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How many times have we watched Randy Orton vs John Cena? So many that it has become an essential reference among the fans regarding the most overbooked matches in recent memory.
However, you will probably be surprised to find out there are four rivals that have faced one another more than these two.
Without further ado, let's take a look at the most (over) booked singles matches of all time in WWE TV.
#5 John Cena vs Randy Orton
Number of TV matches: 21
First match: Raw Nov. 14, 2005 - Last match: SmackDown Feb. 7, 2017
Record: 13-1-7
The first clash between these decorated multi-champions happened on a historical night. The Raw of November 14th, 2005, was dedicated to the beloved Eddie Guerrero, who tragically passed away a day earlier. The WWE Champion John Cena faced the heel Randy Orton on the main event of the night, with "Cowboy" Bob Orton as his son's manager.
It was a short and rather mediocre match (nowhere near the fantastic Rey Mysterio vs Shawn Michaels that took place earlier that night), that ended in a DQ when Cena was attacked from behind by Bob Orton while attempting an 'FU'.
Cena managed to overcome a simultaneous attack by the Ortons; he floored Randy with an FU and then paid tribute to Latino Heat: he took his "I'm Your Papi!" T-Shirt off, placed it in the middle of the ring and left his championship belt on top of it, concluding one of the most emotional and memorable nights in WWE history.
At the 2017 Royal Rumble, John Cena won his 16th WWE Championship and Randy Orton won the Royal Rumble match. February 7, 2017, an episode of SmackDown opened with a retrospective of their parallel paths to greatness, announcing they would collide that night for the first time under the SmackDown brand. The Viper was under Bray Wyatt's influence and walked out led by the New Face of Fear.
The two men had a one-on-one televised match, on January 16, 2002. It was for the OVW, then-developmental territory for the WWE. John Cena was still wrestling as The Prototype, while Randy Orton was always fighting under his real name.
The winner was The Prototype, and if we consider OVW a WWE related show and we count this match in, we have 22 matches and a 14-1-7 record for those two iconic wrestlers.
#4 Big Show vs Kane
Number of TV matches: 22
First match: King of the Ring June 27, 1999 - Last match: SmackDown Mar. 14, 2014
Record: 13-2-7
These two big men faced each other for the first time in the 1999 King of the Ring tournament. The match was quite a sloppy one, as Big Show was fairly green at the time and he was not yet fully capable of utilising his enormous body the best way possible. Kane evaded a Big Boot on Show which landed straight on the referee's face, knocking him out cold.
He Chokeslamed Holly and then applied a Chokehold to Big Show, which led to a notorious botch: the two men were waiting for something (a cue or a run-down maybe?) that never happened, and they maintained the Chokehold for two whole minutes! With the crowd booing loudly, Big Show decided to break the hold and Kane gave him a thunderous chair shot to the skull (something you won't see nowadays, for a number of good reasons). The still-dazed referee counted to 3, allowing the Demon to qualify to the next round.
15 years later, on the March 14, 2014 SmackDown's main event, the Corporate Kane was accompanied to the ring by the Shield, under the Authority's orders. The anti-corporate Big Show came to the fight on his own (at least temporarily...). The highlight of the match was undoubtedly a thunderous Chokeslam from the top rope by Kane, with Show amazingly kicking-out at 2!
Right after that, Kane asked the Shield to get the job done for him in a rather demanding fashion, but he should know better: the Hounds of Justice despised him for acting like their superior, so they refused to help. During the altercation, Big Show had enough time to recover and give Kane a Chokeslam of his own, emerging victorious.
Considering their age and the role they have nowadays as younger talent boosters, those two legends might never face each other one-on-one again.
#3 Dolph Ziggler vs The Miz
Number of TV matches: 22
First match: Main Event Nov. 21, 2012 - Last match: TLC Dec. 4, 2016
Record: 13-0-9
In 2012, The Awesome One was already a Grand Slam champion but not in the best year of his career, while Dolph Ziggler was Mr. 'Money In The Bank', and the team captain and sole survivor of the 2012 Survivor Series traditional elimination match.
After a few weeks of promos between them regarding who actually is the better man, they basically took over the Main Event of November 21, 2012, as they were on TV for a very entertaining half an hour. The Miz verbally destroyed his opponent, he got slapped in the face and a 20-minute long match began immediately. The back-and-forth battle ended with a Zig-Zag, concluding a fantastic week for The Showoff which led to a feud with John Cena later the same year.
The last time these two rivals collided was the finale of their Intercontinental Championship series of battles, a feud which produced some very entertaining matches and highlighted Miz and Maryse as top quality heels.
This was also the last period Dolph Ziggler was involved in a credible storyline... The Ladder match that took place on TLC December 4, 2016, was yet another great match between them. It was a well-paced fight with some great spots like the punishing Figure-Four Leglock Dolph Ziggler suffered while his right leg was wrapped in a ladder!
The Awesome One finally retained his title after two disturbing low-blow kicks that incapacitated Ziggler, allowing him to unhook the belt from above the ring.
Although Ziggler has won most of his matches against The Miz throughout their rivalry, he is currently in a position that he openly doesn't enjoy. Speculation suggests that he might soon be on his way out of the company.
#2 The Rock vs Triple H
Number of TV matches: 25
First - last match: Shotgun Jan. 18, 1997 - Raw Aug. 19, 2002
Record: 12-4-9
One of the most decorated rivalries in the history of the WWE began in a rather awkward environment. The future megastars were then going under the names Rocky Maivia and Hunter Hearst Helmsley, and their first match happened in the indies-like environment of Saturday Night Shotgun, in January 18, 1997. The next day, on the 1996 Royal Rumble, Helmsley would defend his Intercontinental Championship against Goldust, who would play a critical role that evening.
Moreover, Helmsley had a rivalry with Jake "The Snake" Roberts a few weeks earlier, so Jake decided to appear seemingly out of nowhere and throw Damien into the ring, stopping the match temporarily as both competitors run away from the python! As the competition went on (nothing fancy for today's standards), Marlena and Goldust came through the crowd, with The Bizarre One going after Helmsley. In typical hell fashion, HHH ran away and the match ended with a Count Out victory for Maivia.
Fast forward 5 years later, it was August 19, 2002 when Raw's main event was Triple H vs The Rock in a No DQ match. On the first row, we had Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar, as the Next Big Thing would face The Great One six days later at SummerSlam. While the Cerebral Assassin was ready to hit the Undisputed Champion with a sledgehammer, Shawn Michaels ran-in to The Rock's aid.
As Brock Lesnar attempted to seize the opportunity and attack The Rock, HBK gave him a fantastic Sweet Chin Music forcing him to retreat. However, The Rock wanted a fight with The Pain too, so he chased him backstage as HBK and The Game tore each other apart inside the arena, before their own bloody fight at SummerSlam, in an unsanctioned street fight.
With Hunter being the CEO of the WWE and The Rock a Hollywood star, the only place this clash could take place again is at WrestleMania. If they decide to do it they will be absolutely able to deliver, as they still are in fantastic condition.
#1 Dolph Ziggler vs Kofi Kingston
Number of TV matches: 26
First - last match: Raw Nov. 23, 2009 - Raw June 1, 2015
Record: 13-1-12
In a period of 5 years and 6 months, Dolph Ziggler and Kofi Kingston have faced each other a mind-blowing 26 times in singles competition, an approximate average of 1 match every 2.5 months!
Their initial fight was a Breakthrough Battle Royal Qualifying match, announced by the night's special guest Jesse "The Body" Ventura. It happened on Raw's November 23, 2009 show, while Kofi had just engaged in a feud with Randy Orton. Ziggler was not part of a notable storyline at the time (sounds familiar?) so Kingston was expected to win. Indeed, after a short but solid match-up, Kofi hit the Trouble In Paradise and took the Show-Off out of the equation.
On Raw June 1, 2015 both men were on their way to the 2015 Money In The Bank Ladder Match (won by Sheamus). The New Day were Tag Team Champions at the time and accompanied Kofi to the ring, while Ziggler was managed by Lana as they were part of the notorious angle with Rusev and Summer Rae (yet another terrible storyline for the Show-Off).
The match itself was a transitional one, as Xavier Woods distracted Ziggler, Kofi went for the roll-up pin, Dolph reversed it and he got the win. Woods and Big E attacked Ziggler immediately, the Prime Time Players came to his aid, and a 6-Man Tag Team match was set.
Assuming that both Kingston and Ziggler are relatively young and expected to wrestle for years to come, they will likely meet again somewhere down the road, adding y another chapter to the most booked rivalry in WWE history!
