Randy Orton vs. Roman Reigns

[6.0] "It's fine but this was when the fans were realizing they wanted Ambrose instead of Reigns. WWE never gave it to them. Orton carries Roman to a decent and watchable match but there's nothing here to make you think Roman should be in this position."

[8.0] "This is easily one of Randy's best match, why is it so underrated. That end sequence was so good. Sometimes I don't understand these raters."

[7.0] "It's below what both men are capable of, but it's still a solid match and a nice big win for Roman who was starting to progress as a singles star and was still likeable by fans while it lasted."

[8.0] "I really don't understand why this match is so match underrated, Randy and Roman made a great job with a match without stipulation and expecially Roman was good with the selling of Orton's RKO. It was absolutely not simple to make a very good match like this. (7.5)"

[7.0] "Pretty solid match, Roman gets a big win as his solo career really takes its start around this time. 7/10"

[8.0] "This match should not be rated as low as it is. Roman Reigns' first big singles match since The Shield broke up and it definitely delivered. Randy Orton hits an awesome RKO out of nowhere which is always fun. Really great match that should absolutely be rated higher."

[5.0] "Your typical Randy Orton Bore-Fest. Nothing happened in this match until Randy hit a powerslam on Roman, but then it was just more nothing. This match did nothing to elevate Roman because Randy is a wrestler who never leaves first gear in his matches."

[8.0] "The fight remains decent in what it proposes, we don't go in totally crazy things. Orton's heat is superb, a good hell work to prepare the offense and the comeback of Reigns. A lot of reversal, twist, drama and surprise in the fight with some surprising releases. Zero waste in the fight Rating: ****"

[8.0] "I liked it. Orton's slow matches are very fun in my opinion and this had good moments sprinkled in. Roman held his own too"

[6.0] "Decent match between Reigns and Orton here which turned out to be better than I expected as I was really expecting a real borefest, as on paper it didn't looked promising at all and everything indicated that their styles wouldn't connect. It was kinda the case but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be as we still saw some interesting moments as well as some cool counters just like Orton's countering the Spear with a Powerslam and coutering the lariat with a beautiful RKO. It's just that there was absolutely no way they could have made this match particularly great given the way they wrestle, maybe giving them a stipulation would have been much more favourable as it really felt like a TV match stretched to the length of a PPV co-main event. Not long ago when commenting on an Orton match he had in early 2014 (against Bryan I think) I said it was one of his best years in terms of in-ring work but I was clearly wrong. One thing for sure is that this match would be a hundred times better now given the roles they are currently in."

[7.0] "This one got a lot of hate, and I think I can understand why. It can be boring and dull to some, but not for me. Aside from the lengthy chinlocks in the middle, this was very good. They did a great job getting the crowd into Reign and his comeback got over big. Some nice spots and nearfalls at the end. Cut down the rest holds a little, this one could be great. [***1/2]"

[4.0] "Now here's a match I haven't watched since it happened. Back then, I was super down on WWE's product & especially the Roman Reigns superpush that was starting, so I did not like this match at all. And well, I still don't! It's not like a _bad_ match, or at least there's nothing outright bad or annoying about it, but it's oh so dull. Feels like a generic, longer TV match with a few cool counters, which to be fair were legitimately pretty neat & the only thing bringing this match some life. A gentleman's 4/10 sounds about right."

[4.0] "An average match at best. The first half is utterly pointless with super-generic (and super-boring) work done by both men, and the second half doesn't pick up until just the final few minutes which were admittedly great. The worst thing about this match, however, is that it was supposed to be a show of Roman's abilities as a singles wrestler but instead, it turned into a Randy Orton showcase as the Viper completely outshined Reigns with his amazing counters in the closing stretch. (**)"

[7.0] "This match is a series of very good spots, the superplex, the super samoan drop, the rko outta nowhere, etc... The crowd was always very heated and interested, match above the sufficiency that gives a splendid confirmation for Roman Reigns as a stand-alone main eventer."

[9.0] "The hate this match got on here is insane. The crowd absolutely ate everything up here and I can't blame them. The pacing was great, the chemistry was there, and the last five minutes of the match were absolutely grand."

[8.0] "Good Match. R. Orton was awesome like always and Roman didnŽt disappoint. The first half was nothing special but after that was very good, with some cool spots like Orton counter a spear with a scoop slam and a second one with a awesome RKO."

[1.0] "Count me in with those who found this match to be useful only as a sleep aid. Orton hasn't mentally checked into work for years, and Reigns was in no position to try to have a match like this at the time. Obviously some disagree and that's fine but this really wasn't for me, it felt slow, robotic, and disconnected from any kind of feeling."

[1.0] "A 1 because of spear/powerslam rko spots. The rest sucked. Reigns- very green and limited at that time did a horrible performance. Orton was also boring. No storytelling, psychology. Useless kicking out finisher. Meltzer must see another match i guess."

[8.0] "I don't believe it but Orton actually carried reigns to a good match. Granted there was a lot of rest holds to start but I don't mind as it joys up the crowd when they escape from it. Plus the rko was great and Orton did a good job of making reigns look credible as a main eventer."

[8.0] "Underrated match, that shows the quality of Reigns as a wrestler. People that mark low because of Reigns are robbing themselves of the enjoyment of a bloody good match."

[1.0] "The only thing good about this match was the RKO by Orton because that spot was pretty cool. Besides that nothing interesting or exciting happened throughout this whole match. And the fact that this was the longest match on the card was a bad choice. Overall bad match but gets one point for the cool RKO spot."

[8.0] "I had no problem with this match back then and it's a hard-hitting psychological watch, plus it was a nice build into the main event, SummerSlam 2014 in general was just one big rise to the top."

[2.0] "Bad wrestlers, bad action, boring match. I hope the WWE writers are starting to see that Reigns is far from being a Main Eventer and that his two former Shield partners are the true future of WWE. Anyway.. the match was really bad. As I expected we've seen the usual 5 moves from both these "wrestlers"."

[8.0] "This started slow and wasnt clicking very well but they had some good things in store and ended up being pretty good overall. Both arent great workers, but put effort at the end and the slow pace paid off."

[2.0] "You've got to be kidding me. This was one of the dullest piece of crap I've ever seen. Randy Orton's perfomance was top class, but Reigns... Orton pulled out some nice counters, but apart from that the match was boring. I nearly felt asleep during it. The crowd was okay for the occasion. Overall, really awful."

[2.0] "Meltzers rating is ridiculous, the match was horrible in the first half, with a lot of rest holds and a dead crowd. The second half was much better, because they managed to incorporate some cool spots, but at this point I would like something more in Reigns matches than "cool spots". I also hated that Reigns stopped selling in the end; very "Cena-esque""