10 Times Great Wrestling Was Ruined By Bad Writing
8. Triple H Vs. Randy Orton (WWE WrestleMania 25)
Triple H vs. Randy Orton at WrestleMania 25 should have been excellent. It was a match WWE fans had seen plenty of times before, but Orton was at the height of his powers as a borderline psychotic heel.
Orton turned pure evil. He punted Vince McMahon in the head before he could fire him on an episode of Raw, then did the same to Shane the night after beating him at No Way Out. Stephanie made the mistake of rushing to her brother’s aid, and received an RKO for her troubles. Understandably, the attack on his wife was a step too far for Triple H.
Things went slightly off the rails when WWE continued the feud with a set of messy home invasion angles, but the story had been excellent otherwise. The match was a flop, however: WWE made the mistake of putting Triple H vs. Orton two matches after Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker’s classic battle, and the crowd were flatter than month-old Sprite.
This sapped the life out of the match, and the stipulation didn’t help either. For no reason whatsoever, Triple H would lose his championship if he was disqualified. This held the performers back throughout. Hunter eventually picked up a needless victory, consigning this match to the scrapheap.