11 Match Star Ratings For WWE Clash Of Champions 2019

3. Kofi Kingston Vs. Randy Orton - WWE Heavyweight Title Match

Randy Orton Kofi Kingston
WWE.com

Watching a Randy Orton match in 2019 is such a dry and lifeless and interminable experience.

It's difficult to extract anything from it. Orton wrestles at a crawling, methodical pace, a pace that demands a hot crowd reaction to inform the heat spots with any sense of drama and importance. This reaction wasn't forthcoming, because the action was so nonexistent. Without playing AEW bingo, it is demonstrably possible to work such a style to a loud reaction, but Orton cannot generate it, and the audience was left with a nothing match more out-of-fashion than timeless.

Wrestled in defiance of fashion and the tone of the feud alike, the men who brutalised each other in Madison Square Garden wrestled a traditional, almost sportsman-like affair in the Spectrum Center. Orton did his usual spots at his usual pace in the usual, logical order - in entirely the wrong context.

The irony here is that Kofi has apparently spent 10 years being driven by the suppressed rage and motivation of his derailed push, but this 20 minute plodder was straight out of 2009 in terms of content, pace and style.

The only thing that's changed is the distraction in the form of advanced smart phone technology, which, gauging by the silence that cloaked the arena, most if not all took advantage of.

Star Rating: **

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!