John Cena vs. Randy Orton rivalry

[PSachkovsky]

I remember back in 2004, the talk was all about the future encounter between John Cena and Randy Orton, similar on the lines of today's generations' version of Rock vs. Austin

And they finally met in 2009 for a series of feuds. Do you think they delivered, or failed to create an epic rivalry?

 

[Nano]

I think they failed, there were more and better feuds than this in my personal opinion

 

[Laura]

It wasn't a great rivalry and certainly no where close to Rock/Austin. To be honest, I don't think Cena's character is capable of an epic feud. Too phony. Can't take him seriously or get invested in anything he says/does.

 

[Jonathan]

It wasn't a great rivalry and certainly no where close to Rock/Austin. To be honest, I don't think Cena's character is capable of an epic feud. Too phony. Can't take him seriously or get invested in anything he says/does.

You obviously didn't watch that feud at all. It was incredible. It wasn't the same type of feud as Austin/Rock so it's unfair to compare them.
Their I Quit match (or could have been Iron Man, I forget) at Bragging Rights 2009 was INSANE.

 

[Swift]

Wasn't watching then so I can't really say, but an Orton/Cena feud seems like it would be really fucking lame.

 

[Mustafar Reginald]

You obviously didn't watch that feud at all. It was incredible. It wasn't the same type of feud as Austin/Rock so it's unfair to compare them.
Their I Quit match (or could have been Iron Man, I forget) at Bragging Rights 2009 was INSANE.

Their match at Bragging Rights was the Ironman match. Their I Quit match came at Breaking Point. I thought the Ironman match was pretty good, they did a pretty good job of diversifying the actual content of the match into portions so it wasn't just rest holds the whole match with sporadic bursts of wrestling. The narrative progressed naturally, and it was a fun watch. I do think the last act of the match was pretty boring, so they didn't keep my interest for the whole hour but they did really good. I thought their I Quit match sucked though and their promos weren't really that good from my memory. Finally, I disliked how they played hot potato with the title, so needless to say I don't look back on this feud positively but at least it had that one highlight.

Also, they had a feud back in 07 around SummerSlam time. It was cut short due to Cena getting injured but it was still like a two month feud. I didn't like the SummerSlam bout (didn't see their Unforgiven match) but I remember enjoying the story and what they were building to more than their 09 feud.

 

[Hannah Bee]

I loved it! It's not Austin/Rock but it was a wonderful feud. My opinion tho.

 

[Meshuggah]

Wasn't watching then so I can't really say, but an Orton/Cena feud seems like it would be really fucking lame.

Yes, now it would be. It was in 2009, because I wasn't interested in either of them by that time.

But back in 2004, with mr thugonamics, and randy the cocky evil legend killer, it was a very begged for feud. Similar to how Cena/Punk was wanted at first.

To answer the OP, they failed. They waited too long, their characters in 2009 were not as interesting as in 2004 when they were still fresh, and people wanted to see more of them. I loved Randy in the old days, I can't stand him now.

But, that is MY opinion, and my opinion only. Others think differently. But if Cena and Brock could pull it off back then, and Cena and Taker could pull it off back then, Randy and Cena could have pulled it off epicly, BACK THEN, though. Not now...its too late.

 

[arianna]

I loved it! It's not Austin/Rock but it was a wonderful feud. My opinion tho.

 

[seabs]

You obviously didn't watch that feud at all. It was incredible. It wasn't the same type of feud as Austin/Rock so it's unfair to compare them.
Their I Quit match (or could have been Iron Man, I forget) at Bragging Rights 2009 was INSANE.

Incredible? Really? It was good at times sure (the iron man with Orton blowing up Cena and when he punted Cenas dad) the rest was nothing outstanding. The matches were repetitive for the most of the time and Orton was well Orton for the promos. Good absolutely but how you can justify incredible illl never know.

 

[Laura]

You obviously didn't watch that feud at all. It was incredible. It wasn't the same type of feud as Austin/Rock so it's unfair to compare them.
Their I Quit match (or could have been Iron Man, I forget) at Bragging Rights 2009 was INSANE.

I only saw the PPVs, but I can't imagine Raw and Smackdown segments would've improved it. I thought the Iron Man match was kind of boring. Too gimmicky.

As other's have said, the feud had a few highlights, but it never had any kind of epicness. The way they used Cena's father was silly and contrived. I'm not sure how you can call it an 'incredible' feud. It was kind of standard, really.