Randy Orton is one of the most naturally gifted professional wrestlers of his generation, and potentially even of all time. The guy just had 'it' from the word go and as the years have gone on, he's been able to add to his legacy - pun not intended - in more ways than one.
He's also had some pretty big moments at the showcase of the immortals, as you can probably imagine. Today, we want to take a look at his last 10 matches at WrestleMania and figure out which of them flopped, and which of them went far, far above our expectations.
10 Triple H - WrestleMania 25
The build-up to the WrestleMania showdown between Randy Orton and Triple H was phenomenal, as Orton went out of his way to try and make The Game’s life a living hell.
It appeared as if this was all building up to Randy winning the WWE Championship on the grandest stage of them all, but instead, he lost – and he lost in one of the worst Mania main events of all time.
There’s no better way to put this than ‘it fell flat’. There was no energy, no spark, no nothing.
9 Bray Wyatt - WrestleMania 33
Once again, the build-up between Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton was ticking along pretty nicely in the build-up to WrestleMania 33 in Orlando, Florida.
Then, the match happened.
Not only was it a subpar performance from both men, but WWE decided to feature a series of projections in the ring with the intention being for them to heavily distract Randy Orton.
It didn’t quite work out and instead, Wyatt was beaten decisively by Orton in a result that very few folks could actually make sense of in the immediate aftermath.
8 Ted DiBiase & Cody Rhodes - WrestleMania 26
Legacy may not have had the same impact as a faction like Evolution during their run, but they certainly enjoyed their fair share of moments before eventually breaking up in the midst of the WrestleMania 26 build.
The triple threat match between the three in Arizona felt a little bit unusual, to say the least, with many feeling as if one of DiBiase or Rhodes should’ve received a one on one shot as opposed to both being made to fall at the feet of Orton.
It was okay, but nothing more.
7 Bobby Roode, Jinder Mahal & Rusev - WrestleMania 34
This fatal-four-way bout for the United States Championship felt incredibly thrown together, and because of that, nobody was really invested in anything besides Rusev who was on the run of his career at this point.
The action was fine enough but the end result of Jinder Mahal coming away with the US Championship left a really bad taste in the mouths of fans around the world.
Orton did his best, but this was a match that belonged on a smaller pay per view than WrestleMania and that’s just a fact.
6 Kane - WrestleMania 28
The Big Red Machine and The Viper had enjoyed their fair share of wars over the years but in 2012, they were finally given the chance to show what they could do at the show of shows.
It was actually a relatively enjoyable showdown between two veterans of the game, but in the end, Kane was the one who managed to pull a shock win out of the bag with a nice chokeslam from the top rope.
It was nice to see Orton involved in something that, for the most part, he appeared to enjoy.
5 The Shield - WrestleMania 29
Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins were on fire by the time WrestleMania 29 rolled around, and while many of us knew in our hearts that they would probably win, there was still an aura of doubt that cast a shadow over proceedings at MetLife Stadium.
They went up against Randy Orton, Sheamus and The Big Show in a six-man tag match, and while it wasn’t an instant classic, they did a decent enough job at getting all three men over.
From there, The Shield continued to go from strength to strength.
4 AJ Styles - WrestleMania 35
The match between Randy Orton and AJ Styles at WrestleMania 35 was much, much better than the feud suggested it had any right to be.
There didn’t appear to be any rhyme or reason behind this being booked for the showcase of the immortals aside from the fact that they were, and still are, two of the biggest legends in the game.
They told a really entertaining story between the ropes, though, and while AJ managed to secure the win, it felt like Orton’s stock definitely went up a fair amount.
3 CM Punk - WrestleMania 27
Orton had been waiting to get his hands on CM Punk for weeks, if not months, prior to WrestleMania 27 in Atlanta. He was forced to go through several members of The Nexus until finally, he arrived at the door of their leader on the biggest stage imaginable.
Punk threw everything he had at Randy and the master of the RKO gave it all back. The match appeared to suffer from a lack of energy from the crowd at times, but when that RKO finish took place, you couldn’t even hear yourself think due to the pop Randy received.
2 Daniel Bryan & Batista - WrestleMania 30
There was a hefty debate going on in my mind regarding the top two in this list, but above all else, it’s worth noting that this entry featured one of the biggest and best moments from the last ten years of professional wrestling.
Randy Orton wasn’t there to make any waves, and he wasn’t there to even bother looking too good – because this was the Daniel Bryan show and everyone knew it.
Orton wasn’t even the one that got pinned in this match, but still, he played his role well.
1 Seth Rollins - WrestleMania 31
This was a rivalry that was quite clearly personal between these two men and we saw that play out throughout the course of the build-up.
While the aforementioned triple threat in New Orleans was good, this was great featuring one of the best RKOs you will ever see.
Seth Rollins would go on to cash in the Money in the Bank contract later on that same evening, capturing the Universal Championship in the process, but Orton’s win will forever be the one stain The Messiah has on his Mania record.