Christian vs. Randy Orton

[6.0] "Good performance from both. Just nothing extraordinary. I can't seem to like Christian. Weird but cool looking Orton submission hold. Nice spot of Randy second guessing using the Punt Kick, that Christian capitalizes on with a nice tribute Spear (it would have been better if he wasn't so damn over-the-top leading up to it, tho)."

"What a match! I honestly couldn't believe how great this was and how it took me this long to watch it. Orton and Christian have amazing chemistry and that finish to this match was just beautiful. The best Orton match ive ever seen"

[10.0] "This match is the closest, I believe, that Christian is made to look like a credible threat and as an equal to Randy Orton. I believe this is one of the best and most unique matches Randy Orton has competed in, and it is him changing his style, even slightly, that helped this match shine. Orton doing moves he didn't usually resort to, the Billy goat's curse submission hold, the jack-knife pin, minimising the usage of restholds. The way he emotes and reacts to Christian's resilience puts Christian over as tough and makes winning the match and the title seem the most important thing in the world."

[9.0] "What a performance, very nice to see and one of the most complete in ring performance by Orton. The match was perfect, it lacked a few more minutes filled with kickouts/revearsals. Still very great, not particularly innovative (except for that weird but great submission move by Randy) but had such a nice pace."

[9.0] "I love this fight; it's one of the best of Randy Orton's career. It's an underrated fight that very few remember, but it's a classic of classics. The chemistry between the two is incredible."

[9.0] "[4.25*] Man, I love this match so much. The funny thing is, everything that happened on the match itself was perfect, the only reason why it was not a perfect match (for me) is the fact that I missed a more memorable and dramatic ending stretch, but the match itself has no flaws or mistakes. The psychology of the match was the fact that they knew each other a lot and studied one another. Well, for this to work, at least they had to have a little bit of chemistry, and man, their chemistry is just excellent. The fake-outs, the reversals, everything looked just beautiful, the charm of this match is the execution, everything is done with such a perfection, such a detail, it is awesome. Randy brought all his viciousness and had a phenomenal showing, including that insane submission that I have never seen. Christian was great as a babyface and I actually liked the SPEAR SPEAR SPEAR spot where Randy reversed it into a Scoop Powerslam. I think the ending lacked some nearfalls and emotions, but the reversal dance between the Killswitch and the RKO was beautiful."

[10.0] "Phenomenal match between both men with really spectacular in ring action and chemistry between each other and Christian gave such a spectacular performance here with his character work and storytelling."

[9.0] "Not a carryjob, but Christian bears the entirety of the drama and emotional weight to this match. Working exceptionally well as the underdog having to fight an uphill battle, conveying the sense of frustration and doubt growing on him with each failed pin attempt. All while never taking away from Orton's face appeal, who in the context of this feud, has done nothing to warrant a heel reaction."

[6.0] "While this match is good, it's not quite great. This is due to the first half of the match being as generic as title matches get. There's no storytelling and nothing significant happening. It's just moves for the sake of doing moves. Nothing in the early stages of the match really mean anything as it progresses. It's just tame and lackluster. The second half really picks things up significantly. Christian's determination and frustration kick in and it shows how bad he wants it. A lot of good spots and near falls happen here that really start to get you into it. But just as you start to get near the edge of your seat, Orton ends it with an RKO. This is, for sure, an enjoyable match. If the first half was like the second, this would have been excellent. Instead, you need to suffer through the dull opening to get to the meat. Good, but could have been a lot better."

[8.0] "A better match than the last. Good psychology in the sense that Christian avoids taking an RKO in the same way as in the previous match which cost him the loss of his title. Little by little, Christian gets angry in the match while Orton hesitated to give him a Punt Kick. The finish is really good, Orton gets countered by Christian and gives him an RKO. The post-match shows us Orton helping Christian to get up but Christian pushes him away then shakes his hand. We begin Christian's Heel Turn. (4*1/4)"

[9.0] "This was a really good match. It had the two go back and fourth counter after counter and told a really good story of Christians desperation to win back the World Heavyweight Championship."

[9.0] "I loved this. This rivalry imo is incredibly underated, its one of the best rivalries in PG WWE, Vince just didn't see Christian's worth. Face Orton is really great in ring and you can feel the passion he has and working with a talent like Christian really brought the best out of him. The match was back and forth, it was full of beautiful counters, the match was really well paced and action packed, tightly structured and had great storytelling. You can feel Christian's desperation but Orton was not just gonna hand over the World Championship. Crowd was split 50/50, whoever wins, they are gonna be satisfied either way. Great match. ****1/2"

[9.0] "This is one of the best Randy Orton singles bouts out there. Watching him now, he reminds me a lot of Sanada: he is crisp, he doesn't make mistakes, and he is athletic as hell, but the emotion is lacking. However, this was so well-worked by both him and Christian that it still ended up being excellent. ****1/4"

[9.0] "The story of this match was Christian's desperation to defeat Randy Orton and recapture the World Heavyweight Title, and to redeem himself after his loss to Orton a couple of weeks before. Orton always seemed one step ahead, but Christian got close a few times. The way Christian sold those near falls was amazing, and the way they both reacted to the 50/50 split crowd was great, too. There were some unbelievable reversals in this match. One of the best was Christian's spear being reversed into the Orton scoop slam. So fast, and so cleanly done. The final sequence between the two, with Killswitches and RKO's being re-reversed into each other was a real nail-biter. The earlier parts of the match were slow (as is usual for WWE), but they didn't really hurt the match, and the action in the latter half really made up for it. Awesome match."

[5.0] "Not sure where this really high rating is coming from, overall this is just your typical WWE style match. Decent enough for what it is but there's nothing special about it or anything."

[8.0] "This was such a grea match. These two went back and forth for the whole match and everything was pulled off smoothly and there was great storytelling of both scouting eachother and capitalising on eachother's mistakes. All done infront of a hot crowd. 8.10/10"

[6.0] "I thought this was a pretty generic back-and-forth babyface match for the most part, and it only gets good during the final third where they actually start to tell some stories instead of just trading holds and moves. The first ten minutes have all the trappings of a lazy Orton performance. Orton is great at the basics but doesn't do anything interesting that could pay off later in the match. They don't do much with the babyface vs babyface dynamic until the last few minutes, where Randy has second thoughts about using the punt kick, which was a moment of compassion that nearly costs Orton his title as Christian is able to score a spear for a close nearfall. I like Christian using a spear as a tribute to Edge in theory, but Christian's mannerisms setting up the move are so damn corny that it's hard to take it seriously. In their last match on Smackdown a few weeks before this, Christian lost his title after Orton counters his sunset flip attempt into an RKO. The callback spot they did here where Christian fakes out Orton by attempting the sunset flip again was by far my favorite moment of the match. This was decent enough overall, it's just nowhere near as great as I thought it was back in 2011."

[8.0] "This was better than the sd match that they had a couple of weeks ago. This kept the crowd engaged was a good back and forth, had good counters. I especially loved the last couple of minutes of this they fit so much into this.****"

[9.0] "The chemistry these two had together is insane. Both men were unquestionably in their peak form at this period, and they were determined to put on a show-stealing classic here. Slow yet logical start that developed into a war of attrition with incredible counters after counters, until one was able to outsmart one another. The first classic in their spectacular 2011 rivalry that offered nothing but great matches after great matches. [****1/2]"

[7.0] "Back and forth they go. Not much else to this one. Nothing wrong with it, it's just super forgettable."

[6.0] "A good match but I'm a bit disappointed by it. There are some bits of greatness in it but I don't think it's as good as the rating."

[9.0] "This was absolutely tremendous. This match is a real breath of fresh air, a stiff war who's exciting to watch from start to finish. I know they're two great workers, but I didn't think Orton and Christian were capable of delivering a gem like this. This was a really great contest in which both shone like never before, they delivered a match worthy of their talent and of course it was fantastic. Fantastic sequences, great nearfalls, a captivated crowd, solid counters and just two men stealing the show in the middle of a bad PPV. There were a lot of things I loved about this match and I highly recommend it, Christian's performance here is probably one of my favourite babyface performances of all time. This was not a classic, but this was amazing."

[8.0] "Overall, really good match with great psychology. I loved the back and forth counters towards the final stretch of the match! I would've rated this higher if it was longer, like maybe ten more minutes."

[8.0] "Good match with a great story and a magnific psychology. The pace was great too, but sometimes, the timing was a little bit off. The finish is just amazing, that RKO really outtanowhere is very beautiful and awesome. Both men did a good job here, especially Christian who sold every move very fucking well and did great when it came to act like he was desperate. Good match. ****1/4"

[6.0] "man i don't know i mean it was a solid match and all but i don't really get the buzz. orton doesn't really appeal to me i feel like he always does the same bunch of spots"

[8.0] "This was a good match but the start felt rough and quite boring to watch. I do like Christian's performance towards the end tremendous here. The way he sold desperation set up the heel turn further down the line. The body of the match was good. He had Orton scouted almost every time Orton went for the RKO, he did everything to Orton, time and time again but still couldn't put him away and he showed that through his facial expressions and the way he kept on picking the pace and urgency of his moves which allowed Orton to pick holes in his game and hit the win. Orton was good in his own way too. His counters and offence overall was good. It just needs a better start. ***3/4"

[9.0] "AWESOME match. There really isn't a specific moment I can pick out that stands out -- the whole thing is so much fun to watch. Just two top guys at the top of their game, both with something to prove and very compelling chemistry. LOVED this. ****1/2"

[8.0] "Really good match. Starts off pretty by-the-numbers, then they get into a really nice flow of back-and-forth. For the bulk of the midsection it feels like Orton has the upper hand, but just when he is about to capitalize Christian hits a big move to stop the momentum. The finish is tease of finishers with some high impact moves resulting in near-falls, until Orton hits the RKO. Great heat, good chemistry, ****1/4."

[8.0] "These two always had great chemistry and this match was a testament to that. Incredible counters in this one."

[10.0] "An instant classic and either one of the greatest matches in 2011 and both men's careers. This was just the beggining of their show-stealing series, and it certainly was the best. Unfortunately, I came to this only after re-watching, but it still great."

[7.0] "I did enjoy the storytelling of Christian being more focused than ever, learning from the mistakes he made in their previous match - only for Orton to be one step ahead of him at every turn. They executed that story pretty well, and it made for an enjoyable, good match. ***1/4"

[8.0] "This match was good. It had fake finals, good storytelling, and almost he did the spot that costed him the World Title. The result was fine, they had good chemistry on the ring, and they had a lot of time to wrestle. A good match ****"

[7.0] "I gave this *** 3/4 stars out of 5. I believe that Randy Orton is possibly the best feud that Christian has ever had in his solo career. This match in specific is proof of that, very good chemistry between the two wrestlers."

[9.0] "This blew their Smackdown match out of the water (and that match was great in it's own right). These guys have uncanny chemistry together and this was downright incredible with each man countering each other's signature spots in ways never seen before while the crowd went crazy for every last thing they did. Simply put, a fantastic match. ****Œ"

[9.0] "What I really liked about this encounter was the "flow" of the match. Many matches in the wwe seem either heavily rehearsed or very slow, this match was the polar opposite of both. Both wrestlers were incredible fluid and the result was breathtaking - **** 1/2"

[10.0] "My favoirite match of 2011. Randy & Christian conducted a series of great matches."