10 INSANE Risks WWE Took With Their Biggest Stars
6. Randy Orton
In 2019, Randy Orton defeated Triple H in what barely obscured itself from being a Saudi Arabia celebrity match.
This Super ShowDown scuffle was the first time they'd wrestled one-on-one in just under a decade, and as a man sliding into retirement against one still very much in an elongated prime, 'The Game' at very least lost cleanly to his former stablemate and protege.
To a select cynical few, this result registered as a genuine shocker.
For what felt like minor eternities at the time, Hunter so comfortably got the better of Orton in matches and programmes in 2004, 2007 and 2009 that it seemed as though he was trying to become a Legend Killer himself before the first part of the moniker had even been established.
Orton's first World Championship reign brought about his severance from Evolution and title loss to 'The Game' just three weeks later. At No Mercy 2007, he was handed the WWE Championship only to literally immediately lose it to Hunter before winning it back in a main event after the 'King Of Kings' had already been forced into a third match in the middle of the card against Umaga. The duo stunk up the WrestleMania 25 headliner, and Orton looked at the lights there too.
As well we know whether any of us like it or not, Randy Orton did indeed make it to WWE's elite tier in the end. But a litany of losses against its fiercest gatekeeper cast major doubts for a decade.