Whenever there's a big show coming up, like WWE Backlash 2025 this weekend, it can be instructive (not to mention fun) to go back and watch some older, related matches in the lead-up to the event.There are as many different ways to watch wrestling as there are individual wrestling fans, but here at Wrestling Inc., we love to cut up and rearrange wrestling history in interesting and unique ways, selecting a variety of matches with some sort of through-line connecting them and placing them side-by-side. With WINC Watchlist, we invite you to join us in this case, for a big-picture examination of the history between Backlash's two main-eventers: Randy Orton and John Cena.
Narrowing the long list of Orton/Cena matches down to just five was a daunting endeavor, and we had to make some tough decisions. Stick to singles matches between the two, or include multi-man matches involving others as well? What about TV matches (like their most recent one in 2017) as opposed to matches that happened on PPV? And what eras did we need to dip into to get a truly representative five-match sample of the Orton/Cena rivalry?
In the end, we decided on one criterion above all others. Like the vast majority of their PPV matches, the main event of Backlash 2025 is a world title match, and with an astonishing 31 world title reigns between them, it almost feels wrong to include Orton/Cena matches that weren't contested for the WWE or World Heavyweight Championship (and sometimes for both). As a result, here are five world title matches contested between John Cena and RandyOrton to get you ready for their last one this Saturday!
Backlash 2007 took place in the Philips Arena in Atlanta Georgia and the was the first pay-per-view featuring all three brands, "WWE Raw," "WWE SmackDown," and "WWE ECW," after the company stopped brand-exclusive PPVs following WrestleMania 23. It's important to John Cena and Randy Orton's rivalry, because it was their first time in a PPV match together, outside of the Royal Rumble. Their first ever one-on-one match took place on an episode of "Raw" in November 2005, and it took almost two years for the future megastars to be in the ring together on a PPV. At Backlash, WWE Champion Cena successfully defended his gold against Orton, Edge, and ShawnMichaels in the main event of the night.
It was a fast-paced match that didn't seem to slow down at any point and lasted just over 21 minutes. In the end, it would be Michaels to hit a Sweet Chin Music on Cena, who fell on Orton to get the pin and retain his spinner belt championship. Michaels couldn't get to Cena fast enough to get his shoulders off the mat once he realized the referee was counting the fall.
This match had the 2007 fans out of their seats and the crowd was super hot throughout. Though fans debate just who should have won the match, many agree that it was one for the history books, with some lauding it at the best fatal four-way match in WWE history. Dave Meltzer rated the match 4.5 stars out of five, making it the highest rated match of Orton and Cena's by the journalist. The bout is also Cena and Orton's highest rated match by fans on CageMatch with a 8.91 current total rating. In the comments, fans commended the exciting finish as fun and different, and highlighted Michaels' in-ring ability the most out of anyone's.
It wouldn't be Cena and Orton's last time meeting in a fatal four-way match. At Backlash again, one year later, the men took on Triple H and JBL, but that time, Orton was WWE Champion. Backlash 2007 would be Orton and Cena's first pay-per-view match against each other, and now they're staring down seemingly their last onSaturday, one final time at Backlash.
Written by Daisy Ruth
Many will consider the 2009 "I Quit" match as the prime example of John Cena's "Never Give Up" attitude, but dare we say that SummerSlam 2007 might have been the original?
Heading into August 2007, John Cena held the WWE Championship for nearly a year, with successful title defenses over the likes of The Great Khali, Shawn Michaels, Umaga, Edge, and Randy Orton. Orton and Cena's first singles title match (and their first ever singles on pay-per-view), however, didn't come until SummerSlam when WWE authority figure Jonathan Coachman named "The Legend Killer" as the number one contender.
Similar to Breaking Point, Orton controlled several minutes (in this case, nearly the entire first half) of the action, notably weakening the defending champion with a powerslam, a collision into the announce table, and a tight chokehold. Finally, Cena shifted momentum into his favor by ramming Orton into the turnbuckle to counter the latter. From there, the competition went back and forth, with both men laying in their signature moves Orton spiked Cena with his elevated DDT while Cena stunned Orton with a Five Knuckle Shuffle. Conversely, Orton and Cena also countered each other's signature moves, that being the punt and STFU. In the end, though, Cena's resiliency proved to be stronger as he kicked out of an RKO and subsequently drove Orton into the mat with an FU (aka Attitude Adjustment) for the win.
In the weeks following SummerSlam, Cena and Orton continued their feud and met in a rematch at Unforgiven. There, Cena repeatedly struck Orton, so much so that the referee disqualified him. Afterward, Coachman ordered a Last Man Standing match between Orton and Cena for the WWE Championship at No Mercy on October 7. Unfortunately, this exact match dynamic never materialized as Cena tore his pectoral muscle on the October 1 episode of "WWE Raw," rendering him unable to compete for months and the WWE Championship vacant (until Vince McMahon awarded it to Orton at No Mercy, that is).
Written by Ella Jay
It's no secret that John Cena and Randy Orton's careers have followed one another so closely over the last two decades. Believe it or not, though, WrestleMania 24 marks the first and only time that the two have ever encountered one another in the ring at "The Grandest Stage of Them All" in any kind of match.
Cena had made his infamous surprise return from a torn pec at the Royal Rumble 2008 in record time after being sidelined for four months, eventually taking home the whole match by sending Triple H crashing over the top rope and onto the floor. Unlike most cases, Cena opted to challenge Orton for the WWE Championship at No Way Out 2008 instead of waiting until WrestleMania and technically did win the bout but as the result of disqualification. Despite this, Cena still made it back into the WrestleMania match when he defeated Orton in a non-title singles match on the February 18 episode of "Raw" as Triple H made the three count being the special guest referee of the match.
The WrestleMania action kicks off with Orton clocking Triple H with the WWE Championship belt only for Cena to go straight after Orton and Triple H to send Orton's face bouncing off the announce desk. Back inside the ring, Orton dominates the match for a while and lands a double hanging DDT on both Cena and Triple H. Orton sets up for an RKO, but Cena sends him crashing on top of Triple H and begins to take control of the match. Triple H eventually gains the upper hand for the first time in the match, but Orton delivers an RKO to him. Cena and Triple H then take turns locking in submissions on Orton, but each break up the holds the other has locked in to keep themselves alive in the match. In the closing moments of the match, Triple H hits a Pedigree on Cena and pins him, but Orton delivers a Punt to Triple H to break the fall and pins Cena himself to retain his title.
Following WrestleMania 24, Orton defended the WWE Championship one last time in a Fatal Four-Way Elimination Championship match at Backlash 2008 against Cena, JBL, and the man that would put an end to his reign, Triple H. While Orton may have lost the title, the inclusion of Cena was the perfect way to set up what was to come between the two men in the year that followed.
Written by Olivia Quinlan
Don't be expecting anything like this one on May 10, as nearly 16 years have passed since John Cena and Randy Orton "ended their rivalry" in one of the most memorable matches of WWE's infamous PG era.
Up until the 2009 Bragging Rights pay-per-view, there had only been seven televised Iron Man matches in WWE history, and only four of them spanned an entire hour. It was designed and billed as WWE's toughest match at the time. Tougher than the Elimination Chamber, more physically demanding than Hell in a Cell, and at times more dramatic than some Royal Rumble matches. However, it was only ever reserved for feuds where the two men involved wanted to prove one thing; that they were the better man.
Leading into Bragging Rights, Cena and Orton had traded victories on three consecutive pay-per-views, but their rivalry had stretched all the way back to 2007 where Cena's father was punt kicked in the head. You get the sense that even though they would always cool off and then come back to this feud, that original attack on Cena's father always added something extra to their feud as Cena tried to add some extra venom to his matches with Orton as that kick had never left his brain. However, the 2009 consensus of the Cena vs. Orton feud was one of "really? This again?" as there weren't many other main event stars that were stepping up in the way WWE would have liked, and weren't reaching the same heights that Cena and Orton were. With that said, this the match in their feud that warrants the title of legendary.
2009 Randy Orton has become something of a meme these days (with the whole "one gorilla could beat 100 men" argument being thrown into disarray when someone suggests that the 100 men are just 100 versions of 2009 Randy Orton) but watching the match back, it's kind of warranted. The man looks terrifying, he moves so smoothly in the ring, and genuinely hits moves out of nowhere to put him right back in control. The iconic spot where he looks like a caveman setting off fireworks is from this match, and it just works so well. As for Cena, he is at his best when he is forced to dive into that darker part of himself. I don't know how much of that we will get in the 2025 run, but when he's given the freedom to legitimately try and murder someone live on TV, it really is a joy to watch.
All in all, there's a reason why this is the Cena vs.Orton singles matchthat's ranked the highest on Cagematch: it deserves it. A match that is essential viewing if you're a WWE fan, or if you want to see how to structure a 60 minute match. While there was a lull in the third quarter, these two men had people jumping in the air at the end of a match that lasted an entire hour, and not many people can do that.
Written bySam Palmer
Eleven years ago, John Cena and Randy Orton met with the relatively new unified WWE World Heavyweight Championship on the line at the 2014 Royal Rumble.
The title had been unified at TLC the month before, with WWE Champion Orton overcoming World Heavyweight Champion Cena in the event's namesake match. But discontent with his failure, Cena was led back to Orton in a traditional singles match, much to the chagrin of the fans who wanted to see Daniel Bryan in his spot; Bryan had wrestled earlier in the night against Bray Wyatt for an opportunity to perform in the Rumble main event, but he lost to effectively spell him out of the equation for WrestleMania 30 or so it would seem and send those in attendance into overdrive in discontent, chanting Bryan's name throughout. But that did allow Orton to play the villain he plays so well, working with the crowd and ultimately adding to the uproar that propelled Bryan to win the title at the "Show of Shows."
The match between Orton and Cena itself saw the rivals playing their best hits, and one another's, to no avail. Cena managed to submit Orton, but only once the referee had been knocked to the ground. Orton broke the hold by hitting Cena with his title belt, then they exchanged finishers to near-falls, and then Orton adopted the Attitude Adjustment and STF followed by Cena then adopting the RKO. It was at this point that things got particularly interesting, with the Wyatt Family emerging to provide the distraction as Orton landed another RKO to steal the win. This continued the proxy relationship between the Wyatts and The Authority, lending to the following months' stories with Bryan, Cena, and The Shield as well, and proved a catalyst for better or worse to some of the core tales of WrestleMania 30. In many respects, though completely unintended, the Royal Rumble 2014 event can be seen as the stone cast for the ripples that led to Bryan's main event win. Orton and Cena were very central to that, as was their match, even if at the time it wasn't looked at that way.
Writen by Max Everett
