Randy Orton: His Most Important Match

[D-Will316]

What's Orton's most important match?
The match that's gotten him to the positions he's in now. Regarding his legacy and career.
This time I'll go into details about some of my opinions

Elimination Chamber Summer Slam 2003
This was Randy Orton's first big profile match. main eventing a Summer Slam and it was for the World Heavyweight Championship. Very impressive in the match. Whos can forget the cross body from the top?

Unforgiven 2003 vs Shawn Michaels
This was the first Legend vs. Legend Killer match. With a little help from Ric Flair, Randy Orton was able to walk away with a victory. This match set the tone for his character development.

WM20 Evolution vs. Rock 'n' Sock Connection
Randy Orton got the pinfall victory in this match. The main feud in this match was Orton and Foley even overshadowing The Rock for a bit.

Backlash 2004 vs. Mick Foley
I put this in bold and italicized it because THIS is my choice for his most important match. This match showed that he could hang with the big boys getting the victory over Mick Foley in a Hardcore match. I loved it.

Summer Slam 2004 vs. Chris Benoit
His first world championship win. Becoming still to this day the youngest (if you include WWE title) world champion in WWE history. Great match. Surprisingly clean win.

WM21 vs. The Undertaker
The first time the streak was put into a storyline. Legend vs. Legend Killer. He lost but he went down fighting like a champ.

Armageddon 2005 vs. The Undertaker
Hell in a Cell. Not too much more I can add that hasn't been said on the match above.

Royal Rumble 2009
First Royal Rumble victory. I know we all saw it coming but still very important to his success.

What do you think. If any other. Please specify.

 

[newteenforbb]

I guess I'll say (and agree) on the Backlash hardcore bout. But that's only because of Foley being with him and the added appeal of the weapons. Beyond that, Orton doesn't have any outstanding matches. He certainly doesn't have any that would or should be considered his "most important."

Like I said in the previous thread, no one can really come up with 5 matches throughout Orton's tired career that would be ***** matches. Heck, even **** honestly. Just not a good wrestler.

 

[Pedigree1]

Also Backlash for me that match for me IMO showed that orton had indeed arrived!! Foley really brought out the best in orton and it showed the universe and especially the fans that orton was and is the real deal. And to say that orton doesnt have any good matches i wholeheartedly disagree with.

 

[jackslap27]

If I had to choose any of those it would be the Rumble. Sure the other matches were great and vital to where he is now, it just felt to me that he was still in the spot Sheamus or Miz are in currently. I don't think he actually hit superstar status till his year long Cena feud. If it wasn't for that I doubt to many people would care about him, seeing how since that feud he just seems out of place with anyone else. Not saying that he is irrelevant by any means, but after he was done with cena, the only other memorable feud he had was with Christian. His matches against HHH were pretty important to especially at Extreme Rules in 09,when i personally believe his "Viper" persona was born.

 

[LeviCook]

I'm going to go with Wrestlemania 21. The streak wasn't at the level that it is now but even so it was a factor. It was arguably his biggest task at hand. Going one on one with The Undertaker. And not only that but doing it well. I remember believing that he could actually pull the upset and get that victory for a split second. Every time he went against Undertaker it was great. He didn't look out of place at all. And when you can go against Undertaker and do that, that is a huge accomplishment that i don't think people realize. How many superstars today would you take seriously against Undertaker? Very little. The storyline was great all around. I don't think this feud put Randy on the map, but i think it elevated him to that next level. That proved he would have a big future ahead of him.

 

[The_Gene_Genie]

Bit of a strange one for me this. I think his most important match is the next one he has that elevates him back to the title picture and takes his character to the next level.

I'm a big admirer of Orton as an in ring talent and his character overall, but he seems to be under-utilized at the moment; I believe he should be in the main event title picture somehow and have been frustrated at his poor use and seemingly lack of direction right now.

I've no doubt he will come good again, but he needs new creative direction to propel himself back to the top. It just doesn't make sense to to retain his current persona that has allowed him to slip away from the title picture.

But that aside, I think it was the Mick Foley hardcore match at Backlash which helped propel and solidify him as a serious main event performer.

 

[ProWrestlingFan]

Backlash 2004 - Randy Orton vs. Mick Foley - This match solidified Randy Orton's position as the main-eventor.

Wrestlemania 21 - Randy Orton vs. The Undertaker - Randy Orton should have ended the streak at Wrestlemania 21 but overall it was a great match.

 

[Dmbfantomas]

The moment Orton hit the tacks against Foley, it cemented the fact that this guy was going to be an all-time great.

It was very painful to watch, but to see that a pretty boy was willing to take that hit, there you go.

Orton winning a WWE title match at Wrestlemania over HHH AND Cena is huge as well.

 

[Henry Hill]

To me the first huge match of orton's career was against mick foley at backlash '04 which led to what was imo the biggest of his career, summerslam vs. Benoit. The reason these two matches sort of combine for me is because the Foley match legitimised orton as top tier performer and the benoit match was his first and arguably best main event match. even as a heel Orton performed well in a good long back and forth one on one match with a clean win. To me that said that orton could win on his own was a legit title contender and would be a focal point of wrestling for years to come.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Backlash 2004 vs. Mick Foley

It has to be. It was one of the first BIG matches of Rnady Orton's career, facing a legend in his gimmick match of choice. To overcome Mick Foley is a hardcore bout is no mean feat, and Orton did just that.

Not only that, but it was an extremely brutal match, with barbed wire and thumbtacks, and Orton was willing to take a hell of a lot of punishment in the match, which plenty of other wrestlers would not want to do. The clip of Orton going for the RKO and then getting pushed off by Foley and landing back first in the thumbtacks still makes me cringe when I see it. I never expected to see a pretty-boy like Orton take a bump into tacks like that.

Overall, a great hard-hitting match and yet another example of how working with Mick Foley helped elevate stars to the next level. After that match it was clear that Randy Orton was destined for big things, and he has proven us all correct with the success he has achieved since then.

A hall-of-famer for sure.

 

[The Eighties]

The match with Foley was the one that elevated Randy to main event status and prepared him for his World title win later that summer.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

I say it was his Royal Rumble victory in 2009.

That win brought him into the best feud of his career (vs. HHH and the McMahon family). He was unleashed, basically. He ran around like a nutcase, punting and beating the shit out of anyone and everyone in his path. It was a lot of fun. I started digging his act immediately after he punted Vince in the skull. I saw something natural and... mean in the guy. He was fantastic, carrying that feud to greatness. Complain about the WM25 main event all you like, but that feud was top notch.

 

[LFC till i die]

It's either between v Foley at Backlash or his RR win. When Orton beat Foley it proved why he should be a main eventer. He beat Mick Foley in a match which Foley is best known for, but when Orton won the RR it started probably his best feud of his career so far and probably the best feud/storyline of the WWE for quite some time. As as the person above me has also said, he played that cowardly/sadistic/nutcase role brilliantly. Almost as if he's like that in real life. So it'd pick his Royal Rumble win.

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

At first glance I want to say his match with Chris Benoit that won him his first World Championship. The Hardcore match against Mick Foley was a true victory that put him up there in the main event picture, but the World title match was just so much more... Up until that point management had been pushing him hard, giving him the single greatest rookie gimmick and push in wrestling's history. It was that win that showed management's true dedication to Orton, and indicated a very bright future for him. At that time the title was still worth a bit more, and winning it came off as a bigger deal. To that I credit men like Triple H for warring over the belt in blood-spilling, grueling rivalries. Not so much these days...

After that title win Orton would turn face and feud with each member of Evolution. He defeated Ric Flair inside a steel cage, which I would credit to him as his SECOND most important match, proving that the "legend killer" gimmick wasn't just designated for small-time has-beens from wrestling's past. He defeated Batista, a decent win but not that big of a deal (except for his size...). It's a shame they never really put him over Triple H during that feud, but years later it would all come to a head once again.

Orton has had arguably BIGGER matches since beating Chris Benoit for the World Title. The Hell in a Cell with Undertaker for one. Main event WrestleMania with John Cena. The same with Triple H. Feuding briefly with Hulk Hogan. Bigger things have happened to Orton that lead to his current position in the company - arguably the second biggest face under John Cena - but if that first title win hadn't happened, and Orton didn't separate from Evolution, he may have gone down a very different path. Orton/Benoit was the trigger, or catalyst that launched the Viper's career.