7 Times Wrestling Should Have Called An Audible

7. Triple H - WWE WrestleMania XXV

Forget that Triple H and Randy Orton had to follow Undertaker and Shawn Michaels at the Reliant Stadium. That excuse is touted by Trips as the reason his match died a death, even in the face of evidence to the contrary. John Cena, The Big Show and Edge Triple Threat followed immediately afterwards, and that match generated a decent reaction, under the circumstances.

No, Triple H's successful WWE Championship defence was played out amid library silence because the book was written the wrong 'way round. He and Orton had annihilated one another in an escalating procession of over-the-top angles in the build-up. A more or less straight singles match, which Triple H had green-lighted as creative overlord, was a complete anti-climax.

Triple H was already owner-elect by 2009. He had the power to alter the match as it was in progress - and he was never shy about professing his supposed wrestling acumen. He should have sensed that the crowd had already been punted into a permanent state of tedium, brought forward the ref bump, and smashed Orton to pieces in a rousing display of destruction. He could have even blindly punted the referee, knocking him out for a second time, reinforcing his Cerebral Assassin persona in a classic babyface turnabout-is-fair-play trope while ripping up the prearranged, methodical structure.

Their match was an interesting experiment, on reflection - a somewhat inventive method of subverting Orton's callousness - but it was ultimately too clever - or too stupid - for its own good.