He is best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation, (WWF, now WWE), including his involvement in the main event of the inaugural WrestleMania.

Orton spent time in Verne Gagne's American Wrestling Association in 1976 and 1978, a large portion of it under the tutelage of AWA MVP Manager Bobby Heenan.

Following experiencing success in the Florida, Central States, and Mid-South regions, Orton competed in the National Wrestling Alliance in 1980-1981 using a cowboy's gimmick.

While he competed in the NWA, he won several matches and earned a reputation as a hard worker and legit tough wrestler.

Flair would eventually return in late 1983, attacking both Orton and Slater with a baseball bat (before going on to win back the title from Race at Starrcade '83).

In 1984, Orton was the #1 contender to the WWF Intercontinental Championship, eventually wrestling then-current champion Tito Santana.

Orton was involved in the main event of the first WrestleMania at Madison Square Garden in 1985, being in the corner of Piper and 'Mr.

At WrestleMania 2, Orton was introduced as "Ace in Comedy and Funnyman" by guest ring announcer Joan Rivers, who misread the card.

During this time, Orton formed a tag team with The Magnificent Muraco, with the duo managed by Mr. Fuji, and sometimes Jimmy Hart.

They appeared at the opening match at WrestleMania III, losing to the Can-Am Connection (Rick Martel and Tom Zenk).

By this point, the team was essentially disbanded, with the now turned face "The Rock" Magnificent Muraco getting the upper hand in the feud.

Orton was also scheduled to make an appearance for a WWF show in Madison Square Garden in January 1990 against Bret Hart, but that was cancelled.

They won several matches together, beating the teams of Nobuhiko Takada and Antonio Inoki, Kuniaki Kobayashi and Riki Choshu, Osamu Kido and Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Hiro Saito and Super Strong Machine and many others.

Wrestling at a WCW Saturday Night taping in Atlanta, Georgia and managed by Gary Hart, Orton defeated Shane Douglas.

On the April 1 episode of Saturday Night, it was announced that Orton would be facing his former partner Dick Murdoch at the upcoming Clash of Champions VI.

[7] After his release, Orton made a one-time appearance at a WCW house show in Kiel, Missouri, defeating Dutch Mantell.

At Armageddon, Orton (still holding the urn) accompanied Randy to ringside for his Hell in a Cell match with The Undertaker.

He interfered in the match several times, but was ultimately unable to prevent The Undertaker from delivering a Tombstone Piledriver to both Ortons and then covering Randy for the win.

Orton returned to the ring at Millennium Wrestling Federation Soul Survivor II in 2004,[11] teaming with Todd Hanson and Beau Douglas to defeat "The Ugandan Giant" Kamala, Gino Marktino, and Ox Baker's Executioner.

On November 19, 2011, Orton appeared in the main event of a Holy Havoc Championship Wrestling card in Springfield, Illinois, teaming with HHCW Heavyweight Champion Pretty Boy Floyd and Mr. Allstar Rex Gill to defeat The Irish Revolution (Mickey Thomas and Seamus Farnam) and Beast.

On August 25, 2012, Orton appeared at a Wrestling Past Present Future (WPPF) event in East Moline, IL.

On February 9, 2013, Orton appeared at a Traditional Championship Wrestling (TCW) event in Jonesboro, Ark., where he managed and mentored International Heavyweight Champion "Mr. Saturday Night" Michael Barry in a feud with his cousin "All That" Alan Steel.

He also participated in a non-televised dark match at the event when he turned on Barry and aligned himself with "The Empire" consisting of Matt Riviera and "Golden Boy" Greg Anthony.

On August 16, 2013, Orton and George South faced Tim Horner and Tom Prichard at the Brad Armstrong Memorial event.

In April 2015, Orton participated in a 2-on-1 handicap match taking on "Iron Man" Ken Kasa & Travis Cook for the St. Louis Wrestling promotion.

He also appeared on the April 10, 2012 episode of WWE SmackDown and was attacked by Kane (offscreen) who had been feuding with his son Randy at the time.

Orton appeared once again on June 18, 2017, at the Money in the Bank Pay-per-view, situated in the front row of the crowd along with fellow Hall of Famers Ric Flair and Sgt.

On an episode of WWE Confidential, he admitted that his forearm injury in the 1985 match with Jimmy Snuka was not a work and did not heal when he wore the cast.

As a teenager, Orton was diagnosed with hepatitis C, but showed no apparent symptoms and would eventually no longer recall having the disease.

Over 30 years later, in the midst of his feud with his son Randy against The Undertaker, Orton was retested and it was confirmed that he still carried the disease.