When WWE Censored Randy Orton's RKO For Being Too Violent

Randy Orton's RKO is one of the most famous WWE moves in history, but it was censored for being too violent.

By Avik Das

Published on Jun 29, 2024 | 07:21 AM IST | 56.8K

Randy Orton (PC- Getty Images)

In 2012, when the PG Era was at its peak, WWE launched a new show called Saturday Morning Slam. While WWE's normal shows were PG-13, this show had a TV-G rating, meaning it was catered to little children. As the target audience was kids, several neck and head moves were banned, including Randy Orton's popular RKO.

Apart from certain moves, a handful of theme songs had to be censored for Saturday Morning Slam. When Randy Orton performed on the show, an awkward moment occurred while attempting to hit his finisher, RKO.

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As the finisher was too violent for the G-rated show, the camera moved away from him when he hit RKO. Instead of focusing on the match, the camera showed the commentators, who announced that Orton hit an RKO. The Viper was the winner, but the RKO was missed by the fans on TV.

Why was RKO too violent?

As previously noted, many neck and head maneuvers were not allowed on Saturday Morning Slam. RKO is a facelock neckbreaker. WWE proceeded to censor the move due to its impact on the receiving wrestler's neck.

Randy Orton credited John Laurinatis for the origin of RKO. The Viper would grab the neck and force the opponent to fall on the neck while he would fall on the mat backward. WWE targeted children through the show, making it a high-risk move.

Showing RKO on Saturday Morning Slam could have prompted kids to imitate the popular move from Randy Orton. In real life, without proper wrestling training, RKO could seriously injure someone's neck.

What happened to the WWE Saturday Morning Slam?

The show marked the return of a wrestling show on a Saturday morningWhat happened to the WWE Saturday Morning Slam? for the first time since 2001. Unlike RAW or SmackDown, Saturday Morning Slam was only half an hour long programming, featuring a couple of matches. However, the show was canceled before completing even a year. While the debut episode took place on August 25, 2012, the last one aired on May 11, 2013.

The WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley served as the general manager of the show throughout its entire tenure. Due to the creative differences between WWE and Sasbsan Brands, the show was reportedly called off.

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