13. Christian vs. Randy Orton - No Holds Barred For WWE Championship (2011)
The summer of 2011 was most famous for the Pipe Bomb and the Punk vs. Cena feud that followed, but there was another classic rivalry that season between Randy Orton and Christian over the World Heavyweight Championship. It culminated in a No Holds Barred match at Summerslam after they traded the World title from May to July. Several amazing matches took place in their series, but arguably none better than the finale. Edge coming out prior to the match to basically put Christians whiny character in his place set the tone and Christian, as usual, did a great job of overcoming what seemed like sure defeat to make it look like he legitimately had a chance to sneak out another win. Orton, meanwhile, was riding a wave of great matches. He and Christian brought out the best in each other and both went on a phenomenal hot streak from April to September, having a quiet game on Smackdown of Whos the best? The story told throughout the late spring and summer had so many layers to build on for their Summerslam match and they did quite well to utilize much of what made each of their other three PPV matches and their TV MOTY special. They stole the show right out from under Cena-Punk and kudos to the WWE for giving it the chance it deserved to do just that.
"The Doc" Chad Matthews has written wrestling columns for over a decade. A physician by trade, Matthews began writing about wrestling as a hobby, but it became a passion. After 30 years as a wrestling fan, "The Doc" gives an unmatched analytical perspective on pro wrestling in the modern era. He is a long-time columnist for Lordsofpain.net and hosts a weekly podcast on the LOP Radio Network called "The Doc Says." His first book - The WrestleMania Era: The Book of Sports Entertainment - ranks the Top 90 wrestlers from 1983 to present day, was originally published in December 2013, and is now in its third edition.
Matthews lives in North Carolina with his wife, two kids, and two dogs.
