#18
Randy Orton vs. John Cena
Hell in a Cell ’09
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Randy Orton and John Cena are the two biggest stars of their generation, and as such they’ve had dozens of matches together over the years. Some of these matches have been incredible, like their “I Quit” battle at Breaking Point ’09. Others have been downright bad; for example, the awful disqualification finish at Unforgiven ’07. But most of the matches between Orton and Cena over the years – including this Hell in a Cell for the WWE Championship – have been somewhere in the middle.
I’ve always liked the chemistry between these two, mostly because of how over they both are with millions of fans, and the reaction – good or bad – they get from every audience. But I also dislike their chemistry, because Randy is the kind of wrestler that makes an art out of taking his time, and that doesn’t often blend well with Cena’s affinity for taking five minute naps on the mat, several times in a single match.
Unfortunately, I have to put this entry in the Cena/Orton saga in the “forgettable” category. It had potential to be quite good. There was a title change, the month before showcased one of the best matches between them, and there was a lot of momentum going into Hell in a Cell, with this being Randy’s “last chance” at the title. As I alluded to, there was just too much down time to really invest in the action. I love the Viper’s persona during this time period, as he was slowly going more insane every week, and he brought a lot of charisma to this match, but it wasn’t enough to keep me interested when nothing was happening.
