1. Bob Orton
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCZV2qTTIAc Remember the first time you saw Randy Orton? You may have, as I did, marvelled at his timing, poise, technical skill and incredible ability and wondered how on earth someone so young could be so damn good. The answer is simple, he was the son of Bob Orton Jnr. 'Ace' Bob Orton had an early run with WWE culminating in a program with Bob Backlund for the WWE title that, whilst technically excellent, did not draw as well at the box office as intended. Orton left for a period before returning in 1984 and staying until late 1987, a run that included a large role in Wrestlemania 1 and a strong supporting heel role to the runaway train that was Roddy Piper. Orton became synonymous with the cast he would wear over his broken forearm which seemed to never heal and inspired the ire of fans as he would use this cast as a weapon at every opportunity. He was a riotously entertaining heel but not so great on the mic and with a very ordinary physique in comparison to the monsters of the early eighties. What he did have though was technical skill that was simply off the charts. H e was the first person Gorilla Monsoon labelled the 'Excellence of Execution' and he earned that moniker each and every night. If you have never had the opportunity to watch Bob Ortons work then you really have missed out as he was as technically flawless as anyone you could name in the business at that time. He invented the Superplex, one of the most spectacular moves of its day and the precursor to all the top rope assisted suplex variations you see today and remains, alongside Barry Windham, the only true master of this move. Bret Hart almost certainly lifted his 'snapped' backbreaker and russian legsweep from Orton and you can see the measured fists and stomps that Bob Orton specialised in embodied in his son Randy who is routinely praised for his skill at delivering punches and stomps perfectly. The Ace should have been intercontinental champion at very least and it is hard to rationalise how this never happened except for perhaps he wasn't colorful enough for the eighties WWE. One cannot help but wonder, if Bob Orton had Randy's natural good looks and had developed a body like that of his son might we perhaps be including Bob on the list of greatest ever WWE champions rather than list of champions who never were? We will never know but it is wonderful to be given the opportunity to write about a group of individuals who deserved more than what they got and hopefully expose their work to a wider audience.