7 Awesome Wrestling Moments That Put Randy Orton On The Map

Few could have predicted that wrestling buff Randy Orton's first truly great singles match was going to be more about thumb-tacks and barbed wire than it was head locks and arm-bars, but the brutal No Holds Barred encounter he shared with Mick Foley at Backlash 2004 - the phrase 'viewer discretion' is advised has rarely meant more - was arguably the making of the then Intercontinental Champion.

This near year-long feud was so much more than its climactic 'OMG' moments, though. Spat in the face and kicked down a flight of stairs, an emotional Foley - one of few wrestlers, incidentally, for whom dramatic acting came naturally - stepped out of injury-induced retirement for a chance to get even. Thanks to him, Orton mattered - and not just because he was Triple H's running mate.