50 Things You Learn Binge-Watching Every WWE Royal Rumble
17. 2009 Clutched At Straws
Match-defining threads locking everything together were nothing new for the Rumble by the time 2009’s scrap rolled into view, but Triple H battling with Legacy just didn’t feel that thrilling when watching for a second time 15 years later. One thing becomes clear whilst the match is in progress: WWE were going against fan wishes by booking Triple H vs. Randy Orton the way they did. It was all so forced, but that's easier to see now than it was back then.
People in Detroit for January's pay-per-view were into Hunter as a baby and Randy as a heel, but they’d been there done that with the combo time and time again. A young Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase were heaped on as extras to try and make things feel different. It didn't click as well as everyone thought it would. It certainly didn't click anywhere near as well as Cody's title reign has in the modern era.
Orton won despite Hunter eliminating both Rhodes and DiBiase before losing out. WWE were going for a heroic babyface gimmick here, but some of the other elements next to Trips were skewed. For example, neither Vince nor Stephanie McMahon came across as likeable enough characters for sadistic heel Randy to toy with. There were good moments on TV, but they would've been better with stronger faces.
The McMahons had natural heel energy.
It's pretty interesting to see how many of the tropes WWE used for Trips as babyface became go to ones for Roman Reigns almost a decade later. A lot of it was the same old stuff.