Randy Orton vs. Triple H

[3.0] "These two had a fantastic feud going into this match. It's the main event of Wrestlemania, it's 2009 Randy Orton vs a Triple H that may be past his prime but he's still very much capable of putting on great matches. They've known and worked each other for years, and somehow they manage to put on this abysmal match! Given the storyline that they had and the fact that we have 2 all time greats facing off in the main event of Wrestlemania I have a hard time believing that this match is as bad as it is. But it is! Orton did a mid air drop kick that was nice, put that aside it's a 20 something minute bore fest with the most dead finish you can imagine. Awful match. *3/4"

[5.0] "I understand that people are bothered that the stipulation of the match doesn't have much to do with the final match, but the match itself isn't bad, so meh, it's a bit long and boring at times, but it's not bad, maybe disappointing, but I didn't think it was bad."

[5.0] "Honestly, I do think this match gets a slightly bad wrap. Like, was booking it as a "title changes hands on DQ" stip a stupid idea given the blood feud build up? Yes, absolutely. No feud that involved home invasions and DDTing someone's wife should involve a lengthy chinlock segment. Coming after the Taker-HBK match, and even the Hardys blood feud match, does make it look worse in comparison, too. But maybe it's also because I just watched Unforgiven 2004 coincidentally enough and saw an even more boring and plodding Triple H-Randy Orton match that I'm slightly more generous to this one. They did okay. It was a dumb stip, but it was worked alright, it was just kind of boring and a let down from what it should have been. It wasn't BAD."

[4.0] "This was just confusing. Why have this blood feud and then make such a stupid, pointless stipulation? And it didn't even matter because Triple H cheated and won, which he shouldn't have. Why win here?"

[0.0] "A blood feud with no blood. It was going to be impossible to follow HBK/Undie but it seems like these two didn't even try. This is the second time Triple H followed a superior match and build with his brand of inferior, slow paced, faux-epic crap. Triple H is the Ken Norton of wrestling. The boxer not his son the football player. It's also a comparison of quality. Ken Norton had too much integrity to fuck the promoter's daughter."

[2.0] "I will give credit where it's due, they did all they could to build this match into a bloodfeud. Makes sense since this should be the biggest match at the biggest show of the year. What doesn't make sense is making it a straight singles match when this feud is screaming for a no-DQ, street fight match. What instead happens is a boring, yawn inducing snooze fest...in the main event...of WrestleMania...that's the problem. Fundamentally, there is nothing wrong with this match. They are telling a story and all the moves look fine. But there is nothing here that is Mania main event worthy. Orton plays the role of a psycho heel well, but his character is slow and methodical, so he needs an opponent who can inject life into the match. Triple H is not that. Triple H is beyond overrated and cannot carry a big time main event, despite what he believes. It leads to a mirror match of boring. That combined with going on after HBK/Taker and Austin means the crowd are just waiting to go home. The finish comes out of nowhere too, really flat. If this was on any other show, it would be a below average match, but because it is the main event of WrestleMania, it is really bad."

[2.0] "(**) ""The worst thing you can be is boring" should be the tagline of this match. Plodding, uncreative, and sterile, nothing about it lives up to the wonderful build that preceded it. HHH and Orton have never been the best opponents for each other--their styles are far too similar, making it feel like watching a person grapple with themselves for 30 minutes. Speaking of, this match is a HHH classic (an ode to the good old days) Broadway, but it lacks any of the fire or emotion seen in those matches and instead becomes a slog. That wouldn't be so bad if it weren't the main event of the "25th anniversary" of Mania, which makes it a disappointment, to say the least."

[4.0] "There have been worse WrestleMania main events. It's not bad. But it could've been amazing. Especially considering how personal the feud was getting at the time, with an AMAZING build up, I don't know what possessed Vince to book the match with a risk of a DQ. I guess that played good into a phycological standpoint, but all we really wanted was to see HHH and Orton go at it with hardcore violence. The match itself just kinda happened. Nothing bad, nothing good, with a dead as hell crowd and a dead as hell finish. Orton probably should've won, that'd at least make something salvageable for me. **"

[7.0] "***1/2 (07/10) When the time came for the main-event's bell to ring, you could hear nothing but pins drop from how burnt out all of Reliant Stadium was. The unfortunate truth is that had they booked the HBK/Taker to be the main-event, the energy to Orton/HHH might've been higher in intensity and response, owed to the strong hold of a matchup from the two. I know. I know: Randy should have won. He didn't. He would get his win against the Game, but not tonight. That finish was more dead than the crowd that remained."

[4.0] "Disappointing main event. A lot of boredom - I would compare it to Mania 32 from this aspect. Such an intensive feud would be summarized better."

[5.0] "not even that bad, just very mid. whose grand idea was it to have a bog standard singles match after that buildup? should've been an i quit match or something **3/4"

[3.0] "While there have been worse WrestleMania main events than this one, there have been few if any that so utterly failed to live up to immense hype around them going in. For what was one of the most intense feuds in WWE history, with Orton repeatedly assaulting HHH's family and wife in the lead-up, the match itself came off as relatively pedestrian, aggressively dull, and barely any different from the usual fare one would expect from those two. First and foremost, the encounter was obviously hamstrung before the bell even rung by a stipulation that forbade anything truly violet from happening and forced both men to wrestle an ordinary match. I know Vickie Guerrero was responsible for adding the stipulation, but why the McMahons--who despised Orton at this time in kayfabe and, most importantly, owned the damn company--allowed it to stand still makes absolutely no sense. They should have just let both guys rip each other apart with weapons for twenty minutes to really sell how much they were supposed to loathe one another. Instead, we were treated to slow-paced, nearly twenty-hive minute slog that centred around HHH and Orton having to deliberately restrain themselves lest they be disqualified. I admittedly did enjoy some of Orton's heel work. Him clearly trying to get under HHH's skin to force the DQ only to end-up working himself into a frenzy and costing himself the match resultantly was not a bad story on paper. But it was clearly not the match I or anyone in attendance wanted to watch given how quiet the crowd sounded and how bored it looked for most the the match. I will say, Orton hit a dropkick to HHH coming off of the top rope and it looked spectacular. Orton's dropkicks are usually on point, but this one was something else. Genuinely the highlight of the match. There's nothing much else to say about this really; it was just boring and it is obvious as to why that was. I will also add that the ending two minutes were some of the slowest and most sluggish wrestling I have ever seen. It was like they were both trying to drag it out for as long as possible. It was intolerable and I just couldn't wait for it to be over by that point. Oh, and yes, Orton should have won this. He was red hot as a heel, and beating him here really put a damper on what should have been an all-time great run for him. *3/4"

[9.0] "I started watching wrestling partly thanks to this rivalry which I find incredible so on the emotional side it definitely had an impact on me, and what's more I found that the match was really cool I just think that the rivalry should have stopped after this match and not continued. Coming back to the match obviously when you come after one of the best matches of all time it's difficult to get people to react and ensure that it is still concerned, I just think that if we would have reversed the match in co main event and taker michaels in main event the match would have had a lot more positive reaction."

"A great storyline that ended with a poor quality match. I feel sorry thats all i can say. This match could have been way better."

[3.0] "Barely watchable; these two never had much chemistry and when paired with an utterly dead crowd, it produces a predictably dull main event."

[1.0] "The story and build up it had was really great with peak heel Randy Orton attacking babyface Triple H and his family which led to Triple H breaking into Orton's fake house, scaring his fake wife, but then there was the added stipulation of Triple H being stripped of the title if disqualified or counted out, which led to them just having a regular match. It was slow, dull, boring, way too long, the crowd was dead and it was just typical standard wrestling between both men. Both one of the most underwhelming and worst WrestleMania main events ever."

[1.0] "Horrible match. Slow, plodding, boring, uneventful, dead crowd....everything was horrible. The wrong person won, nothing interesting happened in the match, at least there wasn't any botch whatsoever. And the worse thing is that the feud was amazing: a good, violent, grudge feud. AVOID THIS MATCH"

[5.0] "Yeahhhh this had building blocks to be something more than what it was, I'm sure their other meetings are better than this. It didn't help that it had to follow up Undertaker vs. Shawn. I liked the hot start for the first 10 or so minutes, it got a bit too slow for too long towards the end, but these guys didn't fundamentally do anything too wrong. It was just a case of wrong stipulation for the most part. **3/4"

[4.0] "I really wanted to like this match, because the build has been fantastic and Randy's character work phenomenal, but it was just so boring. They had something there - they slowed things down, focused on telling the story with the facials, but the crowd didn't care after three hours of wrestling and Taker with Michaels stealing the show. They got barely any reaction and even though they worked the stipulation well there was no way that they would get the fans involved with limiting Triple H's offense at this point of the show. Really a shame, because the story deserved so much more."

[0.0] "I don't care about Shawn vs Taker being before this and I don't care about the build to this match. This is still an offensively boring match that also goes 20 plus minutes. Especially with these two who are well known for putting on boring matches, I wasn't sure what I was expecting but I still feel like my time was wasted. The crowd wasn't even into it, this match totally failed."

[5.0] "The build up to this match was amazing, but this match was not. The match was slow, dull and boring. The only thing that could have saved this match would have been a stipulation or something."

[2.0] "A really great feud that ends with an utterly dull and heatless match. They never could have followed up on HBK vs Taker, but at least make this match a no DQ or something."

[3.0] "The story leading up to this match was amazing, they really put a lot of effort into making people care about this match. The biggest issue though, is that they had to follow HBK/Taker. People knew it was going to be a great match but I don't think people quite understood how great it was going to be. Under different circumstances, this would've been a very good WM main event. The crowd was very dead at this point though, and having seen the HBK/Taker match, nothing was going to top it. Was still an ok-ish match but it was overshadowed earlier on in the night. Wouldn't really recommend people go back and watch this match because it's just very flat and doesn't have that feeling of a WM main event."

[6.0] "Not sure why this match gets so much flak on here as I thought it was on par with the World Heavyweight Title match on this same show not that the bar was very high, every match on this card paled in comparison to Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels. I agree with others that this match should have been a No Disqualification type of stipulation but I thought they did well with the story they had with Triple H needing to hold it together and not get disqualified and Randy trying multiple times to win by countout. Triple H being able to finally drill Orton with the sledgehammer when the ref took a bump seemed alright in terms the feud getting its blowoff but it definitely could have been more. Bump of the match had to be the hanging DDT from the announce table to the floor. At least 2.5 stars."

[4.0] "I absolutely hated this match live, but going back and watching it now, I think they were actually really close to having something that worked. The first half of the match has potential. They actually sell the hatred between the two pretty well in the early portion of the match. The early finisher exchange is a unique idea that is initially sold well and gives them something interesting to work with, however around the time that Triple H makes his comeback out of Orton's chinlock, the match starts to come across as pretty ordinary, and everything from beforehand seems like it was fairly inconsequential. It feels a lot longer than it actually is, and by the time they reach the finish (which on paper should feel very cathartic, but in execution it has come after so much tedious 'action' that it falls flat) all the heat is gone. It's a shame, because I think they had some ideas here that could have resulted in a really good match, but unfortunately the second half of the match the crowd has clearly checked out, and it comes across as boring more than anything else."

[6.0] "Now, this match is too long, theres no doubt about that. But this one surprised me in how little I was bored. Sure, I was kinda bored by the middle portion, as it was quite slow, but it did pick back up enough to keep my interest. Im sure it underwhelms when viewed in context, but overall I didnt have that bad of a time with it."

[2.0] "Most underwhelming match in WWE history. For anyone reading this, go watch their No Mercy 2007 Last Man Standing match instead. Had the action, drama & result that this match should've had. Instead, we got an abortion of a WM main event that still irks me 15 years later."

[5.0] "The big problem with this match is its length, yet it had some good first minutes. I didn't find it bad, just too long. The finish is cool. (2*3/4)"

[5.0] "It wasn't a great match but it wasn't horrible. I think the low ratings are due to the expectation of the match and it not living up to that. In a vacuum the match itself was okay, nothing special. It certainly could have been much better considering the build up."

[0.0] "One of the most disappointing matches ever. I was so much into the story of these two. It started from that betrayal in 2004 and was very deep and very personal. Orton and HHH absolutely hated each other And were ready to kill. But what happens in the end? A fucking normal match instead of hell in a cell, or at least a No DQ. Hell even they aded if triple h gets DQ he lose the title. WHAT THE HELL IS THIS? so we get a slow boring ass match with wrong winner"

[4.0] "The way it started and the middle portion was okay but the ending felt so off. This was a revenge grudge match but didn't really feel like it. It was more of Orton trying to slither himself to win the WWE Championship. It was a match of poor quality and a huge disappointment. **1/4"

[4.0] "This match had the exact opposite gimmick to what it needed based on the build, hell just based on the video package it feels off to hear the "title changes on DQ" rule. There are some decent moments, specially at the beginning. but the match does become a drag . Its not the worst Mania main event (way more watchable than Hogan/Sid for example) but its still in the lower tier"

[1.0] "This match is so lifeless, so my review will be lifeless as well. This match meant nothing and if the show was without these two, no one would complain."

[1.0] "You'd think they realised that Triple H can't work a good Wrestlemania main event that doesn't involve two other guys in it but nope. Did they learn here? Nope, because Wrestlemania 32 happens. The early finishers are the only highlight as they plod for 20+ minutes. This needed a no DQ stipulation but nope, we got the opposite. This fucking sucked so much holy shit - 1/2"

[6.0] "3 stars - really so low? The crowd was dead but I still managed to find this one really enjoyable with a great story"

[2.0] "what a disappointing finish to an all time rivalry. the man RKO'd his wife. punt kicked his father in law. KILL THE MAN. very underwhelming."

[6.0] "Mildly underrated, in my opinion. This was not a bad match at all, it just had to main event a show where Undertaker and Shawn Michaels tore the house down. Plus, this didn't really feel like a main event for a PPV (never mind a WrestleMania). This probably should have been No Disqualification. I guess it was pretty passable, though. Some decent character work from Randy Orton."

[1.0] "This was a 23-minute grudge match that felt like a 4-hour boring art film you find on PBS at 3 in the morning. Nearly unwatchable."

[3.0] "I guess I'll give them credit for starting it off in an interesting way, but they still laid a huge egg here. Everything from the stipulation to Triple H and Orton's style just made this an uphill battle."

[6.0] "The match is pretty good, a bit too long. The match is very logical, a victory of Randy might have been a better choice but the construction and the storyline make the resut be logical even if it disappoints some people."

[3.0] "Triple H tries to get revenge on the man who punt kicked his father-in-law and kissed his unconscious wife by... *checks notes* wrestling him as he would if was any other guy on the roster. In fairness, the stipulation of this match states that Triple H would lose his title if he got disqualified or counted out, but that's still no excuse for the lifeless display we got as the main event of the biggest show of the year. Orton was routinely criticized for his overuse of rest holds during the early stages of his Viper gimmick and this match was a good example of that. Trips and Orton never had the best chemistry, but this was by far one of their dullest matches."

[4.0] "This match had a great build but the match itself was slow, plodding, and had pretty poor pacing. Didn't like the usage of the finishers, the stipulation, etc. Triple H gets his revenge on Orton via a sledgehammer shot to the head, which looked pretty brutal. The match itself was not deserving of the main event, maybe if it was No DQ there would've been a better performance."

[4.0] "Triple H gets revenge on the man who punted his wife and father-in-law by, as per usual, wrestling like he were against anyone else on the roster. The teases for a DQ finish do more to hinder their bitter feud at the time, much like the use of headlocks done by Orton. If they aren't trading decent punches (less so from Orton), they're working a match more appropriate for one of the lesser PPVs instead of "The Biggest Show of the Year". I do appreciate the use of finishers so early into the match as something wholly different, but it likely made for most of what followed a tedious chore to sit through. Of course, Triple H wins in anticlimactic fashion, after several deflated segments, all at the expense of the Age of Orton. Just bad decisions all around. **"

[5.0] "It felt more like a mediocre B PPV semi-main than a real Wrestlemania main event but both guys are capable enough of churning out a competent match and it's far from being a real catastrophe like the Reigns/Undertaker match was."

[2.0] "Awww man, the feud going into this was fantastic but the stipulation was terrible and killed all the heat in this"

[3.0] "this match was a huge let down most of it because of some stupid booking decisions. after months of build up or even years the feud between triple h and randy orton got more and more personal this guys were ready to murder each other and the fans were super hyped for their match in wrestlemania. then wwe decide it to be a normal single match and even if triple h gets DQ orton becomes the new champ witch is the worse decision possible . this guys were in the peak of their heated feud and the type of match they needed was a hell in a cell match or no dq match so the match ended up to be a way long and boring main event and wrong guy won"

[3.0] "This seems to be considered one of the worst main events from any WrestleMania over the last 15 years. Maybe not as bad as Cena/Miz, but still underwhelming. The build-up was great especially with the Orton/Stephanie angle from RAW. But the match itself was a let down. This should have been an unsanctioned match because it would have shown the intensity and hatred these two had within their feud. But instead we got a very drawn out and boring 25 minute match. Didn't help that they had a headlock spot in the middle of the match which is considered a blood feud. Just Orton and HHH trading their dull and predictable offense in front of a flat crowd. Absolutely terrible finish too. Disappointing more than anything else. **"

[3.0] "A poor match, devoid of any drama, despite a very strong build-up. Very disappointing, as most of Triple H's Wrestlemania main event matches."