Views from the Hawke’s Nest: WWE Superstar Collection: Randy Orton

The Bash
June 28, 2009

Randy Orton© vs. Triple H [WWE Championship/Three Stages of Hell]
These two had a feud in 2009 that largely sucked. There were a few moments and/or matches that were exceptions, but I don’t think this match was one of those exceptions. The match stipulations are: Singles, Falls Count Anywhere, & Stretch.

HHH managed to send Orton into a ringpost early. Orton came back by going after HHH’s left leg, which apparently had been injured before this show. I don’t remember the story well enough. Orton had an undecisive advantage, but he still had the advantage for a couple of minutes. HHH apparently got bored of this and whacked Orton a bunch of times with a steel chair. Randy Orton wins the first fall via disqualification.

HHH continued to use the steel chair to hit Orton. Orton fell to the floor, and HHH promptly hit a Pedigree: 1…2…3. HHH wins the second fall via pinfall.

Some extra referees bring out the stretcher, and some crew members put the tape up on the top of the entrance ramp for the finishing line. HHH had Orton on the stretcher and rolled him up the ramp. Orton hopped off though and sent the stretcher into HHH’s injured leg. Orton then crotched him on a barricade. They brawled into different parts of the arena, with Orton mostly in control. HHH came back and sent Orton back into the ringside area. Orton gave HHH a barricade backbreaker. Orton sent HHH and some ring steps into the ring. HHH managed to use the steps against Orton though. HHH got Orton onto the stretcher, and he rolled him up the ramp. HHH ended up on the stretcher too, and they rolled back down the ramp. That spot was kind of reckless. Orton used the stretcher to hit an elevated DDT onto the steel ramp. Orton went for the punt, but he hit the stretcher by accident. HHH went for the pedigree, but Orton backdropped him onto the stretcher. Orton rolled him up the ramp now. HHH got off right before the finish line. Orton called for the RKO, but HHH sent him into a screen. HHH then hit the pedigree on the stage. HHH got Orton on the stretcher, but Cody Rhodes blocked the stretcher. HHH easily dispatched of Rhodes. Ted DiBiase came out, and he and Rhodes took HHH down. HHH pulled a sledgehammer out of the stage. Wrestling. Orton kicked him in the balls and used a piece of the stage to whack HHH in the face. HHH fell onto the stretcher, and Orton pushed him over the finish line. Randy Orton retains the WWE Championship.

Holy shit. This match sucked. The wrestlers and the crowd gave zero shits about this entire thing. I would never presume to say that two wrestlers were phoning something in, but the biggest problem with this match was neither man appeared to care that they were there. I don’t care if HHH and Orton actually didn’t care, but they showed no emotion whatsoever. Circumstances probably would have prevented this match from being something special no matter what, but Orton and HHH never did anything in the match to make someone want to get invested. The only thing the crowd really popped for was the sledgehammer, but that was a fucking stupid spot, so I give them no credit for that. Avoid this match at all costs.
Match Rating: **1/4

Night of Champions
July 26, 2009

Randy Orton© vs. John Cena vs. Triple H [WWE Championship]
This is a rematch from Wrestlemania 2008. Orton won that match.

Orton left the ring right away. Cena and HHH decided to corner him on the floor. Orton ran back into the ring, but the babyfaces were able to play the numbers game to work over the heel. Orton was eventually able to cause Cena to shoulder tackle HHH. After that, HHH and Cena stopped working together. Orton and HHH went back and forth for a bit. Eventually, Cena hit both of them with his diving FameAsser. HHH went for a Pedigree on Orton, but the Viper backdropped him to the floor. Orton tried to hit HHH and Cena with elevated DDTs at the same time, but instead, they just backdropped him to the floor. Cena and HHH went back and forth for a bit. HHH hit a Pedigree: 1…2…Orton broke up the fall and pulled HHH to the floor. Cena sent Orton to the floor, and Cena then locked HHH in the STF on the commentation station (shaped like a table!). Orton and Cena went back and forth inside the ring. Orton got crotched on the top rope. Cena had HHH locked in the STF. Orton went for Concussion Punt on HHH/Cena, but Cena released the submission to prevent the punt. Cena gave Orton the Protoplex, but HHH lowbridged Cena to the floor. HHH locked Orton into a Scorpion Deathlock. Cena then locked Orton into the STF. Orton tapped out but the referee didn’t know who to give the victory to. Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase ran down and attacked Cena and HHH. Cena went to give Cody a FU, but then Orton hit Cena with the RKO: 1…2…3!

Much like the first match in this collection, this match was uninspired and soulless. This was a dark time for Raw Title PPV matches. Cena put in his usual effort, but clearly none of these men even tried to put together something special. I can’t believe the WWE has put either of the first two matches on a DVD. This match was easier to watch, because WWE PPV Triple Threats are better for my ADD, but seriously, these guys did not try to make this match anything worthwhile.
Match Rating: **1/2

Raw
March 1, 2010

Randy Orton vs. Ted DiBiase
The Legacy/Priceless breakup was one of the worst botches in recent WWE storytelling. Dreadful stuff. I recall reading good things about this match though, but I have never seen it myself.

Orton was in control before a commercial break, but when they came back, DiBiase had gained control of the match. DiBiase was working him over in the ring. Orton came back, and they started trading strikes until Orton hit a snap powerslam. Orton then did the greatest tecnico spot of all the times: THE GARVIN STOMP. Cody Rhodes jumped up on the apron. Orton knocked him down, but Cody got back in the ring and the referee disqualified DiBiase. Yep, that just happened on a DVD. Legacy proceeded to beat down Orton. Orton came back. He dropkicked DiBiase out of the ring and gave Cody a backbreaker. DiBiase saved Cody from further damage.

The fact that this is on a WWE DVD is mindblowing. Horrible selection.
Match Rating: *3/4

Capitol Punishment
June 19, 2011

Randy Orton© vs. Christian [World Heavyweight Championship]
All these guys did in 2011 was have great matches together. The feud sucked and buried Christian as a main eventer, but all the matches ruled. Booker T is on commentary, which makes me the saddest panda ever.

Christian went for a slingshot plancha, but Orton avoided it. Christian managed to send Orton into the steel steps to cut him off. Christian worked him over in the ring after that. Christian hit a spinebuster for a nearfall. They were doing a story where Orton was recovering from a concussion, so Michael Cole freaked out every time Orton took a bump. Orton came back with a backdrop and a series of clubbing forearms. Orton hit a belly-to-belly suplex for a nearfall. Orton hit a superplex for a nearfall. Orton hit a neckbreaker for another nearfall. Orton then hit an elevated DDT. Orton called for a RKO. Christian reversed the RKO attempt into an Impaler: 1…2…NO! Christian called for the spear. Orton avoided it and went for the RKO, but Christian avoided it and connected on a spear: 1…2…NO! Christian flipped out. Christian hit a Pendulum Kick, but Orton came back with a RKO: 1…2…3!

This was a very good match, and this DVD absolutely needed it so I didn’t feel like I completely wasted my time. I don’t really find concussion storylines interesting (especially if the guy with the concussion is basically able to completely overcome the head injuries), but I guess Orton sold it well here. I really didn’t like this feud at the time (or now), because it basically just made Christian seem like a failure who was nowhere near the quality of his enemy. That is just not an interesting story to me. As I said earlier though, at least they put on some great matches.
Match Rating: ***1/2

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The 411: I wish I could have been a mosquito on the wall during the meeting where these matches were selected. Why not a fly, you ask? Because I want to annoy these deciders and give them lots of mosquito bites. This DVD sucked. Randy Orton is most definitely a flawed performer, but WWE could easily fill a dozen discs with good (or at least interesting) matches from his career. Instead, we got this piece of bile that doesn’t reflect Randy Orton’s career in any way, except to say that he had two shitty PPV matches while he was WWE Champion in the summer of 2009. Stay away from this DVD. Check out a full/organized list of all the wrestling show reviews I've done at 411mania.

Final Score:  3.5   [ Bad ]