5 Biggest Contenders To Ric Flair's World Title Record
3. Randy Orton
Continuing the evolutionary theme, Randy Orton currently lies just behind “The Game” on 12 reigns as World Champion and, with a return from injury just around the corner, a fresh and hungry “Viper” could very well have title aspirations top of his predatory menu.
When Randy Orton defeated Chris Benoit to become the youngest World Heavyweight Champion in WWE history at aged 24, few could have predicted the level of championship success he would go on to have. In the ten years that followed, Orton would win the title 11 times more and ultimately going on to unify both World Titles in late 2013, becoming the unified WWE World Heavyweight Champion in the process – the first “Undisputed Champion” in over a decade.
However, recurring shoulder problems dating back to 2002 have left Orton intermittently sidelined throughout his career, with his most recent departure keeping him off WWE television for the majority of 2016, including WrestleMania. Recurring switches between babyface and heel also haven’t helped his cause and Orton currently finds himself in a position of popularity that, while undoubtedly steady, could be far better and both injuries and character inconsistencies are primarily to blame.
Barring a re-ignition of Orton’s character, a white hot feud with a reigning champ or a dramatic change in gimmick, it seems unlikely that Orton would gain the momentum needed to secure four more runs as World Champion. Nevertheless, stranger things have happened and if No Mercy 2007 is anything to go by – where Orton himself won the WWE Championship twice – individual title records can gain numbers dramatically in no time at all, given the right circumstances.
WWE clearly still considers Orton a main event player and his SummerSlam positioning against global megastar, Brock Lesnar, proves just that. However, whether Orton is able to transfer this momentum into another title run will be an intriguing evolution in itself. While far from a certainty, fresh match-ups against championship calibre competition like AJ Styles could prove to be the impetus needed to put the third generation performer back in the title hunt.
Orton has made a name for himself over the years as both a “legend killer” and a man you who takes pride in striking “out of nowhere”. Could we see “The Viper” return to strike gold and kill Flair’s legendary record at the same time?
As Vince McMahon likes to say, anything can happen in WWE.