10 Worst First Days For WWE Champions

4. Randy Orton

Batista Injury
WWE.com

Pretty much the worst way to turn babyface is by having your heel friends turn on you, but that's what happened to Randy Orton just 24 hours after he was strapped up as the youngest Champion in WWE history.

His fairly unremarkable victory over Chris Benoit at SummerSlam a night earlier should have foreshadowed how long we'd all have to put up with "technically sound" and "methodically paced" Randy Orton matches over the years, but instead it was given a generous pass because at least somebody brand new was being given a shot. It just took a day or so to see that he was actually being taken out back like an old horse to receive it.

The turn and title reign went horribly for the 'Legend Killer' after that. Wholly detestable by his very nature, the babyface switch wouldn't have taken even the booking was good. And it decidedly wasn't - Orton ran away from Triple H and the lads for three weeks then lost the belt to him at the very next pay-per-view.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett