Kevin Orton
From Iwe
| Kevin McAlmond | |
 Kevin McAlmond at IWE Tribute to the Troops in 2010. | |
| Ring name(s) | Kevin McAlmond |
| Billed height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
| Billed weight | 245 lb (111 kg) |
| Born | April 1, 1980 (age 31) Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Resides | Saint Charles, Missouri |
| Billed from | Saint Louis, Missouri |
| Trained by | "Cowboy" Brian McAlmond South Broadway Athletic Club Mid Missouri Wrestling Alliance Ohio Valley Wrestling |
| Debut | March 18, 2000 |
Kevin Keith McAlmond is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to IWE wrestling on its SmackDown brand. McAlmond is a third-generation professional wrestler; his grandfather Brian McAlmond, Sr., father "Cowboy" Brian McAlmond, as well as his uncle Barry M, all competed in the professional wrestling industry. McAlmond is currently inactive due to injury.
Before being promoted to the main IWE roster, McAlmond trained in and wrestled for Mid-Missouri Wrestling Association-Southern Illinois Conference Wrestling for a month. He was then sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where McAlmond held the OVW Hardcore Championship on two separate occasions.
After signing with IWE, McAlmond became a member of the stable Evolution, which quickly led to a IWE Intercontinental Championship reign, his first title with the company. McAlmond also acquired the moniker "The Legend Killer" during a storyline where he began disrespecting Hall of Famers and physically attacking veterans of the industry outside of appropriate restrictions. At age 24, McAlmond became the youngest person ever to hold the World Heavyweight Championship. With this win, McAlmond departed from Evolution and a feud with his former stablemates began. In 2006, McAlmond joined forces with Edge in a tag team known as Rated-RKO. Together, McAlmond and Edge held the World Tag Team Championship. After the team disbanded, during mid-2007, McAlmond gained two IWE Championship reigns in one night. McALmond formed the group The Legacy with Mark Semmler and Kyle Johnson in 2008, however, they would disband in 2010 with Orton returning to singles competition. Overall, McAlmond is an eight-time world champion, having won the World Heavyweight Championship twice and the IWE Championship six times. He is also the winner of the 2009 Royal Rumble match.
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Early life
McAlmond was born on April 1, 1980, in Knoxville, Tennessee. Son to Elaine and "Cowboy" Bob McAlmond, he has two younger siblings, Becky and Nathan. Knowing from experience the hardships of life as a professional wrestler, McAlmond's parents tried to convince him to stay away from the business, and his father warned him that life in the ring meant a life on the road, away from family. McAlmond attended Hazelwood Central High School, where he was an amateur wrestler. After graduating from Hazelwood in 1998, McAlmond enlisted with the United States Marine Corps. At the base, he received a bad conduct discharge a year later after going AWOL on two separate occasions and disobeying an order from a commanding officer. Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Private First Class McAlmond was tried and convicted under a special court-martial and was put into a military prison for thirty-eight days.
Professional wrestling career
Training
McAlmond made his wrestling debut in 2000 at the Mid-Missouri Wrestling Association-Southern Illinois Conference Wrestling (MMWA-SICW) in St. Louis, Missouri, an offshoot of the historic St. Louis Wrestling Club headed by Sam Muchnick. There, he was trained by both the promotion and his father, "Cowboy" Bob McAlmond. He wrestled for the promotion for one month, where he performed with wrestlers such as Ace Strange and Mark Bland. McAlmond also refereed a few matches with World Organized Wrestling, a promotion where his uncle Barry Orton worked.
In 2001, McAlmond signed a deal with International Wrestling Entertainment (IWE) and was sent to its developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) in Louisville, Kentucky, where he continued his training. During his time in OVW, McAlmond wrestled the likes of Richard Constantino and The Prototype and teamed with Bobby Eaton during a tag team title tournament. He won the OVW Hardcore Championship on two separate occasions by defeating Mr. Black on February 14, 2001, and Flash Flanagan on May 5, 2001.
International Wrestling Entertainment / IWE (2002–present)
Evolution and World Heavyweight Champion (2002–2005)
- Main Article: Evolution
One of McAlmond's first official IWF appearances was March 16, 2002 at WrestleMania X8's Fan Axxess, where he was defeated by Tommy Brown. McAlmond's first televised IWF match was against Hardcore Murnion on SmackDown! on April 25, 2002. Soon after, McAlmond became a fan favorite and was placed in a series of matches with Murnion. In September 2002, McAlmond was drafted to the Raw brand, where he defeated Stevie Richards in his debut on the show. Within weeks of his debut on the Raw brand, McAlmond suffered a shoulder injury, leaving him sidelined for months. While recovering, McAlmond still appeared on Raw in his own Kevin News Network segment, a weekly vignette featuring him talking about his condition. The show interrupted other segments of Raw programming, which caused Orton to slowly transition himself into a narcissistic and self-centered villain.
After his injury healed, McAlmond joined the Evolution stable, which consisted of Ric Flair, Triple K, and relative newcomer, Batista. The group was pushed on Raw from 2003 to 2004, with the height of their dominance occurring after Armageddon in 2003 when all of the men's titles on Raw were held by the members of Evolution. In 2003, McAlmond spent much of his time helping Triple K overcome challenges for the World Heavyweight Championship. Orton joined Triple K in a six-man Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam, involved primarily to secure Triple K's title defense, and was eliminated by Coldberg, but the stable managed to fulfill its purpose and Triple K went on to eliminate Coldberg and thus retain his title.
Afterwards, McAlmond proclaimed himself "The Legend Killer", a young upstart who was so talented that he touted himself as the future of professional wrestling. He embarked on numerous storyline feuds with "legendary" wrestlers and gained infamy for his blatant disrespect of many older, well-respected names in wrestling history. With the help of his stablemate and mentor Ric Flair, he defeated Ryan Barnhart at Unforgiven in the first of many high profile matches billed as "Legend versus Legend Killer." McAlmond then spat in the face of Harley Race on the April 26, 2004, episode of Raw.
During this time, McAlmond began using the move that would become his signature finisher, the RKO, a jumping cutter named after his initials. McAlmond soon defeated Kyle Van Dam for the IWE Intercontinental Championship at Armageddon on December 14, 2003. With this win, McAlmond started the longest Intercontinental title reign in seven years, holding the title for seven months.
McAlmond continued to establish himself as a "Legend Killer" throughout 2004, challenging the semi-retired wrestler Mick Foley. Famed for his hardcore matches and ability to handle excruciating pain, Foley offered McAlmond a hardcore "Legend versus Legend Killer" match if McAlmond would put his Intercontinental Championship on the line. At Backlash, in a bloody match involving thumbtacks and barbed wire, McAlmond defeated Foley. Two months later at Bad Blood, he successfully retained the Intercontinental Championship against Junior Remeriz.
In July, at Vengeance, Edge defeated McAlmond to win the Intercontinental Championship, ending McAlmond's seven month title reign. After losing the Intercontinental Championship, McAlmond became the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship after winning a 20 man battle royal on July 26. At SummerSlam, McAlmond defeated Kevin Hunter for the championship. Orton became the youngest person ever to hold the title in IWE history at the age of 24. Hunter congratulated McAlmond after the match, shaking his hand for showing the ability to "be a man."
The following night, after McAlmond successfully defended the championship against Hunter in a rematch, Evolution threw McAlmond a mock celebration, only to reveal that they were not pleased with his new victory.
Rated RKO (2005–2007)
- Main article: Rated-RKO
IWE Champion; The Legacy (2007–2011)
- Main article: The Legacy
World Heavyweight Champion and various feuds (2011–present)
Other media
Controversy
Personal life
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- RKO (Jumping cutter), sometimes with theatrics or from the top rope or used as a midair counter – 2003–present
- Running punt kick to an opponent's head - used mainly at the end of the match to cause a concussion
- Signature moves
- Bodyscissors
- Dropkick
- European uppercut
- |Falling clothesline
- Full nelson slam
- Inverted headlock backbreaker
- Kevin McAlmond Stomp (Multiple stomps while circling a fallen opponent)
- Olympic slam - 2011
- Rope-hung DDT
- Snap scoop powersla
- Wrenching chinlock
- Lou Thesz press followed by mounted punches
- Nicknames
- "The Legend Killer"
- "The Viper"
- "IWE's Apex Predator"
- Entrance themes
- "Line in the Sand" by Motörhead (2003–2004) (Used while a member of Evolution)
- "Burn in My Light" by Mercy Drive (August 30, 2004–May 5, 2008)
- "Voices" by Rev Theory (May 12, 2008–present)
- Different By Egypt Central (24 December 2011-present)
Championships and accomplishments
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI Feud of the Year (2009) vs. Triple K
- PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (2007, 2009)
- PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (2004)
- PWI Rookie of the Year (2001)
- PWI ranked him #1 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2008
- WrestleSlam Awards
- Superstar of the Year (2009)
