*DISCLAIMER* I love wrestling. In writing this wrestling blog I want to say that my point of view on these matches are not meant to be seen as fact or taken personally. They are coming from a place of being a true and appreciative fan, not a place of pretension or gossip. My hope is that I can write something that maybe will open up new thoughts and ideas on these matches, to see them differently or more in more detail. Or perhaps inspire others to see them for the first time.
I want to write about the series of matches between Christian and Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship back in 2011. This series of matches is one of my personal favorites of all time. The chemistry these two had was insane. The matches were almost too smooth. It really harkens back to the series of matches with Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat. Not saying one is better than the other. But comparisons can certainly be drawn based on how their movements flowed in the ring, the details going on in the matches and how every match was different than the other and each stood on their own. I’ll get it out of the way now; I’m biased all day long, I friggin’ love Christian. I’ve always been a huge fan of his. Obviously from his tag team days with Edge and I was a huge fan of him with Chris Jericho (Vitamin C) I was especially a huge peep when he broke out into singles. It’s been said and I agree that he was one of the most underrated competitors in WWE. As a heel, he could make you laugh, make your skin crawl and no one threw a better tantrum in the ring. As a baby face, you believed everything he was fighting for and cared about him winning or losing. As elementary as that sounds, that’s a very rare thing today. The ability to truly believe in someone’s fight; to cheer in their victory and be heartbroken in their defeat. And that was the story, starting out going into these matches. On the other side of the coin is the Viper, Randy Orton. Randy is easily one of the greatest WWE superstars of all time. Being a third generation superstar, his lineage alone makes him destined to be good. He moves in the ring with an ease that can’t be taught. You just have it or you don’t and Randy has it. One thing I dig about watching Randy is his portrayal of his “Viper” physicality. From his facial expressions to the way he slides, slithers and strikes in the ring. He created a believable and entertaining three dimensional persona completely off of the characteristics of a snake, very cool.
To bring us to this point in time, we gotta talk about what happened with Edge. Edge (Christian’s real life childhood best friend) was the World Heavyweight Champion after WrestleMania XXVII but in a heartbreaking and shocking moment had to retire immediately from active in ring competition due to injuries he had sustained throughout his illustrious career. Christian made a vow that he would win the vacated World Heavyweight Title in Edge’s honor in a ladder match against Alberto Del Rio. In a truly emotional moment and a very good ladder match, Christian, with Edge at ringside finally took center stage and achieved his dream of becoming World Heavyweight Champion. (I lost my shit when this happened!) In his first TV appearance, during his celebration speech he finds out he has to defend his newly won Title that night against none other than Randy Orton. And Randy was firing on all cylinders at this point. Having fantastic matches, his Harley Race-like stubble and arguably the best shape he’s ever been in throughout his whole career. His physique here is off the chart. Randy had been on Monday Night Raw prior to this and was having a red hot feud with CM Punk. Their match at WrestleMania was a classic bout and at the same Extreme Rules event where Christian won the World Heavyweight Title, Randy defeated CM Punk in a Last Man Standing match. Five days later, Randy was drafted over to Friday Night SmackDown! And just like that, the Cinderella story was over. Randy took the Title away from Christian in one fell swoop. The angle that preceded this was handled so well. I’m a huge fan of the slow burn and their storyline was just that: A slow burn that kept fans engaged and interested throughout the whole summer in 4 back-to-back-to-back-to-back Pay-Per-View matches. That is nuts! Things like that didn’t happen then. Hell, they don’t happen now! Four months of one-on-one matches that by the end made both Randy Orton and Christian bigger than they already were and left fans with a classic series of matches that need to be relived.
SMACKDOWN!
MAY 6, 2011 – ORLANDO, FLORIDA
This is the match that saw Christian lose the World Heavyweight Championship mere days after he won it. Firstly, this was an awesome TV match and a rare bout in the sense that it saw a Title change. Watch the expressions on both men as the match starts. Randy is super confident and you can almost sense that he feels that he’s already won. Christian is proud but you can tell he’s nervous that his Championship victory might turn out to be a fluke. You can see how good their chemistry is as soon as the match begins. They both just know where to go instinctively. A pleasure to watch. Fans were divided between seeing Christian being the champ and Randy Orton being Randy Orton. They were both baby faces and most WWE fans won’t be too invested in seeing two favorites fight but here the conflict of not wanting either man to lose put fans in turmoil. You really sense that Christian is fighting through the psychological and physical pain of being in this match. Throughout the match, Randy is always catching Christian, whether it is power slams or his vintage hanging DDT but Christian keeps toughing it out, constantly avoiding defeat, until he doesn’t. Randy catches Christian one too many times with a stunning RKO that crowns Orton’s seventh Championship. The fans are ecstatic that they’ve just seen the Title change hands on TV but then they realize who was at the expense of it as a bewildered Christian makes the long, lonely walk back up the aisle.
OVER THE LIMIT 2011
MAY 22, 2011 – SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
This is my personal favorite match of their series. The rematch from Christian’s shockingly short Championship reign. The story going in, Christian said it best, “A 100% prepared Christian can beat Randy Orton.” A testament to the storyline and performers is that both these guys were baby faces in this match and the crowd was super into everything they were doing. What’s cool is that this was such a different match than their first. I love that the first thing that happens in the match is that Christian goes for a school boy roll up for the quick pin, as if to say, “You ended my reign, I’m gonna beat you and get my Title back in seconds.” A very smart specific, choice. This match is back and forth, back and forth. Trading dropkicks and seeing who was affected more. No one can get the advantage. Before Suplex City was a thing, I always talked about Counter City and these two took a detour and decided to stay there during this match. There is a moment where there is a gorgeous leapfrog from Randy and as Christian comes off the ropes, Randy gives him a strong back elbow and his core strength doesn’t even budge him from the impact. His feet stay in place and the stillness in his physicality shows that he feels he is that much stronger. That he owns Christian. I’m huge into details. These things make matches feel alive and you’re so much more invested when these little details are happening. As the match goes on, the desperation starts sinking in for Christian. You can feel his fight with the visceral noises he makes and his desperate facial expressions. The build throughout the whole match is excellent. Not one wasted move.
At one point, they call back to the finish of their previous match and they play with it so well that kicking out of a sunset flip felt as exciting as kicking out of a finisher. Incredible! They have the crowd firmly with them and every set up is making the anticipation that much greater. All the way until the end, you’re not sure what’s going to happen in this match. A classic.
CAPITOL PUNISHMENT 2011
JUNE 19, 2011 –WASHINGTON D.C.
One of the best things about this rivalry is that it is so simple. It’s simply based on someone obsessively wanting to defeat the other. Christian saying, “I can beat you, Randy. I know it.” Of course, along with this comes the prize of the World Heavyweight Title but think about how many rivalries today happen that exist with the emphasis being on the simple desire to defeat their opponent. That was the story going into this match. Christian felt that he needed to change his attitude and demeanor to best Randy Orton, so he turned on the fans that supported him and is now willing to do whatever it takes to prove to himself he can beat the 2-0 World Heavyweight Champion. Again, the little details in this match are the things to watch for. Just watching their entrances as Randy looks like he can’t wait to prove, once and for all that he is the better man and there’s Christian, with his smarmy attitude. Another intricate part of the storyline going in to this match is Randy battling with the lingering effects of a concussion. Randy is strong in the early part of the match and Christian cannot weather the storm until the steel stair spot; from then on Christian relentlessly goes after Randy’s concussion. Even the little details of Randy trying to battle back with a head butt and reeling from his own offense is a nice touch. Randy is A+ at selling the lingering concussion too. You really feel that he is out of it and you worry that his instability will be something that the devious Christian will capitalize on and win the match. Every offensive move Randy delivers takes him out as well. The commentary in this match really does a good job in calling the match and selling all of this. And if I haven’t stated it enough, Randy is so fuckin’ good in this match. The physicality with everything he does is on point. Again, this is a really simple match but the details make us care and these guys are pros at the details. The controversy at the end of the match serves really well in furthering the feud.
MONEY IN THE BANK 2011
JULY 17, 2011 – CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
The dawn of “One more match!” began during the build up to this match. Christian was full swing into his heel mode as he petitioned himself with reasons why he deserved another opportunity. He forced his way into getting another chance at the World Heavyweight Championship and even managed to instigate a stipulation that if Randy is counted out or disqualified, Randy would lose the Title. Christian, in his last chance has stacked the deck completely in his favor to try to finally defeat Randy who he cannot best. Christian oozes his weasel slime in his entrance. Randy is confident and ready to decimate Christian one final time and get this annoying fly out of his life. What a way to start the match, Christian knowing full well he’s pissed Randy off so much that his best plan of attack is to play mind games by leaving the ring and letting Randy know he’s trying to get Randy to lose his cool and get disqualified. Christian doesn’t care at all about beating Randy; he just wants to leave the World Heavyweight Title. You can see as Randy is leading his flurry on Christian, he’s at a boiling point. He wants to punish Christian. Interesting, the ruckus, smart Chicago crowd is booing for Randy. Calling back to their previous matches, frustration builds for Christian as his offense just is not working. Randy always weathers the storm and answers back. Just a personal thought, perhaps Christian used a diving head butt as a way of showing that his persistence is so hard headed, as is Randy’s? No right answer to this, but interesting food for thought. You can feel the crowd resonate after Randy kicks out of the kill switch. Over the course of this rivalry, Christian has now used everything in his arsenal. The end of this match is one of the most creative finishes I’ve seen in and fits perfectly to the story.
SUMMERSLAM 2011
AUGUST 14, 2011 – LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
The culmination. No-Holds-Barred match. Christian referred to the level of importance of this match, to be his personal WrestleMania. I had the privilege of being there live for this match and it was incredible! Going into this match, Christian brags about having something up his sleeve that gives him the advantage in this match. This advantage proved to be all for naught as Christian thought his best friend, Edge would be in his corner but instead Edge called Christian out on being a bitch of a champion and wouldn’t be in his corner. Christian has lost his mental edge (Pun intended) over Randy and now was starting his No-Holds-Barred Title defense emotionally thrown. Christian does his best to regroup and you can see all the emotions on his face. It is clear Christian wants no part of this match, even trying to run away with the Title. Randy’s pummels of Christian in the corner are vicious. Even with the introduction of weapons coming into the match, these two know each other so well that neither can get the advantage. Taking a detour to Counter City, if you will. I’d never seen a superplex delivered onto a flat table on the mat, so cool. And I love this detail when the table isn’t useable to set up on it’s legs, Randy is so experienced that instead of getting another one he sets that one up in the corner. Very smart and savvy and keeps the realism of the situation. It starts to become clear that Christian is overmatched and Randy uses every weapon in the ring to finish Christian in a fashion that decisively ends this rivalry. This match really does callback to their previous matches with elements of their rivalry coming back into play. The seesaw battle, the RKO on the table, the spit, the finish. Everything comes full circle in the months of a rivalry that culminates in one wild match that even with its callbacks is completely its own match. That to me is what’s so cool about this rivalry. Each match absolutely stands on its own but you need every match to see how well told the story was. The chemistry, the story, the psychology, the characters. This rivalry has it all!