12 Times Triple H Put His Ego Aside

5. Randy Orton In 2009

Some people believe that when Batista was winning the Royal Rumble and beating Triple H at Wrestlemania 21, it should've been Randy Orton in his place. Orton was the real breakout member of Evolution in mid-2004, but his solo success was stunted by losing the World Heavyweight Championship to Hunter just one month after he'd beaten Chris Benoit for it. A further match at the 2005 Royal Rumble pay-per-view saw another loss to his former mentor, and Orton wouldn't get his hands on World Championship gold for another couple of years. In 2009, it didn't seem to be getting any better for an Orton-Triple H rivalry. After Orton won the Royal Rumble for the right to challenge for the WWE Championship, he eventually came up short against his old stablemate in the main event of Wrestlemania 25. However, Orton would go on to win the title from Triple H at Backlash and, despite losing it at Extreme Rules, would go on to win it back in a Fatal 4-Way involving Hunter among others, as well as defending it against him successfully both in a 3 Stages of Hell match, and in a triple threat match also involving John Cena. Though Randy Orton has hardly suffered in his career from a lack of main event status, it still took him a couple of years to regain relevancy after his departure from Evolution was mishandled as it was. 2009 really secured The Viper a spot as a future Hall of Fame-er, and combining his many wins over Triple H with the introduction of his new stable, The Legacy, Orton had his most successful year to date.