"He was a skinny, fat kid. He was lazy" β Randy Orton's former opponent on the WWE star's progression
Randy Orton did not have much interest in working for WWE when he joined the company in 2000, according to Doug Basham.
Both men were part of the Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) developmental system in the early 2000s. The Bashams (Doug and Danny) defeated Orton and Rico Constantino at an OVW event on June 28, 2002, shortly after The Viper's main roster debut.
On a recent episode of Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw, Basham explained why he did not expect Orton to achieve much in wrestling:
"The guy that surprised me the most was Randy Orton. When he came in, he was a skinny, fat kid. He was lazy. 'I'm just here because I don't know what else to do.' He was just a young kid. He was okay at wrestling, and then all of a sudden he just flipped a switch. One of the best workers in the business now, I think. The kid really surprised me." [From 33:40 to 34:09]
Orton's WWE career took off in 2003 when he joined forces with Batista, Ric Flair, and Triple H in the Evolution faction. He went on to capture 14 world titles β a tally only bettered by Flair and John Cena's joint record of 16.
Doug Basham explains how John Cena differed from Randy Orton
Several WWE stars honed their skills in OVW before joining the main roster, including Batista, Brock Lesnar, and John Cena.
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When you talk about greatest debuts in WWE history, i think The OVW Class of 2002 takes the win.
Brock Lesnar, John Cena, Randy Orton & Batista. GREATNESS ππ» https://t.co/kYq9Im34we
Doug Basham added that Cena immediately stood out due to his friendly personality behind the scenes:
"John [Cena] was always a good guy. A lot of them, when they would come to Ohio Valley, they'd come in and they're kinda to themselves and they see how the locker room is and ease their personality and ease themself into the locker room, because that's just what you do. He would crack jokes, he was funny, he was quick-witted, and he was very entertaining." [From 34:27 to 34:53]
Basham held the OVW Heavyweight Championship four times. He also won the WWE Tag Team Championship twice with his kayfabe brother Danny before leaving the company in 2007.
What would you like to see next from John Cena and Randy Orton in WWE? Let us know in the comments section below.
Please credit Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.