High Road/Low Road 04.03.09: Triple H vs Randy Orton at Wrestlemania
Posted by Chad Nevett on 04.03.2009
A modern classic, worthy of the Wrestlemania Main Event or a badly built match which has been done to death? Come in and let us know. Plus: FIFTY BOOBS* Click the link and join the fun...
Welcome back to the High Road/Low Road!
A brief explanation of the column: Uncletrunx takes the Low Road (negative view) on angles, gimmicks, and other wrestling related "stuff" while Sat takes the High Road (positive view).
The Results for the 25 Diva Battle Royal:
High Road: 41%
Low Road: 31%
Both Roads: 28%
Triple H versus Randy Orton at WrestleMania 25
*Please note that the fifty boobs mentioned in the teaser are mentioned in the text of the column only and not depicted in photographs. However, now you're reading the column, you might as well keep going and vote at the end. :)
High Road:
I think that without this match, the WrestleMania 25 card was going to have some weak world title matches. You look at the other world title match and it is an okay match, but not something that is WrestleMania worthy. The way that the Triple H and Randy Orton feud has been progressing seems like it will be a worthy WrestleMania feud. And when you look back at this card five years from now, you need something to be memorable about this card. I see this match, along with Undertaker/Shawn Michaels, being the two things that are remembered from this card.
Low Road:
I see Undertaker vs Shawn as the thing people remember from the card. What we have here is another match which has been done enough times in recent years to feel like just another chapter in the ongoing saga. I expect this to be the Main Event which will hurt it further; just as last years Main Event had to cope with following Michaels vs Flair, this one will have to follow Michaels vs Undertaker; I feel it may well come across as weaker much as last years Main Event did.
High Road:
I think that one of the things that can not be argued about this match is the fact that they are guaranteed to have a good match at WrestleMania. These guys have met multiple times and they have not delivered a bad match. I think that because of this, they are bound to deliver another good match at WrestleMania.
Low Road:
The fact that they have met multiple times will weaken this match. It may be a decent match in terms of content and emotion but the fact that it has happened so many times recently will count against it. They even had a variant of this match last year (with Cena involved as well). This is no longer a special, dream match, it's another in an ongoing series.
High Road:
As I wrote above, these guys have had multiple matches before. But, the thing that I did not mention above is the fact that these guys have done a good job building the anticipation for their match at WrestleMania. I can honestly say that I am looking forward to these guys getting in the ring for their match and this speaks volumes to the job that they have done. They just stopped feuding about six months ago and they were able to build up the anticipation for another match this quickly.
Low Road:
The problem I have with the buildup for this match is that once again, we have the McMahons all over it. I don't think they've helped; while thee's a certain amount of logic in the buildup given Triple H's family ties to the McMahon family (although that too is not without flaws; more on that later) but surely the title itself is reason enough for a feud? Now we've got two stupid soap opera storylines overshadowing the main championships.
High Road:
You look at this match between Triple H and Randy Orton and the outcome is not that clear. I look at this match and the argument can be made for either guy to win this match. Randy Orton could win this match because he won the Royal Rumble match and he has been on a roll of a lifetime. Triple H could win this match because he is a McMahon and the fact that he has not won at WrestleMania in a long time. The other thing that favors Triple H is the fact that WrestleMania usually ends with the good guy winning. The argument could be made for either guy to win and that should lead to an entertaining match at WrestleMania.
Low Road:
If this match is on last, then Triple H will win. I'd bet a lot of money on it if I was a betting man. He's the "good guy", he has Vince on his side and he's in the Main Event. The only way I can see Orton winning is if one of the McMahons turns on Triple H. I truly hope that isn't what happens, as that would be a terrible, screwy finish to Wrestlemania.
High Road:
I have never liked the fact that the WWE has never acknowledged the fact that Triple H is a McMahon. I think to pretend on TV that he is not a McMahon and then in interviews to acknowledge that he is a McMahon is just insulting the fan's intelligence. Now, most of us knew that he was a McMahon, but there are people out there who did not know. I think that the WWE did the smart thing by acknowledging it on TV and you have to give them credit for doing it in a smart way.
Low Road:
In reality, we all know that Triple H is married to Steph. We've known it for years. However in storylines, the Triple H / Steph marriage ended at the time Triple H signed with Raw instead of Smackdown; as I recall, Eric Bischoff thought Triple H had signed with Steph's Smackdown brand when he had, in storyline terms, signed the divorce papers. Also, with DX trying hard to ruin Vince's life about 18 months ago, it simply makes too little sense for Triple H and the McMahons to be fighting together. If they're going to acknowledge Triple H as a McMahon family member, a little more explanation is needed for what happened in the past.
High Road:
I mentioned this in the Big Show/John Cena/Edge column from a few weeks ago and it needs to be mentioned again here. Right now, SmackDown has both titles and you know that somehow each show is going to end up with one title. I think that this has added some intrigue to both matches because both world titles matches have RAW and SmackDown superstars. Now, I will say that this is a minor High Road point, but it is something that should be mentioned.
Low Road:
Why is it so hard to put one world title on each show and keep it there? Why do we have to have these confusing crossovers, until we can't keep track of title histories and who has held which title on which show? If I had my way there would be one world title defended on all shows but since that's not going to happen, can there not at least be a little attention paid to the brand extension?
High Road:
One of the things that I find interesting about this match is the fact that Randy Orton has the opportunity to become one of the few wrestlers ever to completely dominate the entire McMahon family. You look back at the McMahons and they have only been dominated by one guy. And now, Randy Orton has this opportunity. I think that if he is able to do this, then I think that it will have a huge effect on this career.
Low Road:
On the flip side, this feud has done nothing at all for Orton's henchmen. They have been treated as cannon fodder for Triple H and to make matters worse, we've seen the McMahons beat down Cody recently; while Orton has remained strong, his fellow wrestlers have been made to look second best to the McMahons. We really don't need "Bad Ass Shane" to be dominating the roster. In my view, we don't need the involvement of the McMahons in this feud at all.
Simply write "High Road", "Low Road", or "Both Roads" in the comment section.
E-Mails:
These are all of the e-mails that we received this week. We do not respond to the actual e-mail, but the reply to your e-mail will be below.
Uncletrunx: Looks like it was just votes by email this week. Comments time…
Sat: I don't know why I forgot to update this every week.
Comments:
Below are the comments for last week's columns and our responses. All of the comments will not be included. Only a few select comments will be included because it makes our lives a lot easier. Comments are from Saturday Afternoon.
Michael Writes:
Low Road, the divas for the past couple years have always been the bathroom break at wrestlemania and often regarded as worst match of the night
Examples
WM 20 Playboy tag match Pointless
WM 21 Christy Hemme vs Trish Stratus, worst match of the year
WM 22 Torrie vs Candice Pillow fight same as above
WM 23 Melina vs Ashley this was brought to you by the letter A which stands for Abomination which fits this match perfectly.
WM 24 Maria Ashley vs Beth Melina so bad that God himself said "Screw this garbage." and turned the power off during the match.
And with the mess this is going to be why I should expect any different?
Sat: God turning the power off, hahaha. I look at the stuff you described and I see this battle royal being better than that.
Uncletrunx: I'm not sure it will be better. At least it might be shorter.
Michelle Writes:
Low road. I was hoping with the build-up before the match was announced that it would be Maryse vs. Michelle vs. Melina vs. Beth or something along those lines. This match is going to be a clusterf*ck. :(
Sat: I don't see the WWE unifying the titles any time soon.
Uncletrunx: I wish they would. That butterfly belt is an abomination. If they're prepared to unify the tag titles, they should unify the womens title and put one on each show. That way they might get some attention and be worth something again.
Iron Knee Writes:
Low Road:
A much better use of the alotted time would be a Fatal Four Way between Trish, Mickie, Beth, and Kim. Have Kim go over and then she has beaten a legend, a top face, and a top heel. Plus, you'd likely get a serviceable match and the Trish nostalgia pop.
Sat: Here is my opinion. If the WWE knew that Trish was going to be at WrestleMania, they would have advertised it.
Uncletrunx: It may be that they're still negotiating and thus can't advertise her. I hope we get Trish. I'm a Trish mark.
BobbyC Writes:
High Road.
Look - it's the biggest card of the year. And you can't have EVERY match be about something serious (titles, grudges, respect). There always needs to be at least one lighter moment somewhere on the card.
I'm not expecting this to be anywhere near a Royal Rumble type of event. In fact - I expect the introductions - if they introduce everyone separately - to take longer than the actual match.
This will be a fun little transitional match. Assuming that the main event will be HHH/Orton - the Cena/Edge/Show match will be somewhere in the middle of the event. This will be a great follow up to that match as the crowd "catches their breath" before the next big match.
Sat: If the WWE does not introduce the divas separately, then this is a low road.
Uncletrunx: If they waste time doing 25 separate introductions for this, each match will have to be two minutes long just to keep the show under 3 hours.
The Gold Standard Writes:
High Road only if we get Santino dressed as a woman to compete and win it.It would be funny as hell although he deserves more.In all seriousness Low Road out of the divas roster theres only a few that can actually deliver a decent match.Maybe a match consisting of Beth Phoenix,Natalya,Mickie James and Gail Kim would be a good technical match.Besides the average dude would probably rather see them in a 25 woman lingerie battle royal where the last person eliminated has to get stripped and pinned sunnyside up.Oops my bad I had a little Russo booking in me haha..
Sat: I think your idea of a lingerie battle royal would have gotten more people to vote high road.
Uncletrunx: As do I. Sadly.
Guest #8806 Writes:
High road
They actually are doing something different that what we see on TV every week, and people are interested to see what will happen. Which Divas will be returning? Who will win? Plus, the potential confrontations between Trish Stratus and several of the current Divas make this an easy HR for me.
Sat: I agree. There is a lot of intrigue here.
Uncletrunx: Intrigue? It would have if the Diva division meant anything at all. It will have two high moments; the moment an unexpected Diva from the past walks out and a ripple of excitement when we get down to two or three people left. Otherwise, it's time to get a beer and relieve the pressure on the bladder.
David Writes:
I will have to go both roads.
I'm looking forward to it and think it can be a good thing for the division, if done right. Many feuds can be started here (which is odd since WrestleMania is supposed to be about ending feuds).
However, if we see 19 eliminations within 12 seconds (which is highly likely) and it basically turns into a 1 on 1 or 2 on 1 match, it will obviously be a potty break match with a little PG T&A for those not needing the break.
No battle royal should last less than 3 minutes. And I see that happening here. But if done right, it can make for several good feuds.
Sat: Sadly, I think we will see elimination very quickly, but not in 12 seconds.
Uncletrunx: I'm not sure it is such a bad thing if this has some very quick eliminations. I'd rather see a smaller number of better wrestlers towards the end rather than a whole load of semi proficient Divas throwing awful punches at one another.
KanyonKreist Writes:
Once again, every single broad under contract with WWE is going to be stuffed into the ring at once at Wrestlemania. Plus like another TEN. You know who I feel bad for? Beth Phoenix, who's once again robbed of the chance to wrestle for the Women's Title on "the Grandest Stage of All"(tm). Instead, she's forced to try and stay afloat among a SEA of undertrained modeling agency castoffs, bumping into eachother like they're in one of those inflatable cages that wealthy parents rent for their kids' birthday parties.
Low Road.
Sat: Yeah, you have to feel sorry for her. Last year, she was in Bunnymania, and now this. She does deserve a one on one match.
Uncletrunx: She does. She won't get one though. There are semi trained models to get on the show.
Sat: Man, Uncletrunx, you have got me busting up today. You sir are on a roll.
Tim Writes:
100% High Road.
Mickie, Beth, Neidhart, Nikita, Kim, Melina and Jillian are all great-good wrestlers and most of the others save for Maria aren't horrible, so what's the problem here?
At worst it will be fun like the Gimmick Battle Royal. We will get to see Gail Kim make her in-ring return and it will be great to see Sunny's return along with whoever else they bring back.
While it may be good to see Mickie James and Katie Lea get a 20 minute match, it's not going to happen sadly, but this is MUCH better than the pillow fights or the playboy stuff and it gives a lot of the deserving Diva's a chance to appear at WrestleMania.
Sat: I would be surprised if we ever saw a 20 minute match between the women.
Uncletrunx: I also would be surprised; the WWE audience has been conditioned to accept that womens matches last about 4 minutes at most.
JLAJRC Writes:
Both Roads. I always found the diva matches to be short, harmless timewasters. If you like the divas you can watch it. If not, you got a 5 minute bathroom break. No big deal either way.
Sat: Good point here. If you don't like this, take your bathroom break at this time.
Uncletrunx: See, on the event which is supposed to showcase the best in wrestling, do we need a harmless timewaster?
The Great Captain Smooth Writes:
Both Roads. Low, because we could be having a Swagger/Bourne match instead. High, because it could be a lot of fun to see some Divas from the past and we could get a huge "WE WANT PUPPIES!!!" chant.
Sat: I don't know why, but I see Bourne/Swagger and Kozlov/Khali being added to the card.
Uncletrunx: If it is added it'll be a dark match. A "we want puppies" chant is not reason enough to put this on the card.
HBK Fan Writes:
High ROad .
It will be fun , and all the divas get to be on the show .
Could a better match have been
booked ?
Yes , but it could've been worse , at least it is not a playboy pillow
fight .
What makes me excited to see it the return of Sunny , Trish ... and other former Divas . Also , it is interesting to see who will be given the title of Miss WM , it's the most unpredictable match on the card .
I Could be negative , but it IS WrestleMania , and I'm going to stay positive about everything and actually enjoy the show . No point bitching about everything ., and being disappointed .
So , yeah , i will look forward to the battle royale . Hopefully it will be good .
Sat: I agree. Can anybody tell me who the favorite is?
Uncletrunx: It's my job to bitch about everything! It'd be a dull column if it was "two guys both taking the High Road"!
Guest#8725 Writes:
HIGH ROAD
I finally get to masturbate to something!!!!
Sat: Wow. Just mentioning the divas got you to masturbate. You need some serious help.
Uncletrunx: I had a feeling we'd hear from you...
Csonkamaniac Writes:
both roads.
i'm not a mathematician, but if i'm countin' right that's fifty, that's right, FIFTY BOOBS. that's why i'd take the high road. but i know it. you know it. the gold standard's grandmother knows it. brad's boyfriend knows it. two of those fifty boobs are going to belong to one mae young. and i'll be goddamned if she doesn't try and pull them floppy sons'a'bitches out at some point. i've seen them biker titties once before around the 2000 royal rumble, and i don't care to ever visit that seventh level of hell ever again. that's why i'd also take the low road.
it'll be a nice little moment for nostalgia(i can't wait for sunny, she's still lookin' good). and this is inserted into 'mania's program purely for spectacle and to try and cultivate another "wrestlemania moment" ala' okerlund and heenan at XX, the gimmick battle royal at x-7(i could've put XVII or 17 but everyone would flame me) and the running joke that was pete rose(not his life or career, just his WM moments). it'll be fun, it won't last longer than 10-15 minutes, but that's 10-15 minutes they could hand over to michaels and taker.
so both roads.
Sat: If I read this last week, I definitely would have added a high road talking about the fifty boobs in this match.
Uncletrunx: Fifty Boobs! You, sir, just made me laugh out loud. Well done!
Your reasons for taking the High Road, Low Road, or Both Roads and suggestions for future High Road/Low Road are welcome at satuncletrunx@gmail.com or in the comment section. Your reply will be included in next week's column.
Posted By: HBK's Smile (Guest) on April 03, 2009 at 11:44 AM
High Road
But only if Randy Orton wins.
A win at Mania over his biggest enemy would do wonders for his career. HHH dont need the win. Give Orton a long title run until around Survivor Series when he can drop it, turn face, and go into WM 26 as a HUGE Rock-like babyface.
Posted By: BLACK (Guest) on April 03, 2009 at 11:46 AM
i'm going both roads depending on how the match turns out. High road because this is a WM match in the making, Student vs teacher, and it's randy orton's time to hold the strap. Low road because triple h has ALL the leverage with the politics. I was hoping to see triple h just lay down clean here for randy orton in an one on one match but who am I kidding. But it just seems like mcmahon-eference is destined here, so I only see two ways, HHH wins or Orton wins by massive help. Also, I can only take hhh-orton for another time only one more time so I'd like for it to end here but that's most likely not gonna happen. Not really a fan of either, but here's hoping for an orton win
Posted By: cj (Guest) on April 03, 2009 at 11:51 AM
High Road should Randy win
Low if he loses.
Randy has been the first heel in a while that i marked for. when he RKO'd Steph it was a thousand kinds of awesome. The build was iffy coming closer to Wrestlemania, but it'll be good if they go at this properly, have HHH forget about the title and try to just kill Randy, only to have Randy catch him unaware. Maybe punt him for good measure. Whatever the case, you need Randy to win to close this out. It needs to happen.
Posted By: Tony (Guest) on April 03, 2009 at 12:24 PM
Or 49 boobs if one of the entrants is Santino.
Posted By: Ben S (Guest) on April 03, 2009 at 12:32 PM
I still cannot FATHOM how people actually like Randy Orton. Everything he does is in slow-motion. A segment that would normally take 8 minutes takes 15-20 minutes. He walks as slowly as humanly possible and wrestles the same way, unless of course he's hitting his one move - the RKO. Oh, I'm sorry, he also does a real mean rest hold repeatedly during his matches. And let's not forget how many facial expressions he has - one. There is only one emotion coming from that guy at all times. Everytime he is on screen, time slows down. What do people see in him? What the hell is going on?!
And on top of it all, Orton's little stable is doing wonders for the careers of DiBiase and Rhodes. All they do is get their asses handed to them, unless Orton himself is present (in which case they have a 10 minute beat-down on somebody with no officials stepping in). They may as well be the Bashams.
Posted By: DaHumorist (Guest) on April 03, 2009 at 01:34 PM
I don't agree with the logic that H will win because he's a face and mania 99 percent of the time ends with the good guy on top.
HHH is aligned with the McMahons now, to me, kayfabe, that makes him a heel.
Orton taking out all the McMahons, H included, makes him a face.
Randy has huge fan support right now, despite being a heel, that's enough to suggest he can take the title in the last match on the show.
Posted By: Guest#7978 (Guest) on April 03, 2009 at 01:46 PM
High Road
But only if TRIPLE H wins.
Posted By: Samantha (Guest) on April 03, 2009 at 02:07 PM
This will be the last match , crowd will be dead for the first 5 minutes .
I Wonder who Houston will cheer for ?
I'll say they will boo RKO .
Major chances for a swerve .
Only 2 possible endings :
HHH Destroys Orton's legacy , Kisses Stephanie to end Mania .
OR
Stephanie / Vince Turns , Helps RKO .
Orton's law rules WWE . Steph kisses Orton to end Mania .
Taker / HBK will be remembered , this one - not at all sure.
I'm calling it a Marginal HIGH ROAD ..
And i Feel HHH should win , WM Always must have a happy ending - feel good .
Posted By: HBK Fan (Guest) on April 03, 2009 at 02:15 PM
I will say it one more time, Shane helps Orton. Give him and Steph each Raw and Smackdown and let them compete. Will help the brand extention too!
Posted By: T-Mac (Guest) on April 03, 2009 at 02:26 PM
High Road.If Orton wins cause god knows he needs this win more than Triple H.Every world title reign Orton has had has ended to Triple H.It's time for Orton redeem himself by defeating the H at the grandest stage.Here's hoping that this happens otherwise Orton=BURIED!!!
Posted By: The Gold Road (Guest) on April 03, 2009 at 02:39 PM
i've gotta say high road, but goddammit uncletrunx, you make an extremely convincing argument. this match will be great on the fact that it could go either way. but that's also the crux of the matter.
here's why: if hhh wins, it'll make orton just look like the punk that they're portraying him to be. if orton wins with the help of interference, he still can end up looking like a punk. but if they do it right, it could actually help him get heat. if orton wins cleanly, it's hhh that loses steam.
now after stating the obvious,here's the 2nd part of the crux the 'e is in: hhh looks like he NEEDS the win, because you have the mcmahons playing the role of face this time around because they're hhh's family and the "good guys' family has been attacked", and this fued has been so heated, how could hhh possibly lose without looking like a fucking joke??
so here's what i would do:
have hhh get some sort of "injury", let orton play off of that and eventually pick up the win, but orton has to bleed, and bleed badly.
no mcmahons. no legacy. no "cowboy" bob. no bullshit ending. that way you can solidify orton as top heel(MAYBE over jericho) by putting away hhh by himself, and hhh doesn't look too bad, even if he's coming out in a losing effort. even if randy steals this one, HE HAS TO DO IT BY HIMSELF.
if wwe does this even somewhat right, then i say high road.
but i would give orton the title for the entire next year, so long as his reign didn't get terribly stale, and have an old dog like michaels or 'taker chase down the mega-heel to 'mania to give the brat his comeuppance and end his reign of terror. i think randy possibly could be that sort of guy that could carry the company for awhile. and after an entire year, smart fans and dumb fans alike wouldn't be able to wait to see an old fan favorite take the title off of one of the biggest assholes the company has.
but that could possibly what the 'e is doing sunday; letting babyface get his vengeance.
no matter what it'll be interesting, and you can't always say that 100% of the time about wwe in the past year.
high road, and happy wrestlemania everybody!!!
p.s. thanks for putting my "FIFTY BOOBS" in the teaser.
Posted By: csonkamaniac (Guest) on April 03, 2009 at 03:48 PM
High Road. These are two great performers. There is a lot of potential for turns and it wouldn't shock me to see Ted Jr. turn on Orton in order to repay him for the kick to the head. They have fought each other so many times that a good chemistry has developed between the two. The fued has become VERY personal and should provide some striking images during the match. I'm very curious to see who the crowd cheers for. Recent WM crowds have been known to cheer for the heels so we may see just how good of a heel Orton is. If they treat him like a god, it will show that you can do just about ANYTHING and get away with it.
Posted By: The Great Capt. Smooth (Guest) on April 03, 2009 at 06:12 PM
I gotta say Both Roads.
It's good because it has a great storyline behind it. I really want to see HHH kick Orton's rear because of what he has done. Plus, they have made the McMahon's into credible (at least temporarilly) faces.
But it is bad because we have seen HHH/Orton many times before and not that long ago either. The only way this is gonna be memorable is if there's some sort of twist. My twist would be to have either Shawn Michaels or a returning Batista come down the aisle to seemingly help HHH, only to turn on him and join Orton/Priceless to form a new version of DX or Evolution and start a war with HHH/McMahons. Sadly, they'll probably just go a McMahon turning on HHH predictably).
Posted By: JLAJRC (Guest) on April 03, 2009 at 06:43 PM
We need more of Stephanie's ass.
Posted By: Chuck Steaks (Guest) on April 03, 2009 at 07:41 PM
High Road
The buildup has been fantastic, the animosity between Trips and Orton is off the charts; I can't wait to see these two get in the ring and beat the hell out of each other.
This match along with HBK/Taker made me plunk down $54.95 to see WrestleMania this year. I shan't be disappointed.
Posted By: Reverend Psycho (Guest) on April 03, 2009 at 10:12 PM
"the WWE audience has been conditioned to accept that womens matches last about 4 minutes at most."
Two minutes longer than they can fap.
Posted By: cabronte (Guest) on April 04, 2009 at 01:06 PM
HIGH ROAD
If this is the main event, it has to end with Triple H winning, but by the skin of his teeth, maybe with some McMahon interference. Random thought: Wonder if Linda McMahon will have any involvement in this storyline.
Posted By: Eddie Mac (Guest) on April 05, 2009 at 01:15 PM
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