10 Great Wrestling Feuds With Awful Payoff Matches
9. Triple H Vs. Randy Orton
Even the thought of Triple H vs. Randy Orton at WrestleMania 25 is enough to get your eyes feeling a little heavy.
While the match itself was boring as all hell, the build to this ‘Mania bout was actually entertaining. Orton had won the 2009 Royal Rumble and decided to challenge for Triple H’s WWE Championship at the Showcase of the Immortals. As a way to mess with Hunter, The Viper began to beat the snot out of the entire McMahon family. Homes would be broken into, people would be thrown through windows, and Randy would get all kinds of creepy with Stephanie. Pretty intense, for sure.
After having simmered for months, this rivalry all came to a head at WrestleMania 25 in what was expected to be an intense, all-out fight. The thing is, that intensity was replaced by 25 minutes of rest holds.
Like so many Triple H matches, this was an overly long bout that saw fans lose interest. On a PPV that featured The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels, a Money in the Bank Ladder Match, John Cena defeating Edge and Big Show in a brisk and fun contest, and the hugely entertaining Chris Jericho vs. Ricky Steamboat, Roddy Piper and Jimmy Snuka offering, the WWE Championship match between Triple H and Randy Orton was one of the worst matches on the card.
Even now, the Hunter/Orton rivalry is one that rears its head every so often – inducing cold sweats on those who remember WrestleMania 25.