The Complete History of the WWE Championship - Part 13

Randy Orton became the youngest World Champion in WWE history when he won the World Heavyweight Championship from Chris Benoit in the headliner of SummerSlam on August 15, 2004.

Orton was 24 years old - a full year younger than Brock Lesnar was at SummerSlam 2002 when he raised the WWE Championship at the tender age of 25.

After Lesnar had departed WWE in March 2004, WWE were keen for Orton, their next superstar to break the record of youngest World champion in WWE history.

However, Orton's first World title run was botched. Originally planned to dethrone his mentor Triple H in a slow burn storyline, meant to culminate at WrestleMania 21, Orton had been rushed into the top spot six months early. That he dropped the belt, just one month after winning it, to "The Game" meant his headline aspirations were over.

It took Orton three years to truly recover from this setback and gain acceptance as a top act again. However, once more he was dealt a blow when the time came for him to become World Champion again.

This time it was the WWE Championship and Orton had been involved in a deeply personal feud with long reigning champion, John Cena. He was set to lift the belt from Cena at No Mercy 2007 but Cena went down with a pectoral muscle injury shortly before the show forcing him to vacate the title.

Orton was simply awarded the title which was a letdown for his credibility. It would have meant far more if Orton had been the one to terminate Cena's 13-month long title run.

In another knock to his credibility, he dropped the title 10 minutes after winning it before regaining the strap later in the show. This time, WWE finally did right by RKO and he held the crown for six months as he finally morphed into a permanent headline act.

At the time of writing, Orton was a 13 time World Champion, with only Triple H, John Cena, and Ric Flair ahead of him in terms of most World titles won.

It took longer than expected but RKO definitely achieved his potential.

Part 13 in this series charts the journey of the WWE Championship from January 2006 until that crazy night in October 2007, when the title changed hands three times in one night.

Previous entries in my series can be found here:

Part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11 and part 12.

John Cena (January 29, 2006 - June 11, 2006)

John Cena turned back the challenge of Triple H at WrestleMania 22 and Backlash 2006

John Cena had been separated from the WWE Championship at New Year's Revolution 2006 due to troublesome boos which had begun plaguing his career.

The cheers had returned somewhat in the three weeks since and WWE made the call to put the title back on Cena at the Royal Rumble.

Cena defeated Edge in a decent battle to regain the gold.

However, the boos returned in Cena's next feud with Triple H. "The Game" belittled Cena at every turn in the promotion to their main event WrestleMania collision, so it was not surprising in hindsight that Cena silenced his tormenter in a good match at the big show. However, at the time Triple H's loss was a colossal shock to fans.

Edge was inserted into the title picture once more by virtue of his violent victory over Mick Foley at 'Mania. However, Cena retained the belt once more in an impressive triple threat encounter over Edge and Triple H at Backlash.

However, the boos would rain down on Cena like never before in his title losing bout with Rob Van Dam at ECW One Night Stand on June 11, 2006.

Fans chucked Cena's T-shirt back at him several times and subjected him to obscenely abusive chants as he succumbed to RVD's Five Star Frogsplash.

Cena's second reign had ended after five months.

Rob Van Dam (June 11, 2006 - July 3, 2006)

RVD: Finally won a World title in his own back yard

The WWE Championship went "extreme" in the summer of 2006.

Rob Van Dam, who had been ECW's biggest star during the last couple of years of its existence, joined WWE in July 2001 to much fanfare and was one of the Invasion storyline's few success stories.

RVD flirted with the main event in 2001 and 2002 while he collected all of the mid-card title prizes such as the Intercontinental, European, Hardcore and Tag Team title belts.

However, the World title continued to remain out of reach for "Mr. Monday Night."

When RVD approached Vince McMahon backstage in 2005 and queried why he hadn't hosted an ECW Reunion event, the wheels were set in motion for Van Dam to be reheated as a superstar. Although RVD was injured for the first ECW One Night Stand show, held on June 12, 2005, he cut an electrifying promo in which he mocked WWE, Vince McMahon and the direction of his character under WWE's creative team.

When "The Whole F'N Show" returned to WWE at the 2006 Royal Rumble, the company was behind him once again.

Van Dam won the 2006 Money in the Bank contract at WrestleMania 22 and elected to challenge WWE Champion John Cena in his "home" of ECW. That came at the second One Night Stand show on June 11, 2006.

In a superheated battle, RVD defeated Cena to the delight of the anti-WWE crowd at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York.

It was an unforgettable spectacle and the pinnacle of RVD's career. He would successfully defend the belt versus Edge at Vengeance two weeks later and versus Cena on Raw before he dropped the bout to Edge in a triple threat bout, also including Cena on the July 3, 2006 edition of Raw.

That title change was necessitated by RVD being pulled over for speeding the previous evening and being charged for drug possession when the attending officer could smell marijuana smoke emanating from Van Dam's vehicle. The incident made national news and RVD was immediately booked to drop the WWE belt and the ECW World title the subsequent evening before he was suspended for 30 days.

He would never hold a World title in WWE again and left the company one year later before returning for short runs in 2013 and 2014.

Edge (July 3, 2006 - September 17, 2006)

Edge: Regained the WWE Championship from Rob Van Dam

Edge had been a revelation as WWE Champion in January 2006 and was kept in a high card spot after his title loss to John Cena at the 2006 Royal Rumble.

It was inevitable that Edge would win the top prize again, however his moment came earlier than expected when he defeated Rob Van Dam to win his second title 12 days earlier than planned on the July 3, Raw (Edge had originally been booked to win the strap on the July 15, Saturday Night's Main Event special).

Edge's win came in a brilliant triple threat bout which also included Cena. It was to be Cena whom Edge would successfully defend the title against at SummerSlam in another entertaining battle.

However, their best bout came at Unforgiven one month later in a TLC encounter. Edge, who had made a name for himself in tag team TLC matches with his partner Christian, opposite the teams of the Dudley Boyz and the Hardyz, was in his element.

However, Cena defeated the dastardly Edge at his own game and F-5'd him through three tables to regain the gold.

Edge would not regain the WWE version of the World title for another two years.

John Cena (September 17, 2006 - October 2, 2007)

John Cena defeated Edge in a TLC Match to win his third WWE Championship

John Cena reclaimed the WWE Championship in a terrific TLC battle at Unforgiven on September 17, 2006. It was his third title win and cemented him as the top guy in WWE.

His victory over Edge kicked off a 380 day reign as champion, which was the longest since Hulk Hogan's four year run as titleholder between 1984 and 1988.

Cena did not defend the WWE Championship on pay per view for the rest of the year. Instead, he competed in a losing effort for the World belt at Cyber Sunday and an Elimination Match at Survivor Series.

He defeated Umaga via fluke roll-up at New Year's Revolution in January 2007 after being pummelled by the "Samoan Bulldozer" for the vast majority of the bout. The pair's rematch at the 2007 Royal Rumble under Last Man Standing rules still stands out as Cena's finest ever match. In a super collision, the leader of the Cenation eventually choked out Umaga with a broken ring rope to keep the monster down for a 10 count.

Cena's reign continued unimpeded for most of 2007 as he vanquished the likes of Great Khali, Bobby Lashley, and Randy Orton before succumbing to a pectoral injury which forced him to vacate the title.

It was a shame that Cena's historic reign did not end inside the ring. However, the champion had earned a break after two and a half solid years, working full time as a headliner.

However, his absence would be much shorter than expected. Originally sidelined for an expected nine months, Cena returned just three months later as the shock number 30 entrant of the 2008 Royal Rumble, which he won to set up a bout with Randy Orton at No Way Out 2008.

Randy Orton (October 7, 2007 - October 7, 2007)

Randy Orton: Awarded, then lost, then won the WWE Championship at No Mercy 2007

John Cena's record-breaking 380 day WWE Championship reign was succeeded by one of the shortest title runs in history.

Cena and Randy Orton had been embroiled in an intense and deeply personal feud which had exacerbated when RKO had violently assaulted Cena's father.

However, when injury struck, their title collision scheduled for No Mercy 2007 was scrapped.

Ahead of the show, WWE had not announced what would happen with the WWE Championship. However, moments into the pay per view it soon became clear.

Vince McMahon awarded Orton the vacant title, beginning RKO's first WWE Championship reign (and second World title run overall).

However, Orton's reign would end exactly the same way as his first. In defeat, to Triple H.

"The Game" immediately challenged Orton and, after baiting McMahon, earned a title bout right then and there.

After a back and forth 10-minute battle, Triple H pinned Orton to end the "Viper's" first WWE Championship reign.

It was an unforgettable moment to be sure but was a tad unfortunate for Orton, who had failed to wrest the belt from Cena in his two previous pay per view title matches and had lost in his first defense versus "The Game" without even winning the belt first.

Fortunately for Orton, however, his night was not over.

Triple H (October 7, 2007 - October 7, 2007)

Triple H: Won and lost the WWE belt versus Randy Orton

Triple H won his first World title in more than two years when he defeated long time rival, Randy Orton in the impromptu opening match of the 2007 No Mercy pay per view.

"The Game" coerced WWE boss, Vince McMahon into granting him a title bout with Orton who had minutes earlier been awarded the gold after John Cena vacated the strap due to injury.

Triple H's night was not over, however. Incensed by his victory, McMahon advised that Triple H's originally scheduled bout with Umaga would go ahead later in the night.

In an exciting battle, Triple H successfully retained the gold versus the Samoan Bulldozer inside seven minutes.

Despite the brevity of the bout, "The Cerebral Assassin" was a wounded animal. Sensing another opportunity to relieve Triple H of the title, McMahon declared he would defend the belt yet again in a "Last Man Standing" match versus Orton in the main event of the show.

In the third title change of the night, Orton "RKO'd" Triple H on the announce desk to keep "The Game" down for a 10 count.

Triple H would have to wait another six months for his next WWE Championship reign.

Randy Orton (October 7, 2007 - April 27, 2008)

Randy Orton: Won his second WWE Championship on the same night he won his first

Randy Orton's No Mercy 2007 started and ended well.

He began the night as WWE Champion when he was awarded the strap by WWE Chairman, Vince McMahon. However, that reign barely lasted 10 minutes after he was immediately challenged and then defeated by his former mentor and long-time nemesis, Triple H.

Triple H and Orton would collide once more in a "Last Man Standing" bout that was the headline match on the card.

In doing so, they marked the only time in WWE history when the same match had opened and closed a wrestling pay per view.

The Last Man Standing contest was a phenomenal battle. "The Game" played the valiant babyface, exhausted in his third bout of the evening against his ferocious challenger, who was seething after his defeat earlier in the show.

The finish eventually came when Orton hit the RKO on Triple H after the "Cerebral Assassin" had attempted to Pedigree "The Viper" on the announce table at ringside.

Orton won his second WWE Championship in the same night he won his first. After the hot potato with the title on October 7, 2007, the belt achieved stability around Ortons' waist as he held the title for six months.

He defeated Shawn Michaels in two impressive collisions at Cyber Sunday and Survivor Series and retained versus Chris Jericho in Y2J's comeback bout after a two year absence from WWE.

Orton's run of superlative title bouts continued at the 2008 Royal Rumble when he pinned Jeff Hardy after an entertaining back and forth battle when he reversed a Twist of Fate into the RKO.

Orton turned back the challenge of John Cena at No Way Out after Cena cashed in his WrestleMania title bout a month early (Cena had won the 2008 Royal Rumble match) and also defeated Cena and Triple H in a triple threat bout at 'Mania XXIV the following month.

However, it would be Triple H who ended another Orton title reign at Backlash on April 27, 2008 in a Fatal 4 Way also featuring Cena and JBL.

Triple H had ended all three of RKO's World title runs.

Orton's time would come again however, many, many times.

Thanks for reading our series so far! If you'd like to check out the other entries in the series, head to the first page, where we have links to all the previous editions.

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