cena, and then losing a match to him at Extreme Rules. He would go on to feud with Triple H after this, in which he won the rubber match at the following year’s Extreme Rules. At SummerSlam 2013, Lesnar began a dominant run by defeating CM Punk.

At WrestleMania XXX, WWE began booking Lesnar as the ultimate beast, after he ended The Undertaker’s 21-0 undefeated streak, and then at SummerSlam would capture the WWE World Heavyweight Championship from John Cena in the most dominant fashion. He would retain the title until WrestleMania 31, during which he was a part of one of the greatest Triple Threats ever against John Cena and Seth Rollins. During his match at WrestleMania against Roman Reigns, he would lose his championship to Seth Rollins who cashed in his Money In The Bank. Before WrestleMania, Lesnar signed a three-year deal with WWE, meaning there is still more to come.

Randy Orton

Randy Orton was quite late signing with WWE, and did so in 2001, after which he was sent to developmental. In OVW, Orton was a two-time Hardcore Champion.

Orton’s main roster stint initially was on SmackDown, with a small series of matches against Hardcore Holly, then after was drafted to Raw and picked up an injury. He returned to join Evolution, and this part of the story is almost identical to Batista’s. He won the Intercontinental Championship during this time, and later went on to defeat Chris Benoit at SummerSlam 2004 for the World Heavyweight Champion, breaking Brock Lesnar’s record of being the youngest champion ever. After this, Evolution turned on him, as Triple H was jealous of Orton’s success, and soon he went rogue, with a continuation of his ‘Legend Killer’ gimmick, with which he competed against and took out several WWE legends. After losing to The Undertaker at WrestleMania 21, and continued a long feud with the Dead man until Armageddon that year, where The Undertaker came out on top.

Orton was the last person eliminated from the 2006 Royal Rumble by Rey Mysterio, but would scheme his way into turning the World Heavyweight Championship match a Triple Threat, in which he was pinned by Mysterio. After his, he was suspended for ‘unprofessional conduct’, and upon his return, feuded with Hulk Hogan, a match in which he lost.

Orton is a 12-time world champion

Following this, he would form a tag team with Edge, known as Rated-RKO, and won the Tag Team Championships once. Soon after, Orton would go in pursuit of the WWE Championship, beginning his infamous rivalry with John Cena. After attacks on Cena’s father and being unsuccessful in all attempts, Orton did capture the title after being awarded it due to Cena vacating it because of injury. He would retain it against Triple H and Cena at WrestleMania XXIV, and lost it to Triple H at next month’s PPV. After headlining WrestleMania 25 with a loss to Triple H, Orton’s career went moderate, until 2011, when he was trading the World Heavyweight Championship back and forth in a brilliant feud against Christian, and losing the title to Mark Henry.

In 2012 and early 2013, Orton had no real direction, until he won the Money In The Bank briefcase that year, and broke millions of hearts by cashing in against Daniel Bryan at SummerSlam and turning heel to join The Authority. After a story with Daniel Bryan, Orton became the first ever WWE World Heavyweight Champion by unifying the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships at TLC 2013 against John Cena. He would lose the title at WrestleMania XXX to Daniel Bryan, but continue serving the Authority as part of Evolution and as Triple H’s right hand man.

Randy is the first WWE World Heavyweight champion

After breaking away from the Authority late last year, Orton is on a roll at the moment and will continue to do so for years to come. Orton has never looked in better shape than he is in now.