WWE History: Randy Orton threatens to cancel WrestleMania and shut the company down

The backstory

On January 25, Randy Orton won the Royal Rumble match and punched his ticket to the main event of WrestleMania 25. But there was a big hurdle on his road to The Show of Shows, that being the McMahon family.

Orton had punted Vince McMahon during the buildup to Royal Rumble, and came out next week with a bunch of attorneys to confront Stephanie McMahon.

The threat

The segment saw Stephanie slamming Orton for his attack on Vince, and still having the gall to come out and threaten the McMahons. Orton was having none of it though, and ended up making a bold statement that would leave Stephanie worried beyond belief. Here's what The Viper said:

That's right, Stephanie. This is a threat. I have a legal right to be at WrestleMania. I won the Royal Rumble. If you fire me here tonight, I'll sue you. But not only will I sue you, I will file an injunction so that this year there will be no WrestleMania. I will shut this company up, I will shut it down. And that is not a threat. That, Stephanie McMahon, is a promise. Now, what are you going to do about that?

Orton went on to 'beg' Stephanie to fire him and suffer the consequences. She had other plans though. Shane McMahon's music hit to a loud pop, as Orton looked up to the ramp with cold, calculating eyes.

Orton threatens Stephanie McMahon:

The aftermath

Orton and his cronies ended up attacking both Shane and Stephanie during the buildup to WrestleMania. Triple H stepped up to put an end to Orton's dastardly ways, and faced him at WrestleMania 25 with The Game's WWE title on the line.

Triple H defeated Orton to retain his WWE Championship in the main event of WrestleMania's 25th Anniversary, in what many dubbed as an underwhelming culmination to one of the greatest buildups to a WrestleMania main event.