Ranking Every WWE Title Match At Royal Rumble - From Worst To Best
29. Royal Rumble 2010 - Sheamus Vs. Randy Orton

He may have been putting on banger after banger in more recent years, but that was sadly far from the case for Sheamus back in 2010.
While he was the WWE Champion here, there was still minimal real interest in seeing Sheamus as a top guy when he took on Randy Orton at the 2010 Royal Rumble. This was a Sheamus who was fresh off beating John Cena for that title, with a PLE match against Orton used as another way to further indicate how WWE viewed the Celtic Warrior as a bona fide top talent.
Unfortunately, the heel Sheamus had yet to fully click with fans. Added to that, the Viper himself was still pretty much a heel, and fans were more interested in the brewing troubles within Orton's Legacy group at this time, with the cracks starting to show between Randal Keith, Ted DiBiase Jr., and Cody Rhodes.
The match itself was adequate, but there was zero connection to the audience. A Rhodes forearm to Sheamus caused a DQ finish, with the WWE Champion a background player here to the stewing dissension that was starting to show in Legacy.
Of course, those issues would come to a head later that year at WrestleMania XXVI, where Orton emerged victorious in a triple-threat bout against his two protégés.