Randy Orton’s kissing Stephanie McMahon remains WWE’s most popular YouTube video – almost 15 years after the memorable incident.
Orton was embroiled in a bitter rivalry with McMahon’s real-life husband, Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque as part of a long-term WWE storyline.
Weeks after having nailed Stephanie with his trademark RKO and delivered dastardly kicks to the head of both her father, Vince McMahon and brother Shane, Orton took things to an all-new level of edgy by puckering up to the prone Steph.
The chilling smack on the lips was done for maximum effect, with Triple H helpless to intervene having been handcuffed to the ring ropes nearby.
It made major headlines at the time and continues to serve as one of the bigger moments in WWE’s history, with its 15th anniversary fast approaching later this month.
It was uploaded as a clip to WWE’s YouTube channel four years later and has since remained the most viewed individual video on the channel, with a whopping 315 million views in its own right.
It comes as the company achieved the milestone of 100 million YouTube subscribers, making it one of the most followed on the entire platform.
The unnerving moment with Orton isn’t McMahon’s only placing amongst the most viewed. She left current Undisputed Universal Champion Roman Reigns reeling in 2015 with a vicious slap, the video of which has racked up 192 million views.
Unsurprisingly as one of the biggest stars of the generation, John Cena dominates the top ten most viewed on the channel, with a presence in six of the videos, topped with a video recapping memorable in-ring proposals from WWE history.
Cena memorably got down on one knee and popped the question to then-girlfriend Nikki Bella at WrestleMania 33 in Orlando, Florida in 2017.
Cena and Bella had just defeated The Miz and Maryse in a tag team bout when the wrestler-turned-actor left the crowd stunned with the proposal.
That compilation has 230 million views alone, while Cena’s tag team outing with The Rock from Survivor Series in 2011 isn’t far behind with 214 million.
More lip-locking saw Cena and AJ Lee share a kiss in 2012 with 171 opting to view that video.
A former 13-time WWE Champion, the leader of the ‘Cenation’ has gradually wound down his in-ring career in the last few years as his Hollywood commitments have grown.
He hasn’t wrestled since last November’s defeat to Solo Sikoa at Crown Jewel in Suadi Arabia, his last televised singles bout before that being almost a year ago when he was defeated by Austin Theory at WrestleMania in California.
Known for his dominance in the ring, Cena hasn’t even held a title in WWE since 2017, when Bray Wyatt ended his reign as WWE Campion at that year’s Elimination Chamber.