10 Interesting Facts Behind Randy Orton's Tattoos

UPDATE: 2023/12/20 07:30 EST BY BENJAMIN VIEIRA

At Survivor Series 2023, Randy Orton made his triumphant return as a part of WarGames. Teaming alongside Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins, Sami Zayn, and Jey Uso, he played a pivotal role in defeating The Judgment Day and Drew McIntyre. It had been a return a year and a half in the making. Fans were elated when they got to see “The Viper” step back into the squared circle. Orton is a highly accomplished competitor and has put on classic matches. In addition, he has some of the most recognizable tattoos in WWE history. Let’s take a closer look at Orton’s famous pieces.

It's hard to throw a rock in a wrestling locker room and not hit someone boasting a lot of tattoos. Just like pro athletes, wrestlers enjoy getting themselves inked up and showing it off. Samoan wrestlers, in particular, have a fondness for ink with intricate tribal patterns. Other wrestlers can be highlighted, like Jeff Hardy and Rey Mysterio's amazingly tattooed bodies.

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Another major tattooed wrestler is Randy Orton. Since his WWE debut in 2002, Orton has shown a fondness for some ink with patterns on his back and arms. It's grown over the years with his arms almost totally covered and a few other tattoos elsewhere. While some have personal meaning, a few are interesting in the stories behind them, including a surprising controversy. These are ten fascinating background stories involving Randy Orton's tattoos which add to his appeal as a WWE superstar.

10 Randy Orton's Arm Tattoos Took Hours

Orton's Most Iconic Tattoos Are His Skulls

• Randy Orton's skull tattoos took 50 hours to complete.
• He touches them up each year.
• Each touch up takes six hours.

Tattoo work can be a complex process, especially for the type Orton has. The biggest was covering his arms in a variety of tribal patterns, skulls, verses, and roses. While his first tattoos were just for show, Orton wanted to showcase his growing maturity and connection to family.

He's tight-lipped on the meaning of some of them, such as the skulls but has detailed it took nearly 50 hours to complete it all. That's not counting at least six hours of touch-up work per year, as Orton's ink is among the most complex in wrestling.

9 Randy Orton And His Wife Have Matching Tattoos

They Have Their Names Tattooed On Each Other

• Randy Orton and Kim Kessler married each other in 2015.
• They have one daughter together.
• Orton has a tattoo dedicated to her on his ribs.

Orton and his wife Kim are well known for their fun photos together online. This translates to their ink as well, as each has the other's name tattooed on their ring hands.

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More interesting is a tattoo each has whose writing is so tight, it looks like a strange line. Kim's is on her neck while Orton has his on the left side of his body. Each has simply said it means "family, love and loyalty" and shows the pair's amazing bond.

8 Randy Orton's Bible Verse Tattoo Shows His New Attitude

It Reflected A New Path For Orton

• There have been numerous backstage stories about Randy Orton and his poor attitude early in his career.
• Orton has since changed and become a respected member of the locker room.
• He has a Bible verse on his arm.

Orton is upfront on how he was a pretty terrible guy behind the scenes when he started out in WWE. He had a huge ego and threw his weight around but has been mellowing since.

To try and remind himself of changing his ways, Orton had tattooed on his arm a verse from Peter 5:8 which reads, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." This verse is something Orton takes to heart, adjusting his attitude in his career.

7 Randy Orton Tried To Copy Goldberg's Tribal Tattoo

An Artist Told Him Not To Do It

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTusb8u91cM

• Goldberg's tribal tattoo has been one of his most recognizable features.
• Orton wanted to copy Goldberg's tattoo, but an artist advised him against it.
• Orton has a variety of different tribal tattoos on his body.

Like many wrestlers, Orton had his idols when he was growing up and getting ready to enter the business. In his case, he was a huge fan of Bill Goldberg in 1998 to the point of going to an artist and asking him to replicate Goldberg's famous tribal art arm tattoo.

This was against his mother's wishes, and the artist refused, saying that wearing someone else's art wasn't a good idea. Orton is now happy he didn't get it as he prefers his more original tattoos over mimicking Goldberg's. He spoke about this on Ryan Satin's Out Of Character podcast:

"So Goldberg’s my guy and I’m an idiot [laughter]. So you know, the tattoo artist said ‘How about, let’s come up with something that’s just for you,’ So okay, that’s a good idea. And so you know, some version, one of this was born. But anyway, I forgot what we were talking about. I don’t know if I’ve ever told that story before, because it’s pretty embarrassing that I would even… but, yeah, there you go.”

6 Randy Orton Sometimes Regrets His Tattoos

Orton Wonders What He Would Look Like Without Them

• Orton first debuted his arm sleeves in 2008.
• Orton has had some regrets about these pieces.
• The tattoos still retain their imposing look to this day, but require touch-ups.

Orton has been upfront to fans on always ensuring they see how permanent tattoos really are. He told WWE.com "I'd like to see what I look like without them sometimes."

He's also admitted the touch-ups every year take hours as the wear and tear of wrestling affects them. It's also a factor with Orton's numerous injuries over the years, and while the tattoos look imposing in the ring, he himself seems to wish he hadn't gone as far with them as he did.

5 His First Major Tattoo Caused Some Pain

He Got His Backpiece While In OVW

• Randy Orton's back tattoo has been one of the most iconic of his tattoos.
• He got it while in OVW.
• OVW was WWE's former developmental territory prior to FCW and NXT.

One of Orton's first major pieces of ink was the tribal pattern on his upper back. It's a fun pattern that looks like it belongs on a powerful Samoan worker. Many have asked for its meaning, but it turns out there really isn't one. Orton just got it for fun while he was starting his career in OVW.

However, Orton didn't realize that having a back tattoo and then wrestling right after it was a bad idea. He spent weeks with a nasty scab that simply wouldn't heal, so rather than looking cool, the tattoo caused Orton some early pain.

4 The Tribal Art Covers Up An Old Shame

It Covers Up A Marine Tattoo

• Orton had joined the Marines in 1998 after high school.
• He was discharged after going AWOL and disobeying an officer.
• He used to have a Marine tattoo on his left arm.

He doesn't enjoy talking about it much, but Orton's military career ended poorly. He had enlisted in the Marines and even got a USMC tattoo on his arm. But in 1999, he received a bad conduct discharge after going AWOL twice and disobeying a superior officer.

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Knowing that carrying a Marine tattoo after that wasn't right, Orton had it altered with the "tribal art" on his arms that has since become one of his most famous pieces of ink.

3 They Show His Love For Family

He Has His Daughter's Name Tattooed On Him

• Orton had his first daughter with his first wife, Samantha Speno.
• She was born in 2007.
• Orton has two daughters, one from each of his marriages.

Mixed in with the complex flower tattoo on his left arm is Orton's great tribute to his family. "Alana" is the name of Orton's first daughter, who was born in 2007 with his ex-wife Samantha Speno.

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Underneath is her birthday, written in Roman numerals. Meanwhile, Orton has a small "Kim" tattoo with a ring on the middle finger of his left hand for his current wife. It shows that even when wrestling, Orton keeps his family close to him.

2 One Artist Handles All Of Randy Orton's Tattoos

Catherine Alexander Is Orton's Tattoo Artist

• Catherine Alexander has handled all of Orton's tattoo work since 2003.
• Orton continues to go to her out of loyalty.
• Randy Orton's tattoos are some of the most iconic in all of WWE.

It's known that athletes can have their superstitions and not want to mess with a good thing. That leads many to use the same artists to handle all their tattoos. It works for wrestling too, and Orton is a great example. Since 2003, he has used Catherine Alexander, an Illinois-based artist, to handle all of his pieces.

Orton felt a loyalty to the woman with her great artwork and how it was after using her that he began his climb to becoming one of WWE's biggest stars. However, that loyalty to his artist ended up causing a major issue for WWE….

1 Randy Orton's Tattoos Caused A Lawsuit

Copyright Issues Arose During The Making Of WWE 2K18

• WWE and 2K used the likeness without the permission of Catherine Alexander.
• Alexander sued WWE and 2K over the matter.
• Alexander won the lawsuit against WWE and 2K.

WWE has often had issues now and then with copyright rules. It was a problem when Randy Orton's tattoo artist sued them in 2018. The issue was when Orton's likeness was used in WWE 2K18 and, as usual, made to look as close to Orton as possible. That meant replicating his tattoos much better than in previous games.

That led to Catherine Alexander suing WWE and Take-Two Games, claiming that the artwork was her own and being used without her permission or payment. It's happened with the artists of NBA players suing over that art used in games too. Alexander took the case to court and ultimately ended up winning in the lawsuit.

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