5 Ways The Randy Orton/John Cena Rivalry Was Legendary (& 5 Ways It Was Lame)

Every era of WWE history has a legendary rivalry. The Golden Era had Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage, the New Generation had Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart, and the Attitude Era had Steve Austin and The Rock. Then there’s the late 2000s and 2010s, which featured a rivalry going on between top guys John Cena and Randy Orton.

It was a long rivalry that encompassed countless WWE pay per view main events, and for many fans, it was just as legendary as the aforementioned feuds. But was it actually good? Let’s take a look at the reasons why it’s great as well as the reasons why it totally disappointed.

10 Legendary: Top Stars of the Era

It’s undeniable that the top two WWE stars of the PG era were John Cena and Randy Orton -- and if there’s one thing wrestling fans love to see, it’s big stars fighting one another.

WWE understood this, which is why the pair headlined so many PPVs from 2007 to 2010. John Cena was the top good guy and the face of the company, while Randy Orton could work either babyface or heel, but excelled at being a bad guy. It was a perfect pairing.

9 Lame: Oversaturated

Cena/Orton was such a money feud at the time that the two men clashed in both singles and multi-man title matches at 15 PPVs before 2011, which may have been a mistake.

WWE, to quote its own commentators, “went to the well too many times.” That period was so oversaturated with Cena/Orton that by the time they rekindled their rivalry in 2013 and 2014, it felt like more of the same.

8 Legendary: Shared History

Pro wrestling rivalries are great when the wrestlers have an actual shared history together outside of commentary explaining that two random babyfaces are “best friends.” It’s why the Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn matches in WWE hit so hard, why Christian is eternally associated with Edge, and why it was important that Randy Orton saw fit to try to legitimately kill Edge in 2020.

John Cena and Randy Orton have a shared history too besides feuding for nearly a decade. They started in WWE’s developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling, at the same time, rising the ranks in WWE together until they both reached the top and had to fight about it. That shared history adds a lot of pathos to their bouts together.

7 Lame: Randy Orton Matches

Hindsight has proven John Cena to actually be an underrated great wrestler, but fans haven’t exactly embraced Randy Orton in the same way. Orton’s feuds tend to be awesome, especially when he’s a heel and gets to perpetrate the most heinous, evil acts upon the various babyfaces.

But when it comes to the match themselves, they always tend to be sluggish disappointments entirely based on chinlocks. The same has too often been true for even his matches with John Cena, except with those, fans could always expect more finisher exchanges.

6 Legendary: Ended Decisively

Aside from a 2017 match that was more about storyline stuff than continuing their rivalry, the last time John Cena and Randy Orton had an important match was at Hell in a Cell in October of 2014.

Earlier in February of that year, Cena vowed to end his feud with Orton and usher in a new era by beating him in what he was touting as a decisive match on Raw. It wasn’t a final match, but John Cena beat Randy Orton that night, and then beat him in their following matches, too.

5 Lame: Overshadowed The Main Event Scene

For years John Cena and Randy Orton were at the top of the cards. It makes sense -- they’re both huge stars in WWE -- but for many fans, it makes the main event scene feel a bit boring. If you go back and look back through old PPV cards of the era, it often feels like Cena/Orton is always there, even as the roster turns over over the years.

Maybe that’s part of why guys like CM Punk and Daniel Bryan won over so many fans by the time they became main eventers -- they felt like a breath of fresh air.

4 Legendary: Lasted Years

Many of WWE’s classic rivalries spanned a few years, but the John Cena/Randy Orton rivalry went from 2007 all the way to 2014 where it “officially” ended. That’s a long time for guys to be feuding with one another, especially given the huge roster WWE often boasts.

More than just a couple of title feuds, it became the biggest feud of the era just by virtue of lasting so long.

3 Lame: Fans Got Sick of It

Once upon a time, a Cena/Orton match was a “sure thing.” But as WWE approached the mid-2010s, times had changed, and fans were rooting for the indie underdog Daniel Bryan to become WWE Champion and thus the promotion’s top guy.

Cena and Orton renewed their rivalry in late 2013, feuding over the title going into January. Their 2014 Royal Rumble match was their usual competent work, but fans had gotten so sick of the rivalry that even the live crowd mercilessly jeered the whole thing.

2 Legendary: Some Awesome Matches

As great as builds are, a rivalry is only really as good as its matches, and there are some legitimately classic matches in the Cena/Orton rivalry, especially in the early days. Their first big singles match at SummerSlam 2007 might be one of their best matches together, but their 2009 60-minute Iron Man match at Bragging Rights is a strong effort as well.

Their best match together, however, is arguably their I Quit match at Breaking Point in 2009, which turned out to be a surprisingly brutal bout, especially for the PG era.

1 Lame: Pales in Comparison

Despite some incredible matches, few fans look back on Cena/Orton the way they do with WWE’s other great rivalries in history. It may be due to how recent it is since many fans look back on the Golden Era or the Attitude Era with some seriously rose-colored lenses.

But it’s also possible that the Cena/Orton rivalry just pales in comparison to how big and exciting those matches were because they clashed so frequently that it became easy to take it for granted.

NEXT: Every Major John Cena Vs. Randy Orton Match, Ranked From Worst To Best