WWE Raw Gallery: 25 Years Of Iconic Monday Nights

14. 2004 - Devolution

The Rock CM Punk
WWE.com

Dateline: 16th August, 2004

Randy Orton hadn't quite mastered the art of conveying equal parts terror and rage back when Triple H led a beatdown on him for having the gaul to win his World Heavyweight Title at SummerSlam the night before.

It was just one of the many problems with an accelerated babyface turn for 'The Legend Killer' that saw his first push as a topliner completely destroyed by p*ss-poor creative and the on and off-screen machinations of 'The Game'.

The sh*t-kicking itself was at least hugely memorable, and eventually factored into the storyline that brought downtrodden heels Edge and Randy Orton together as a tag team in 2006.

As a launching pad for the future 'Apex Predator' though? Catastrophic.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett