Cena vs. Orton Feud II (feat. Triple H) (2008)
In 2008, John Cena pulled off his most iconic Super-Cena feat. The same pectoral injury Cena suffered (thanks to Orton, in kayfabe) was supposed to put him on the shelf for at least 6 months. Instead, he shocked the world than 4 months later to win the Royal Rumble at Madison Square Garden. If you ever want to know how deafening an audience pop can get, just listen to how the Madison Square Garden crowd roared when Super-Cena came from behind the curtains.
That meant Cena would face WWE Champion Randy Orton for the title he never lost. But, they didn’t wait until WrestleMania to pick up where they left off. The foes fought at No Way Out in an emotion-filled, physical contest that saw Orton eventually “throw in the towel” (or rather, a wet blanket) by slapping the ref and disqualifying himself to retain.
Shortly thereafter, Cena, Orton, and Triple H met in a Triple Threat match at WrestleMania XXIV. “The Viper” slithered to an underhanded victory, punting Triple H after his former mentor pedigreed Cena, then covering Cena for the 1-2-3 to retain the title.
Less than a month later, Orton pulled off a similar tactic in a Fatal 4-Way match at Backlash. He eliminated Cena with a punt after Cena forced JBL to tap. If the second John Cena and Randy Orton feud helped establish “Big Match John” as Superman, then Orton’s opportunistic constricting was his kryptonite.
