ANNOUNCER BOB_ORTON BOOKER_T BRUCE_PRICHARD DVON_DUDLEY FREDDIE_PRINZE_JR JOHNNY_GARGANO JOHN_BRADSHAW_LAYFIELD KEVIN_OWENS NATALYA PAUL_HEYMAN PETER_ROSENBERG RANDY_ORTON RIVALS_THEME_OPENER SAM_ROBERTS UNDERTAKER ANNOUNCER The legend of the Undertaker continues to grow RANDY ORTON I felt as if I had his respect That was a huge feather in my cap because it's the Undertaker JOHNNY GARGANO If Randy Orton wants to take out legends, we know he's going to go after the top one If you kill that legend, you're untouchable UNDERTAKER Randy was young Randy was hungry You're always hoping that somebody comes along that is trying to get to your level PETER ROSENBERG Then you factor in Randy bringing back his dad, Cowboy Bob, to help him out PETER ROSENBERG Randy and Undertaker was a beautiful combination You're not just getting a straightahead fight You're getting theatrics You're getting things from beyond PAUL HEYMAN Isn't that part of the fun? Isn't that part of what made the Undertaker the Undertaker? It wouldn't be intriguing to see how Randy Orton reacts to it? RIVALS THEME OPENER When two legends collide, their rivalry stays pinned in our minds forever This is where we break down the legendary stories behind the greatest rivalries of all time I'm Freddie Prinze Jr and this is WWE Rivals FREDDIE PRINZE JR Today we're going to be talking about the Undertaker, who is a very popular subject on this show But this time he's taking up an up and comer, Randy Orton And we're going to go back in time to the year These are two men that are at very different points in their career Undertaker's top dog JOHN BRADSHAW LAYFIELD Taker was the man I mean the man I mean, you had one person who symbolized WWE You have some incredible people that came along during all this time You had Bret Hart, who was an incredible champion, Shawn Michaels, Stone Cold, the Rock, you had Cena starting to emerge Taker was the one constant the entire time He was a cornerstone that everything the WWE was built on JOHN BRADSHAW LAYFIELD Everybody who made it to the top had to have a dance with the Undertaker FREDDIE PRINZE JR The other man in this equation is Randy Orton FREDDIE PRINZE JR Randy looked the part He was everything you needed to be NATALYA Randy had to be able to back it up And people are expecting you to be as good as the people that came before you that paved that road for you Not to mention the fact that he's in there with the barometer, the measuring stick of all pro wrestlers UNDERTAKER You can see somebody sometimes and you can just say early on, early on, they got it UNDERTAKER My job was not only to sell tickets and payperviews and put asses in seats, but it's also to help that next generation to come along to keep the product fresh and keep it growing BRUCE PRICHARD You were always going to get the best that the Undertaker had to offer No matter what If you could hang with the Undertaker, then that lets you know this guy has got what it takes to hang with anybody else He's going to push you to be the very best you can be BOOKER T Randy Orton, being a thirdgeneration superstar, he got put in that position because he could be trusted We knew that he was a guy that could weather the storm RANDY ORTON It never really hit me that what my dad did for a living was pretty fing cool RANDY ORTON But then I realized my grandfather did the same thing It's probably one of the most special things I think about who I am as a WWE superstar RANDY ORTON I had been in OVW, the WWE developmental territory, for six months, eight months, something like that We used to run very small shows My very first big showdown there, I was wrestling a Rico Constantino, but also on the card was Dave Bautista, and he was wrestling the Undertaker And the first time I ever laid eyes on that man, he was standing in the back looking tall, big, jacked, scary He was observing who were going to be the guys that get called up soon that I might be able to work with UNDERTAKER It was evident even early on in his career that the sky would be the limit RANDY ORTON Debuted on WWE Television in RANDY ORTON Had a great Went on kept rolling, worked with Mick Foley, became the youngest world heavyweight champion in history at SummerSlam JOHN BRADSHAW LAYFIELD Randy is one of the few guys I mean, Bob O, his grandfather was one of the greatest heels in the history of this business Bob Orton Jr was one of the greatest workers in the history of this business JOHN BRADSHAW LAYFIELD Randy came along and had unrealistically high expectations and he exceeded them DVON DUDLEY And you can watch him in the ring and realize that he was just a natural He really was And he learned and he prospered And he went on to be great RANDY ORTON The Legend Killer idea came up And I loved that idea JOHNNY GARGANO The legend killer persona Randy would go around and basically kill legends (crowd cheering) And there is no bigger legend, really, when you think about it, than the Undertaker UNDERTAKER Randy being a thirdgeneration wrestler, you see him and you're like, okay, this is going to be good This kid has got it BRUCE PRICHARD Undertaker always looked at talent as, is there's somebody out there that is on the precipice that I can push over the edge and make them not just a star, but a superstar? So Undertaker looked at Randy and said, Yeah, that could be the next guy RANDY ORTON And I remember the office It was creative It might have been Bruce Prichard even But they came to me and they said, Listen, kid, the Undertaker wants to work with you And I said, me? BRUCE PRICHARD The idea was to be able to go back and try and find a lot of legends in our past to come back BRUCE PRICHARD So using Jake the Snake and people like that was something that could easily display and let people know, first of all, how Randy viewed the legends But it was giving himself confidence to be able to step into the ring with The Undertaker FREDDIE PRINZE JR Randy Orton is given a golden ticket He gets the Undertaker, but he has a unique perspective on why he wants to face him He sort of is the first one to recognize the streak, which we all know now so famously of Undertaker not losing at WrestleMania Orton brings this to the forefront of the conversation and very arrogantly claims that he's going to be the one to end this streak BRUCE PRICHARD Randy's a natural bad guy Randy's a cocky, arrogant kid RANDY ORTON The Undertaker's streak, his winning streak at WrestleMania That wasn't a thing yet He was and , and I went into WrestleMania as the Legend Killer, telling everybody I was going to be the Undertaker's very first loss RANDY ORTON Being a prick, being a bad guy, being a heel in the wrestling business That's what I've always felt the most comfortable doing, obviously UNDERTAKER Not a lot of people have the nerve to slap The Undertaker It had to be a great slap That slap is what's going to set this whole thing off FREDDIE PRINZE JR Randy was working at being a top heel in this company, but you have to be prepared for opportunities as they come your way Receiving The Undertaker as an opportunity is pretty big JOHN BRADSHAW LAYFIELD This is sink or swim You've got the dead man at WrestleMania and everything's going to be, spotlight's going to be on you Every single move you do, this is either you're going to make your career or you're going to be gone soon UNDERTAKER Everybody's nervous Everybody's nervous at WrestleMania You put this incredible amount of pressure on yourself to go out there and try to steal the show For even a young guy, he was so poised PAUL HEYMAN To step into the ring in a match with The Undertaker at WrestleMania That's a career achievement Randy Orton, who at the time was admittedly a kid, can you imagine that? RANDY ORTON At WrestleMania , we had a little surprise If you remember WrestleMania , if you remember Cowboy Bob Orton, then you know that my father had a cast on his arm SAM ROBERTS Cowboy Bob Orton is an iconic, legendary WWE villain Cowboy Bob started wearing a cast on his arm complaining of an injury, but he would always find a way in matches to use the cast as a weapon RANDY ORTON What was special about that for me is that I got to work with my dad BOB ORTON My dad and I worked a little bit together when I first started and getting to be in there with Randy, I was blessed UNDERTAKER Cowboy Bob Orton, a legend I mean, one of the greatest heels of all time He was the classic tough guy, chicken st heel RANDY ORTON I got to see my dad's smile in a way that I hadn't really ever seen him smile before because he was doing what he loved better than most anybody UNDERTAKER Whoever I was working with, it would take forever for them to get me down Everything that they've done in battle, I've finally done enough to stop him And they take that moment They leave me there, and they try to catch their breath UNDERTAKER That character sits up Everybody and their mother and their grandmother and was like, Oh, now you've done it, now Oh, you let him sit up That's your ass now Oh, he's coming for you RANDY ORTON I've got this move The RKO He goes to chokeslam me Now, this is one of those moves not everybody kicks out of FREDDIE PRINZE JR This match really let Randy just shine and how he literally was able to deliver this finisher from nowhere or from everywhere or from anywhere And it was the first time that I remember seeing him reverse someone else's move, which was the chokeslam, and he turned it into his finish, which was the RKO KEVIN OWENS I was there when they had the match at WrestleMania In the arena, that match was probably one of the very few that I hoped Randy would beat Undertaker To me, it just felt like Randy Orton, his whole thing was The Legend Killer, which I think added to that match because you probably thought, oh, he might actually be the one to do it UNDERTAKER It was like water off a duck's back with Randy He stepped up and delivered BOOKER T We talk about Randy not breaking The Streak Sometimes you win even in your losses Randy was one of those guys that wanted to go out there and make his losses just as great as his wins and I think that's what the beauty of Randy Orton is FREDDIE PRINZE JR Well, to build on that, their story doesn't end at WrestleMania, which is usually an end point in a storyline This was the beginning BRUCE PRICHARD So SummerSlam, to me, it was natural Randy not accepting the loss, not accepting the fact that the Undertaker defeated him at WrestleMania on the grandest stage of all And now you have a new reason for Randy to want to go after The Undertaker RANDY ORTON Creative says, you know, you had your dad at WrestleMania Maybe we have him come back We could have him sit in the crowd Someone had an idea then SAM ROBERTS So in SummerSlam, Cowboy Bob Orton was there as a distraction But I don't think we were supposed to know it was Cowboy Bob He was in the crowd pretending to be a typical fan, and he had makeup on, so we didn't see his iconic face SAM ROBERTS This was clearly Cowboy Bob with makeup Luckily for Randy, that's still a distraction RANDY ORTON The match goes down My dad comes out, causes the distraction RANDY ORTON One, two, three I win We pull the makeup off bit by bit, and it's just like, I could have done a better job My daughter could have done a better job making up my father to not look like my father It made my dad look like my dad BOB ORTON Oh, just brand new stuff for me, you know, like, like being in the movies, I guess It was just a great experience UNDERTAKER Fortunately, we've come a long way in special effects and our makeup artists and the way we do things now It was awful It really was NATALYA The one thing about Taker, which I think we can all agree on, is that Taker, he made everybody step up And I think that was a real turning point, a real catalyst for Randy to have that kind of integrity as a performer BRUCE PRICHARD The Undertaker has special powers and he can do things Undertaker can set things on fire Undertaker has lightning bolts coming from his hands You play on the fears and the psyche of someone's head to get in there and really mess with him FREDDIE PRINZE JR Randy shined so bright that this continued and we started getting into the more creative matches, which when you have someone like Undertaker, you get more latitude and freedom to do PETER ROSENBERG So Undertaker generally brings a lot to the table that really sparks your imagination PETER ROSENBERG Because you have Randy Orton, the legend killer, who just taking out one person after another and seems really pretty unstoppable All of a sudden up against someone who he cannot intimidate PETER ROSENBERG Someone who he really can't play games with mentally The Undertaker FREDDIE PRINZE JR And this takes us to the casket match at No Mercy UNDERTAKER They're fun because it gives you a whole different element of the out, the in, the finish UNDERTAKER Not only do you have to incapacitate your opponent, you have to incapacitate them enough so that you can roll them into a casket and shut the lid RANDY ORTON I hadn't been in many casket matches at this point in my career Actually, I had never been in a casket match, but I was in there with the man when it comes to casket matches, the Undertaker But we threw him a curve ball UNDERTAKER You know, I'm not only about dealing with Randy I'm dealing with his dad, who's interjecting himself time and time and time and time again So it made sense So now it's cool Like, alright on Are they going to be able to put Undertaker in a casket or is Undertaker going to have to put both of those guys in a casket? NATALYA As a kid, you strive to make your dad proud But when your dad's a bad guy too, maybe that is making him proud, is being bad BOB ORTON I remember going wild with that fire extinguisher You couldn't see anything but smoke RANDY ORTON My adrenaline's pumping I'm about to set a casket on fire with the Undertaker And so I'm not thinking necessarily about my safety So I'm dumping all this kerosene all over this casket, and it's dripping everywhere and it's splashing me and it's on my boots And I didn't even realize it, but my boots up to my knees were soaked in kerosene RANDY ORTON I light it on fire As I did that, I stepped back just in the nick of time and saw the fire take over the casket RANDY ORTON And I think it missed the tips of my toes, by like this much UNDERTAKER Those are the kind of moments that people remember forever Most those people, they're in tune with what's been going on And they know one thing about that character Is he's going to come out in that casket eventually and when he does, there's going to be hell to pay RANDY ORTON After the casket match, Taker disappeared for a few weeks I went onto Survivor Series BRUCE PRICHARD Survivor Series is where you have a team, four or five people on each side, and as people lose, they are eliminated from the match And the idea is to be the last person to survive that match BRUCE PRICHARD You had Randy at the highest of highs, being the sole Survivor in Survivor Series and being on top of the world RANDY ORTON And then I heard it JOHN BRADSHAW LAYFIELD It's just so well set up Everything in this whole storyline arc was perfectly done UNDERTAKER There's pops, and then there's rumbles That rumble there is just that energy, that anticipation of what is about to happen UNDERTAKER It worked against me a little bit, cause, like, I'm in the inside, and I can hear the crowd I'm juiced up I'm ready to go So I hit that door It was just for a second, but I mean, I could feel it being a ball of fire and then I had to take a little half, second, third to assess, like, I wonder if there's anything on me on fire right now I really hope not, cause that would really spoil this FREDDIE PRINZE JR We get the perfect entrance from the Undertaker through the flaming casket, which is such a beautiful way for him to show Randy that nothing you've done so far is enough to beat me DVON DUDLEY It's the dead man It's the Undertaker We've seen him rise out of the rubbish before We've seen him come out of things like that You can put the axe You can put gasoline Blow it up Dead man's coming back SAM ROBERTS As a fan, you realize how being a story is sometimes with the amount of production that's put into it And you saw that with The Undertaker and Randy Orton RANDY ORTON Now we needed to up the ante Now we needed to do some wild stunt I take Taker, I hit him with the tire iron and he falls on the back of the lowrider Now we're parked at the bottom of the ramp Now, back then, we taped SmackDown, people at home didn�t see this But for the live crowd I get in this car, I got to start it up Well, I flood the engine I was in that car, which felt like minutes flooding the sht out of the engine Finally, I get it to start Now, I've got an Undertaker in the back that I got a drop off somewhere What do I do? Probably one of the craziest stunts I've ever been involved in RANDY ORTON The wild part about it, and I can't do it justice explaining it But I had just a couple inches on each side of that set that I had to run that low rider through Had a few angels with me that day So did Taker UNDERTAKER Any kind of reservation you have about doing anything, it goes out the window when you�re live I mean, you just stop thinking about anything bad happening and you think about making money If you've got people talking, if there's a stir, like, woah, did you see last night? He was on the car and he drove through the set, beat him with a tire iron, did you see that? Makes all the pains go away, makes everything good SAM ROBERTS And unfortunately for Randy Orton, it wasn't enough to keep the Undertaker down UNDERTAKER (PROMO) Hello Randy Randy, you're going with me straight to hell Hell in the Cell! FREDDIE PRINZE JR Sometimes revenge is greater than glory Let's talk about Hell in a Cell, which is the perfect place for the Undertaker to exact the perfect revenge on a young man that has shown no respect and now there's no running away You're in a cage, you're not getting out, and you have to deal with this man BOOKER T This is a moment for Randy, knowing that you're getting ready to go through something that you've never been through before RANDY ORTON I was in a Hell in the Cell with the Undertaker Me being stuck in a cage with the dead man? That was enough of a story to keep people tuned in UNDERTAKER You're always competing against your opponent Like, I would never say it at the time, but internally I'm thinking like, I'm not letting this kid get over on me UNDERTAKER Now, he on the other side is looking at me He's like, yeah this has been your yard for a long time I'm going to show this old timer what I got and who I am and where I'm taking the business You can't be content with where you're at You always got to be reaching for the brass ring Sometimes that's what makes matches so great is that internal competition It's Hell in a Cell The violence had to be violent RANDY ORTON People were ready to see The Undertaker, Randy Orton at Hell in a cell and no one would leave that cell until one of us was the last man standing JOHNNY GARGANO The hell in a cell is probably the most dangerous structure we have in our business The Hell in a Cell takes years, not just off careers but off lives RANDY ORTON And when you've got two guys beating the sht out of each other, chances are somebody is going to be bleeding Talk about an adrenaline rush Talk about living in the moment Talk about feeling invincible Feeling the roar of the crowd Feeling that warm blood drip down your face There's nothing quite like it, I might sound like a fing lunatic right now saying all this, but any of the boys in the back, you know what I'm talking about BOOKER T You talk about being bruised, battered, torn You talk about being bloodied up That's something that I know going into this match, it is something that I'm willing to do because I'm willing to prove to you, the undertaker, that I�m worthy to be in the ring with you RANDY ORTON (PROMO) Oh, look it Cowboy Bob pulling hair Grabbing Undertaker by the Hair BOOKER T And that's the mark of a true champion BOB ORTON From having wrestled for years and years and years, you know, and then to be off in years and then to come back with your son and I mean, God It just don't get any better than that UNDERTAKER Cowboy Bob Orton Jr You could tell he was having fun Early on, he didn't want to step on Randy's toes But as the story went on and as he became more and more involved in it, I think he loosened up along the way UNDERTAKER And then really started letting the real cowboy Bob Orton Junior out BOB ORTON I was just happy to be there being able to come back and get involved in something that was so high caliber was just, you know, great Shoot, I was in hog heaven RANDY ORTON We had all these things to play with But there's one thing that didn't get reversed a lot When Taker picks you up for a pile driver, chances are you were getting a pile driver UNDERTAKER It's strange when someone gives me my finish because it's an unnatural feeling, because obviously all these years I haven't taken very many of em' UNDERTAKER It was like, ohh, you know, that's what you felt Ohh, you shouldn't have done that You shouldn't have Tombstone�d the Undertaker It's going to be bad news, brother BOOKER T My thing is with Randy taking on the Undertaker, there's no way, there's no way Randy would have been in that position if it wasn't for someone like the Undertaker saying, hey, I want that kid and I wanna see exactly how good he really is UNDERTAKER It was just like, I was feeling it I knew we'd just blown off a great story We'd just had an awesome hell in a cell match, and it was just me feeding off of the, not only the story, the match and the reception from the audience It was just like all right I'm going up I'm going up And this is going to be the icing on the cake This is the exclamation point at the end of the sentence right here Darkness prevailed in the end PAUL HEYMAN At this moment in time, Randy Orton was the pictureperfect example of what the new generation of superstars was going to be like And The Undertaker showed everyone he can still hang with anybody JOHN BRADSHAW LAYFIELD Anybody who comes along and makes it to become legendary status like Randy Orton has become had to go through this rite of passage And I thought this was it for Randy Orton This set Randy's career off on the right foot FREDDIE PRINZE JR It was a complete story that I've always felt kept the top guy the top guy, and at the same time gave the opportunity to the best young wrestler on the way up, who then has somehow exceeded every single expectation, regardless of how big it was, and then some in Randy Orton RANDY ORTON One of the most memorable things for me in my career was being able to be on the road with my father Working with The Undertaker It's really amazing when you think about it And the older I get, the more I look back and realize, I was lucky I was very lucky BOB ORTON When I look at Randy, I just think, here's somebody who's done very well and he's just a good, good person and always has been KEVIN OWENS Randy is the ultimate locker room leader but he wasn't always that Like I think he'll be the first to say that in his younger years, he was probably a real idiot sometimes But now, he's matured into this, just great human being He loves wrestling He loves his family and he loves being in the locker room with the guys RANDY ORTON When I'm in the locker room and when I'm talking to the young guys and girls in the back and trying to teach them about the little things I always go back to where I started, and I knew that if it wasn't for Undertaker, none of this would've ever happened RANDY ORTON I got a little side story that doesn't really show me in the best light But let's face it, I was I was a little bit of a prick back then So, we have the Hall of Fame and we have WrestleMania The day of the Hall of Fame, that morning we had rehearsal Let's just say I got into a little bit of trouble Didn't get much sleep just in case my kids are watching Now keep in mind, this is my second WrestleMania I'm I'm being given the world My f***ing dad is there, Taker's there I got down there just as they were finishing up and they were walking out I worked with The Undertaker for a year and it all started off with me missing rehearsal A lot of people may have opinions about me earlier in my career, but nobody considers myself more of an a**hole than I do So, Take, if you're watching Thank you For not bitching me out, cursing me out, or choke slamming my ass to hell after I missed that rehearsal That's probably one of my biggest regrets in the business, letting you men down that night CROWD Undertaker! Undertaker! Undertaker! UNDERTAKER I was told before I come to the WWE that no one would ever pay money to see me wrestle I've wrestled men, I've wrestled their sons I mean how blessed can you be to do something that you enjoy so much? For so long And still be here and able to talk about it UNDERTAKER Knowing where Randy went from there, his craft has only gotten better It's one of those things I'm really fond of And I take nothing for granted SNAPIN # JOHN BRADSHAW LAYFIELD You think about this, though You think about third generation wrestlers with respect to this business has You know, they shake hands Everybody honors the veterans Randy was just the opposite JOHN BRADSHAW LAYFIELD He disrespected, he just spit on Harley Race DVON DUDLEY Which you didn't do JOHN BRADSHAW LAYFIELD Oh, my God No, you don�t do DVON DUDLEY Not Harley Race JOHN BRADSHAW LAYFIELD He disrespected every legend He disrespected the business He disrespected everything and he disrespected The Undertaker It was so well done because it was so contrary to everything that you would think that a third generation wrestler would stand for DVON DUDLEY Absolutely NATALYA And Randy was the perfect bad guy and Taker is the perfect good guy And it was a very unique introduction for Randy Orton and his father to be a part of a story like that And with that magnitude of everything that Undertaker brings to the ring SNAPIN # SAM ROBERTS One of the things The Undertaker is known for in the WWE is mind games Randy Orton was one that tried to get in front of that by using The Undertaker's own tricks against him RANDY ORTON (PROMO) Dad, bring the truck! Come on! SAM ROBERTS At one point in his match, a coffin appears at ringside SAM ROBERTS The Undertaker himself is in the casket FREDDIE PRINZE JR On the following Smackdown, they have a funeral for The Undertaker BOB ORTON Allow me to introduce to you, my boy, The Legend Killer, Randy Orton! FREDDIE PRINZE JR One rule that should always exist in wrestling is never have an open casket funeral because bad stuff is going to happen SAM ROBERTS As they begin to eulogize The Undertaker, we fans saw that very realistic Undertaker mannequin open his eye SAM ROBERTS So now we've exited the world of this being a mannequin and realized this is indeed the actual Undertaker FREDDIE PRINZE JR All of a sudden, the eyes open and the hand goes right to Randy's throat at the exact same time And the dead man is the undead man SUGGESTED CUTS CUT # :: � :: seconds CUT # :: � :: seconds TRT of seconds