Many young men find discipline and purpose in the United States ArmedForces. Former WWE Champion Randy Orton was not one of those men. Orton enlisted in the Marine Corps after he graduated from high school in 1998, but the son of "Cowboy" Bob Orton quickly found himself in hot water.In an old, resurfaced clip from "WWE Confidential," Orton and his father discussed how the former Evolution member simply didn't fit in the Marines.
"I knew the Marines were not for Randy," Bob Orton told WWE, "he's not that kinda person."
Orton disobeyed orders from his commanding officer and went AWOL (Away Without Official Leave) on two separate occasions, resulting in a bad conduct discharge.
"I decided to do what I had to do to get out of the military," Orton told WWE. The third-generation star took a Greyhound bus back to his hometown of St. Louis, MO, for 82 days and then returned to his base to turn himself in, which led to a court-martial, 38 days in military prison, and discharge from the Marine Corps. The story has become a rather infamous part of Orton's lore, but it has had very real consequences on his WWE career.
Orton had been slated to follow in the footsteps of John Cena andTed DiBiase Jr., and star in the third installment of "The Marine." Still, a vocal outcry from active service members over someone with his disgraced record playing a Marine led to him being pulled from the film and replaced with Mike "The Miz" Mizanin. Many were angry over Orton's discharge, but many mischaracterized it as a "dishonorable discharge," though Orton made sure to correct them. Mizanin would go on to reprise the role in two more films.
