Ranking Randy Orton’s 10 greatest WrestleMania matches

Randy Orton is one of the most successful WWE Superstars of all time, and yet, he’s not often included among the greats in the discussion of being ‘the best’. Still, he’s had an exceptionally impressive career and it’s only going to get better as time goes on, as he prepares for another appearance on the grandest stage of them all in New Orleans.

While it seems as if he’ll be squaring off against Bobby Roode we’d rather look back on years gone by, as Orton has had some tremendous matches at Mania since debuting at the show of shows back in 2004.

Of course, he’s also had some stinkers, and for that reason, the matches against Bray Wyatt at 33, Triple H at 25 and the Money in the Bank match at 23 didn’t make the cut. The latter was actually quite good, but Orton was just one of many bodies in the match.

With that being said, here’s our ranking of Randy Orton’s 10 greatest WrestleMania matches.

#10 The Shield – WrestleMania 29

The Shield simply had to be on the card in New Jersey after rising up through the ranks since debuting in November 2012. The trio ran through everyone who was put in their path, with their biggest challenge coming at WrestleMania 29 when they faced the team of Big Show, Sheamus, and of course, Randy Orton.

The match itself wasn’t much to shout about, and things kind of got even worse afterwards with Show turning heel just over a month after turning face again. It was a match that didn’t really showcase what Orton can do, and he wound up turning heel just a few months later anyway, so why didn’t they pull the trigger on it here instead?

#9 Rey Mysterio & Kurt Angle – WrestleMania 22

Chicago had some thoughts about this match

The triple threat match between Kurt Angle, Rey Mysterio & Randy Orton was odd. The crowd in Chicago spent most of the night cheering for the heels, and when it came to this match, nobody was even given a second to breathe. It wasn’t even 10 minutes long and while the action was fun, we weren’t given a chance to appreciate it.

Orton certainly played an integral role both in this match and in the entire build-up, although the exploitation of Eddie Guerrero’s death wasn’t something that many fans were in favour of.

It certainly wasn’t a bad match by any stretch of the imagination, but it could’ve done with at least six more minutes in order to reach its full potential.

#8 The Rock & Mick Foley – WrestleMania 20

If you’re looking for a stacked WrestleMania match featuring five current or future Hall of Famers, then boy oh boy do we have the entry for you. Back at WrestleMania 20, The Rock & Mick Foley reunited one more time in order to take on the Evolution team of Orton, Batista & Ric Flair. Yes, this is something that legitimately happened.

It was an entertaining enough contest and it’s one that few people actually remember, which is probably because it took place on such a ridiculously stacked card. Orton was able to get a few decent shots in throughout the contest, although his real headline-making moment came the following month when he took on Foley in a one-on-one match.

#7 Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase – WrestleMania 26

Legacy was an extremely underrated faction a few years back, as Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase were able to learn from one of the hottest stars in professional wrestling. The trio was inseparable for a long time, only for things to implode right as we began the Road to WrestleMania 26 in Arizona.

Instead of one member not taking part in the match, we wound up seeing a triple threat which was probably better than anyone thought it would be. It still wasn’t all that noteworthy, and few could’ve expected Rhodes to wind up being more successful than DiBiase, but it was a nice way to round off the Legacy storyline.

#6 Kane – WrestleMania 28

The reasoning behind Kane and Randy Orton facing off at WrestleMania 28 was pretty ridiculous, but if you allow yourself to forget about all of that, you’ll be able to enjoy what was an underrated mid card Mania match. Kane was still able to put on a solid bout at that stage, meanwhile, Orton was continuing to prove why he’s one of the best workers in the business.

The surprise of having The Big Red Machine come out on top was an interesting one and served as proof that anything can happen in WWE, even on the grandest stage of them all. Fans aren’t likely to be talking about this one for years to come, but it’s a nice little match to go back and watch if you’ve got some free time.

#5 Triple H & John Cena – WrestleMania 24

We can all agree that the WWE Championship match at WrestleMania 24 didn’t need to be a triple threat match. Cena won the Rumble and Orton wound up facing The Game in Houston twelve months later, so Triple H’s presence wasn’t really required.

Despite that, however, these three men were able to put on a really fun match which saw Orton shock the world by retaining his title when everyone was expecting him to lose. Of course, he lost the belt not soon afterwards, because such is the nature of WWE’s 50/50 booking sometimes.

As a whole WM24 in Orlando was a really fun show which deserves a great deal of credit, and this match is one of the biggest reasons for that.

#4 CM Punk – WrestleMania 27

The Voice of the Voiceless was actually an active competitor prior to his pipebomb speech, contrary to what some bandwagon fans would have you believe. One of his final feuds before becoming a fully fledged main eventer came against Randy Orton, with the two men facing off against one another on the grandest stage of them all in Atlanta.

It's fair to say that it wasn't the show stealer many were expecting, although it was a more than an acceptable performance from both men considering how bad the overall pay per view was. Orton managed to pull off arguably his second coolest Mania RKO, meanwhile Punk took his last big loss prior to becoming a babyface in the summer.

#3 Seth Rollins – WrestleMania 31

We’ve mentioned his second coolest RKO at WrestleMania, and now it’s time to remember the very best.

The feud between Orton and Seth Rollins was an incredibly enjoyable one, even if some fans thought it was a bit illogical at times. The two characters had a burning hatred for one another and it was something of a past vs future contest, even though Randy was still in the prime of his career.

The match wasn’t a classic but people won’t remember that because instead, they’ll remember the iconic image of Orton delivering a devastating RKO to Rollins in one of his finest moments at the show of shows.

Of course, Seth wound up becoming WWE World Heavyweight Champion later on that night, but The Viper still managed to grab himself a Mania moment of his own.

#2 The Undertaker – WrestleMania 21

It’s hard not to have a great match with The Deadman at WrestleMania, and back in 2005, Orton was able to step up to the plate with one of his best performances to date. Randy went toe to toe with one of the best in the business as The Legend Killer attempted to add yet another name to his growing list of victims.

The two men had great chemistry together, and we genuinely thought the streak was over when Orton countered Taker’s chokeslam into an RKO. They had us believing that the rookie could do the same thing to The Phenom that he did to Chris Benoit back at SummerSlam, and that’s the best kind of storytelling you can hope for in this business.

#1 Batista & Daniel Bryan – WrestleMania 30

This may not be the number one match based on Randy Orton’s in-ring performance, but when it comes to the actual story, this was absolutely perfect.

From SummerSlam 2013 all the way through to New Orleans, the heelish Orton had made Daniel Bryan’s life a living hell. He beat him countless times for the title via shenanigans, attacked him backstage, and even humiliated him with a Money in the Bank cash-in. This was all leading up to Bryan finally getting his revenge, and he finally did so in the main event of WrestleMania 30.

They built the drama of the match up perfectly, and the look of despair on Orton’s face when he sees Bryan submitting Batista is Oscar-worthy.

You may not like him, but you have to admit that Orton knows how to bring it when it matters most.