10 Wrestlers Who Didn't Get The Reaction They Wanted

8. John Cena And Randy Orton Wrestle A Match NOBODY Wants

Triple H
WWE.com

How damning this match was often gets lost amid the other, more notable controversies of the time, which says rather a lot about the extent to which WWE bungled the living sh*t out of the super-indie boom.

Three years prior, Cena and Orton pointed at the WrestleMania sign to a reaction pulsing with sweet, sweet schadenfreude. This worn pairing was as unwanted as a Katsuyori Shibata kick to the shin. Given a choice between the two, you'd take the agony. Actually, no, you'd take that kick to the shin: you'd at least feel something, and for a much shorter amount of time.

The fans in Pittsburgh rejected this gentleman's three of a match emphatically. Cries of "Daniel Bryan!" and "Boring!" permeated the air. This was the precise opposite of a marquee match fought, literally, for the highest stakes, in the form of the newly-created WWE World Heavyweight Championship. This was a passé and functionally solid match that unfolded to the sound of apathy and fury. Nothing Cena and Orton did generated a positive reaction.

This was the legacy feud of the PG Era, and no other such programme of WWE's rich past would ever have had such a gigantic sh*t taken upon it.

In this post: 
Triple H
 
First Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!