Cena–Orton rivalry

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The John Cena–Randy Orton rivalry was a professional wrestling rivalry within WWE which lasted between 2007 and 2009 and again from 2013 to 2014. In 2021, WWE released a list of John Cena's top 10 rivalries, ranking it as his number one rivalry, as well as describing it as one of the greatest rivalries in WWE history.^[1]

2007[]

John Cena as WWE Champion in December 2006

Randy Orton as WWE Champion.

On the July 23, 2007, episode of WWE Raw, Randy Orton interfered and attacked the WWE Champion John Cena after Cena's match that night. Shortly after, Executive Assistant Jonathan Coachman announced Orton as the new number-one contender to the Championship.^[2] Cena and Orton would face off at SummerSlam, with Cena winning the match.^[3] On the August 27 episode of Raw, during Cena's match with Booker T, Orton attacked Cena causing a disqualification. Orton then attacked Cena's father who was sitting at ringside by punt kicking him, seriously injuring him, taking his rivalry with Cena to a personal level.^[3] Cena sought revenge, and the two faced each other at Unforgiven, where Cena intentionally disqualified himself aggressively attacking Orton during and after the match. Cena would torture Orton with his signature submission hold the STFU while allowing Cena's father who recovered from his injuries to kick Orton in the head. After the match, Coachman booked Cena in a Last Man Standing match against Orton for the WWE Championship at No Mercy to settle the personal rivalry without any restriction. On the September 17 episode of Raw, Orton had Cena tied up at the corner of the ring and forced faced Cena's dad to face him in a match which Orton easily won.^[3] The rivalry ended prematurely after Cena suffered a legitimate torn pectoral muscle during a match with Mr. Kennedy which took out Cena from action for months and forced him to vacate the WWE Championship.^[4] Orton would be awarded the title at No Mercy before losing it to Triple H before winning it back, with all title changes happening on the same night. Orton would remain WWE Champion throughout 2007.

2008[]

Cena reignited the rivalry upon returning and winning the 2008 Royal Rumble match, challenging Orton for the title at No Way Out instead of WrestleMania 24. But during the match, Orton got himself intentionally disqualified, thus he did not lose the title.^[5] The following night on Raw, Cena once again got an opportunity for the WWE Championship defeating Orton for the title opportunity in a match where Triple H was the special guest referee. A triple threat match took place between Orton, Cena and Triple H at WrestleMania 24, which Orton won.^[6] At Backlash a fatal four-way elimination match took place between Cena, Orton, Triple H and John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL). During the match, Orton eliminated Cena, who had previously eliminated JBL. However Triple H eliminated Orton to win the match. This temporarily ended the feud.^[7]

2009[]

In July 2009, Cena challenged Triple H and Orton in a triple threat match for the WWE Championship at Night of Champions. At the event, Orton pinned Cena to retain the WWE Championship. This reignited the feud, and various segments were held where the events from 2007 and 2008 would be brought up and The Legacy a villainous stable led by Orton consisting of Ted DiBiase Jr. and Cody Rhodes would attack Cena on numerous occasions.^[8] This eventually led to a match at SummerSlam, which Orton won. In an instance, on August 31 episode of Raw, Rhodes tricked Cena into believing he betrayed Legacy, and Cody's father Dusty arranged a match between Orton and Cody with Cena as special guest referee. But during the match Cody betrayed Cena, and along with Orton and Dibiase attacked Cena.^[9] However, Cena gained another opportunity to face Orton, this time in an "I quit" match at WWE Breaking Point. During the match after a brutal brawl, Orton handcuffed Cena and disrespectfully threw water at him. But Cena was eventually able to break free of the handcuff and tied up Orton with the handcuff while simultaneously applying his STF submission hold. Unable to break free of the situation, Orton was forced to quit, meaning Cena won the match. The match received critical acclaim and is considered the best match between the duo.^[10]

Orton would get his rematch at the Hell in a Cell PPV event, in an Hell in a Cell match. This time Orton defeated Cena to win back the WWE Championship.^[11] On the October 5 edition of Raw, Cena challenged Orton to one last rematch for the title, this time a 60-minute Iron Man match where the competitor with the most decisions at the end of that time would be named the victor. In order to accept the challenge, Orton added two more conditions to the match—if Cena loses, he would leave Raw and that the match would be "anything goes", the conditions which Cena accepted. They also declared that after this match they will no longer be able to face each other for the WWE championship, and they would settle their differences for good.^[12] The match took place at Bragging Rights. During the match The Legacy, on behalf of Orton attacked Cena but Kofi Kingston came out to Cena's aid and drove out the Legacy, leaving Cena and Orton one on one. Cena ultimately defeated Orton by 6 falls to 5, making Orton tap out for the final fall using the STF.^[13] Despite not being able to face each other for the championship again, Orton and Cena however once more faced off against each other on the December 14, special episode of Raw in order to receive the Slammy Award for the "Superstar of the Year 2009" in a tournament final, a match and award that Cena won.^[14] This would end their rivalry for nearly four years.

2013–2014[]

During 2013 Orton was part of the group The Authority, as part of the Authority, Orton received numerous help and privileges from his peers and would feud with fan-favorite wrestler Daniel Bryan, which ended at Hell in a Cell, with Orton beating Bryan and winning the WWE Champion. Also at the event, Cena defeated Alberto del Rio to win the company's other world championship, the World Heavyweight championship.^[15] In December, the feud was reignited after Cena suggested that there should only be "one world champion" in WWE. The leader of the Authority, Triple H arranged a championship unification Tables, ladders, and chairs match between Cena and Orton for the December 15 TLC event. During the event, Orton defeated Cena to unify the championships. The merged title would briefly be called as the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, after which it would just be called the WWE Championship.^[16] The rivalry continued, with Orton once again attacking Cena's father in January 2014.^[17] Orton and Cena faced each other again for the WWE Championship at Royal Rumble, in a match Orton won after Cena was distracted by The Wyatt Family. At Elimination Chambers in February, Cena was one of the six participants in the Elimination Chambers match competing for Orton's WWE Championship but was once again attacked by the Wyatt Family, whose interference helped Orton eliminate Cena.^[18] The rivalry between Cena and Orton once again momentarily halted as Cena focused his attention on The Wyatt Family, while Orton renewed his rivalry with Daniel Bryan.^[19]

After eight months, in October the rivalry resumed, with Cena being scheduled to face Orton at Hell in a Cell, in their second Hell in a Cell match on October 26, 2014. Cena went on to defeat Orton in the match, ending their historic rivalry once and for all.^[20]

References[]