Does Randy Orton Need Another WrestleMania Moment?

Randy Orton is going to WrestleMania 33, but will it be his moment, or Bray Wyatt’s?

At WrestleMania 33, Randy Orton is going to challenge Bray Wyatt for the WWE Championship. The question was posed: does Randy Orton need another WrestleMania moment? Many people might be quick to say “no,” but think about this: what is Orton’s signature WrestleMania moment?

Daniel Bryan has the Triple Threat at WrestleMania XXX, Seth Rollins has the cash-in at WrestleMania 31, Shawn Michaels has the Iron Man Match at WrestleMania XII but a WrestleMania moment doesn’t need to come in the main event. John Cena won his first world title from JBL at WrestleMania 21, and The Hardy Boyz, The Dudley Boyz, and Edge and Christian all put on one of the most memorable WrestleMania matches ever at WrestleMania X-Seven. Even Fandango has a WrestleMania moment, his WWE debut match at WrestleMania 29, when he defeated Chris Jericho. What’s Orton’s?

Sure, he’s won a few matches, against the likes of Kane, Rollins, and his former Legacy partners, but none of those matches had particularly high stakes. Meanwhile, he lost to Rey Mysterio in a Triple Threat World Heavyweight Championship Match at WrestleMania 22, and to Triple H in his only WrestleMania main event, a WWE Championship Match at WrestleMania XXV. He was a part of Bryan’s moment at WrestleMania XXX, and his most memorable moment was at WrestleMania 31, an insane RKO on Rollins, but Rollins’ cash-in overshadowed that by a long shot. The other moment he has that could be considered his best, was a somewhat short Triple Threat WWE Championship Match at WrestleMania XXIV, which fell somewhere in between Ric Flair’s retirement match, and The Undertaker’s main event World Heavyweight Championship Match with Edge, the first of Taker’s truly great WrestleMania matches.

So, I’ll ask again: what’s Orton’s signature WrestleMania moment?

It doesn’t exist. As stated above, he’s had his moments. He’s wrestled at The Show of Shows 12 times, and won six of those matches. Even the biggest Orton fan would have to admit that he’s been treated extremely favorably throughout his career. Still, the problem for Orton is finding that standout moment that his fans can all go back and watch when he retires. That moment where he was at the center of the wrestling universe, on The Grandest Stage of Them All, all by himself, and everybody in the building knew they were witnessing something special.

Orton’s had standout non-WrestleMania moments. He beat Cena to become the first WWE World Heavyweight Champion at TLC 2013, and his match with Mick Foley at Backlash 2004 is a standout for it’s brutality. People remember WrestleMania more than anything, though. That includes the talent themselves.

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Wyatt should defeat Orton at WrestleMania 33. Wyatt needs the moment more. He needs that moment to have any shot at joining the tier of Superstars that Orton has reached. Still, there would be something sweet about seeing Orton get that babyface moment, standing tall at The Show of Shows, holding a world title, because that’s never happened before.