Randy Orton vs. Rey Mysterio

[7.0] "An respectable and, above all, clean victory for Mysterio, which mainly serves to increase his acceptance as champion. The double 619, first on the ring post, then normal, is quite impressive, but otherwise the two more or less go through their standard routine, which is absolutely sufficient for a confident match."

[8.0] "This ain't particularly a good era for smackdown but this match is a hit. Orton and Rey have tremendous chemistry and they got more than enough time to showcase it here. Awesome finish 4/5"

[10.0] "A bit better than their PPV match I would say, this was fantastic TV. Mysterio's run with the world title sadly turned sour before long but at least as far as this match goes he looked very much like the star he really was, and Orton pulled his weight admirably as the cocky heel."

[9.0] "I am absolutely with you, MattEdererSNMERadio. This is during the era that Rey Mysterio is in the middle of his run as an all time great babyface, and young Randy Orton is just coming to his own coming off several seasoning matches with Chris Benoit in the previous serveral months that he has a great edge to him. It plays out perfectly, and the in ring storytelling is fantastic."

[9.0] "I am not exaggerating, this is my true (subjective but STRONGLY FELT) opinion: One of the most slept-on matches of all-time, in any promotion, of any era. A true classic, a hall-of-fame level match, and a real candidate for the best match of Randy Orton's career. Rey Mysterio, conquering hero, defends the title vs. Randy Orton immediately after Mania 22. This mirrors Orton/Christian from Smackdown in 2001 except it's better. It's Orton/Christian if Christian actually retained. Go out of your way to watch this match, and put yourself in the mind of somebody who never expected Rey to win the WWE World Title in the first place, and thought that it would be taken off him immediately. Which was literally every wrestling fan in 2006. The definition of a hidden gem"

[8.0] "This match probably ranks in my top 30 matches of 2006. Very crisp execution from both men with Orton in particular standing out. Excellent timing, selling and facial expressions from him throughout."

[8.0] "Orton's game plan to neutralize Rey by keeping him down on the mat with headlocks, and slow punches to stop Rey from high flying. This helped build up all of Rey's comeback, making them a lot more effective.***3/4"

[4.0] "This match felt too long and the slow pace didn't help. Apart from the last minutes there is nothing interesting about this match."

[9.0] "Awesome match. Orton was tremendous on top, grounding Mysterio, keeping his neutralized. Being very vicious with his headlocks and his punches. His facial expressions were great; every time he outsmarted Mysterio, he would have a great smirk on his face. Rey Mysterio, as always, was a great babyface, making his wild comebacks. Hot crowd too. Great title defence for Mysterio. ****1/2"

[10.0] "Very good TV match. Forgot how much chemistry these two have together. Solid start to Rey Mysterio's title run."

[6.0] "A pretty fun TV bout between Orton & Mysterio. Nothing special in the grand scheme of things, but a pretty good TV main event, for sure. A solid way to kick off Rey Rey's World Title run. This was a pretty good match. **3/4"

[9.0] "Wonderful match. Great back and forth and gets plenty of time. One of the best matches for both men."