10 Wrestling Feuds Where The Bad Guy Won

7. Randy Orton Vs. Kofi Kingston

Stephanie McMahon Triple H
WWE.com

Randy Orton calling Kofi Kingston "STUPID!" during their 2019 feud over the latter's WWE Championship win was the cutest of callbacks to the end of their first rivalry - not least because the story with 'The Viper' ensured that it'd be a long time before a young Kingston ever got near the top strap again.

Kofi was just another midcarder trying really hard to get over in a company gradually losing its grip on how to do just that, but a run of success around Survivor Series time back in 2009 could have been the perfect way to propel him a decade before they actually managed it.

Kingston scored an elimination match victory against Orton then took on 'The Apex Predator' and his Legacy mates as they rather listlessly attempted to run roughshod over Monday Night Raw. A Madison Square Garden leg drop was a genuine Moment(TM) but it proved to be the newcomer's last - Orton beat him clean as a sheet on pay-per-view before the aforementioned IRL b*llocking in a pre-Royal Rumble Raw match parked his push once and for all.

Orton was a sh*thouse throuhgout but it's not like the angle remotely mattered when the company was so keen to cater to his temper either way.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett