Minus-Star Match Reviews: Triple H vs. Randy Orton – WWE WrestleMania 25

Triple H and Randy Orton are two of the biggest names in modern WWE history. Both of them were showered in accolades over the decades and have become famous for what they’ve contributed to wrestling. There are 28 world title reigns between them, four Royal Rumble wins between them, and eight WrestleMania main-events between them. Clearly these two were seen as big deals within WWE, but how well did they do together when they shared the show-closing spot on the biggest stage of them all?

The Story

The build-up to this match was completely fine if not a bit on the cheesy side (watching it gave clear ‘lol, wrestling nonsense’ vibes) but that was to be expected. It was promoted as the culmination of a five-year score that began when Triple H turned on Orton and kicked him out of Evolution. Orton seethed and simmered, biding his time until he found the perfect opportunity to get revenge. That opportunity began earlier in 2009 when Orton won the Royal Rumble, last eliminating HHH. But main-eventing WrestleMania wasn’t enough for Orton; he wanted to do much more damage. And so, Orton attacked members of HHH’s family: first Vince McMahon, then Stephanie. For the first time in WWE canon, HHH’s marriage to Stephanie was recognized instead of being seen as an open secret.

Orton, with help from Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Jr., continued attacking Triple H’s family in a bid to rile the champ up as much as possible. Some of his vile deeds included DDTing Stephanie and kissing her unconscious body while HHH looked on, handcuffed to a nearby turnbuckle. Even Shane McMahon got involved at one point, only to get his ass kicked and have an embarrassing performance with some of the worst punches ever thrown in front of a WWE audience.

Still, you gotta give WWE an A for effort in trying to make this work. They smashed Orton over and tried to make him into an evil version of Stone Cold Steve Austin: an unchained and unpredictable sociopath who would kill anything that moved if it meant him getting ahead. It also helped his case that he had a new second finisher in the Punt Kick, which led to many stretcher jobs in his months-long run as RAW’s top heel.

But a top heel needs a top babyface and…Triple H wasn’t it.

Some people are naturally better suited to play certain roles and Triple H was, like Orton, better suited to be a heel. The way he walked, talked, and moved in the ring gave him a villainous air. He was better suited to leading a match as the heel instead of overcoming the odds as a babyface. He didn’t come across as sympathetic or as an underdog, despite his best efforts. But the man believed that this feud, which dominated RAW for months on end, was worth the coveted WrestleMania main-event spot.

The Match

This took place on April 5, 2009. It was rated **1/2 out of five by the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer.

This is for HHH’s WWE Championship. If he gets counted out or disqualified then he would lose the title. After a staredown HHH takes Orton down and lands some punches. HHH follows with a long strike barrage and right away the ref reminds him about the risks of getting too aggressive. The ref breaks up HHH’s assault which allows Orton to hit an RKO out of nowhere. Then Orton teases a Punt Kick but HHH dodges and lands a Pedigree. Both men go down.

They continue brawling in and around the ring until Orton begs for mercy. Orton tries using the ropes for protection but HHH slingshots him into the bottom rope. HHH follows with some knees and forearms as the heat for this match just dies down. HHH follows with a neckbreaker and goes for an Irish whip but Orton counters and sends HHH into the ringsteps. Then Orton launches HHH over a piece of ringside barricade to initiate a count-out but HHH makes it back into the ring.

Orton lands some stomps followed by a kneedrop/kick combo for a two-count. the crowd appears to be distracted by something in the crowd which causes some mild cheering. That says a lot about how exciting this match has been thus far. HHH escapes a chinlock via back suplex and then charges but Orton counters with a snap powerslam.

Orton follows with another deep chinlock that goes on for a while but HHH fights out. The crowd gets mildly excited as a punch exchange ensues and goes on until HHH lands a jumping knee. HHH counters an Irish whip with his single knee facebuster and tries another Pedigree but Orton counters with a catapult toss into a turnbuckle. Orton charges but HHH drops him with a clothesline, leading to another stalemate.

The crowd appears to chant “RKO” or something as HHH sets Orton up for a superplex. Orton escapes and drops HHH face-first into the turnbuckle. He goes for a diving…something….only for HHH to get his boot up. HHH tries a Pedigree. Orton counters with a jackknife cover for two. HHH blocks an RKO and gets two from a roll-up. Orton blocks one spinebuster but can’t block a second. Orton counters another Pedigree with his back-to-back backbreaker for another two-count. HHH blocks another attack and goes for a dive of his own but Orton dropkicks him in midair.

Orton charges for a Punt kick but HHH catches his foot and launches him over the rope and to the floor. HHH teases hitting Orton with a portable monitor but again the ref warns him about losing the title. For a guy nicknamed “the cerebral assassin” he sure isn’t thinking all that much here, is he? HHH teases a Pedigree atop one of the commentary tables but Orton back body drops him onto the other one. Orton could go for a count-out victory right then and there but he opts to move around senselessly and stall for time. The referee, who had begun his ring-out count way too late, breaks that same count the moment Orton lands a draping DDT off the commentary table. He makes it to nine and HHH magically makes it into the ring at the last possible millisecond.

Orton rushes HHH with stomps followed by some punches to the head. then a ref bump occurs and Orton hits an RKO. Orton exits the ring right next to the downed referee (who has to cover his face to avoid “seeing Orton grab a weapon”) and pulls out HHH’s trusty sledgehammer. But before Orton can enter the ring HHH lands a Punt Kick on Orton. Then HHH hits Orton with the sledgehammer and several fans can be seen turning their heads to the entrance ramp, expecting some interference. But none happens so HHH continues with mounted punches. The ref finally wakes up to stop an overzealous HHH’s punch barrage so HHH follows with a Pedigree out of nowhere. One, two, three…? Wait, really? That’s the finish?

Winner and STILL WWE Champion after 23:35: Triple H

Review

When this match first happened most people gave it a thumbs down because these two simply couldn’t follow what had come before it. Just like with Hogan versus Rock at WrestleMania X8 and Kurt Angle versus Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 21, Triple H and Randy Orton simply couldn’t follow that now-fabled Undertaker/Michaels singles match. That contest is widely hailed as one of the best matches in WrestleMania, WWE, and pro-wrestling history all at once. Some have even argued that it should’ve main-evented the show and not this. There’s a solid argument there, but if there’s one thing that defines pro-wrestling it’s ego and at least one person in this match couldn’t accept the fact that he was going to be overshadowed by something lower on the card.

But if we watch this match in a vacuum it becomes clearer that this match’s poor reputation can’t be blamed on its undercard. As a standalone match this was subpar to say the least. It was one of the slowest, dullest, least exciting main-events in recent WWE history. Most if not all the heat from the build-up to this match died within the first few minutes. In terms of action it was a by-the-numbers display without any sense of specialty. Triple H did his usual clobbering and Orton did a bunch of random stuff for ¾ of the match. The action slowed to a crawl after the first finisher exchange. There was inconsistent selling of anything aside from the stipulation. Speaking of which, Orton didn’t work the rules of the match as well as he could have. He barely cheated, only tried the count-out bit once or twice with middling results, and did precious little to goad HHH into wanting to hurt him more. This left most of the match as a pedestrian affair that felt more like a house show match than a WrestleMania epic.

Though part of that failure came from the roles both men played. It was hard to be sympathetic for Triple H because, at the time, he still had a reputation for being a nepo baby who got ahead because of his connections rather than through his work. So even though he and his family were being victimized by a sadistic and callous Orton, he just didn’t have the acting chops to sell like he was emotionally anguished. His entire career post-Connecticut Blueblood gimmick was to present himself as a badass who brushed off challenges while remaining stoic. For him to suddenly show emotional vulnerability was completely out of character. It was akin to seeing established action hero stars like Sylvester Stallone or Arnold Schwarzenegger thrust into a weighty personal tragedy story.

But having Triple H attempt being a sympathetic babyface could’ve been forgiven had the match actually been entertaining. At no point did it feel like HHH’s title reign was in danger. There was never a sense of escalation, excess, or over-the-top emotion to really emphasize how much these two guys purportedly hated each other. It was as if they knew the finish but didn’t know how to fill their allotted time well enough. As a result, about 10 minutes’ worth of actual action was stretched into over twenty with plenty of dead air between moments of what barely qualified as “heat”. And then it all ended flatly and out of nowhere with a finish that lacked any build. Small wonder, then, that the pop for the finish was equally as sudden and HHH’s post-match celebration was as muted as they come, a far cry from his bigger wins in Manias past.

Final Rating: **

This was the pro-wrestling version of the Bart Simpson AT LEAST YOU TRIED meme. The build-up to the match was solid but the final payoff was deflating and not worth the time or emotional investment. Triple H thought he could carry Orton to a classic the same way he did with The Rock at Judgment Day 2000 but he couldn’t. Instead, he and Orton slugged it out for over twenty minutes in a match that didn’t reach anywhere near the same emotional heights as the angles and promos that led to it.

As for Orton, I’ve always found him be a three-star wrestler with a five-star finisher. Despite all his accolades in professional wrestling his biggest achievement will be the fact that he escaped the confines of the wrestling bubble and became a living meme for a brief period in 2014. He has managed to extent his career with one simple move, but it takes more than that to have a match worthy of closing the biggest annual wrestling event on earth.

Triple H has had a few classics under his belt, most of which took place before he tore his quad for the first time. As for Orton, his best days were during his Legend Killer phase, particularly his brutal match with Cactus Jack at Backlash 2004. If you’re dead-set on watching the best that either of these two men has to offer, you’re going to have to go much farther back in time than 2009.

Thanks for reading.