10 WWE Rematches Absolutely Nobody Wanted To See
5. John Cena Vs. Randy Orton
The loud and defiant rejection of conflict between Randy Orton and John Cena twice polluted Royal Rumble pay-per-views, such was the fervent disinterest in any future matches between the two.
In 2014, their WWE Title match was infamously disowned by a Philadelphia Crowd with eyes only for Daniel Bryan. The leader of the Yes Movement's failure to appear in the Royal Rumble later that night made Batista's performance even more awkward than Cena and Orton's, but Big Dave presumably would have rather heard boos than the deafening silence that welcomed 'Big Match John' and 'The Viper' in 2011.
Both babyfaces at the time, the two dramatically squared off in that year's Royal Rumble match as the WrestleMania XXVII sign lingered in the background, but the expected euphoria was replaced by a collective groan of indifference from Cena's hometown Boston crowd. It was a profound rebuttal of WWE's 'dream' match, and yet before and after that embarrassment, the company would regularly return to the well.
The Cena/Orton matches are never actively bad, which is really part of the problem. If anything beyond WWE's formulaic structure ever actually occurred, it might be a little easier to get into the action. Instead, the pair almost never colour outside of the lines, and their rematches are almost always miserably dry affairs.