6 Backstage Wrestling Politicians Who Never Drew A Dime

6. Randy Orton

Randy Orton looked so much like a star, in Vince McMahon’s eyes, that he was going to be presented and coddled like one, even if the metrics didn’t indicate that he was much of a star at all. 

WWE’s monopoly distorted the idea of draws and stars forever. In effect, provided they didn’t pull alarmingly low numbers or destroy the baseline, a wrestler could be marketed as a star, and most fans would simply accept it. How could Randy Orton not be a star? He has headlined countless Premium Live Events and won 14 World titles. 

Randy Orton wasn’t much of a politician, granted. His bad reputation in wrestling mostly derives from his history of obnoxious, disrespectful behaviour and angry, abusive outbursts. He was a vandal, an unprofessional nightmare, an impulsive liability in front of fans.

He’s always held a degree of influence, though, and has seemingly wielded it on occasion. Allegedly instrumental in the immediate firing of Mr. Kennedy - Orton was the recipient of a scary, botched backdrop suplex on the May 25, 2009 Raw - Kofi Kingston might not have been demoted to the midcard had Orton not screamed that he was “stupid” over and over again in a match held a year later.

Orton, as one of the most decorated World champions in history, was pushed heavily by WWE for longer than most wrestlers ever. In 2026, he is more over than ever - without really being involved in the main event picture - but this wasn’t always the case. WWE’s version of events clashed with reality. As part of this relentless initiative, Orton was cast as the top babyface on SmackDown throughout 2011. He dropped the World Heavyweight title to Mark Henry at Night of Champions on September 18. The week prior to the switch, WWE recorded its worst weekend house show business of the year; attendance rebounded slightly with Henry on top. 

The September 23 SmackDown drew the highest rating (3.26 million) in months. This was no anomaly; Henry was a consistent TV draw; SmackDown frequently exceeded 2 million viewers during his reign, where that had only happened twice between WrestleMania and Night of Champions. 

As of early September 2024, a WWE NXT show for which Randy Orton was advertised, set to emanate from the Enterprise Center in his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, had sold just 2,104 tickets before it was hastily moved to the far smaller The Factory at the District in Chesterfield. As difficult a challenge as it was for Orton to draw a big crowd under the NXT branding, he failed. 

Randy Orton is what happens when you are able to control the narrative.