10 Promising Wrestling Feuds That Ended Too Soon

Jeff Hardy earned his shot at Orton's WWE Championship with a pinfall victory over dream crusher Triple H at Armageddon, so to say that he went into the 2008 Royal Rumble with the wind in his sails is an understatement.

The story was there: Orton was a win-at-all-costs champion who had lucked his way to a three month title reign, and Hardy an enigmatic underdog with a proclivity for jumping from great heights. It ended disappointingly, though, with a clean victory for the heel champ and no rematch for Jeff.

The problem was the timing. Orton won the strap - his second run with the world title (but we'll get to that later) - from Triple H in the Game's third match of the night, and retained it after a screwy finish against Shawn Michaels and another screwy finish against Chris Jericho. Heading into WrestleMania, WWE needed their champion looking strong, and Hardy was simply a placeholder - regardless of how much momentum he had built up.