Orton is in a better place right now simply by the fact that now, even though he lost, he's a credible main eventer. Sure, last year he defeated HHH vs Cena, but that victory wasn't sold as him being better than them, it was sold as him being in the right place at the right time and it was portrayed as a complete fluke.
Orton as of right now can main event WM any time, against any opponent, and he will be credible, he won't look out of place doing it. Last year, that wasn't the case, and they had to put Cena as a crutch because Orton main eventing Mania one on one just didn't felt right.
Just look at the talk now, we are not talking of Orton being a credible main eventer or a credible champion, as we were last year. We are talking of Randy Orton being the face of the company or not.
Sure, Randy Orton would be on an echelon of his own had he defeated Triple H, but he still is far better than last year. Could he be better? Hell yeah.