4 reasons why Triple H is facing Randy Orton in Saudi Arabia
WWE has announced that Randy Orton and Triple H will go head-to-head in one of the featured matches at the Super ShowDown event at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Friday, June 7.
The two men have met in 19 one-on-one matches on WWE television over the last 15 years, with their first encounter ending with Triple H defeating his former Evolution colleague for the World Heavyweight Championship at Unforgiven in September 2004.
Their most notable singles match against each other came in April 2009 at WrestleMania 25, where HHH picked up the victory in the main event of WWE’s biggest show of the year to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.
Since then, they have mostly been on the same page, with Orton even aligning with The Authority in 2013 after “The Game” helped him cash in his Money In The Bank contract on Daniel Bryan at SummerSlam.
With the latest chapter in their storied rivalry set to be told in Saudi Arabia, let’s take a look at four possible reasons why WWE has booked the match for the upcoming event.
#4 Continuation of the Evolution storyline
The last time we saw all four members of Evolution together in a WWE ring, Batista sang the praises of each of his former colleagues before cryptically telling Triple H that he has done everything there is to do in the wrestling business, except for one thing: defeat him.
Ric Flair’s presence in the storyline turned out to be vital, as Batista attacked the Hall of Famer before his 70th birthday celebration on Raw to set up a match against Triple H at WrestleMania 35. Randy Orton, meanwhile, was busy feuding with AJ Styles on SmackDown Live and he played no further part in the Evolution story.
HHH’s victory over Batista essentially confirmed his status as the main man in Evolution, so this upcoming match in Saudi Arabia gives Orton a chance to prove that, at the age of 39, he is still in the prime of his career when compared to his 49-year-old opponent.
From a storyline perspective, Triple H’s one-on-one match at the Greatest Royal Rumble in 2018 against John Cena made no sense, so at least a match against Orton can revive the Evolution storyline which began at SmackDown 1000 and continued at WrestleMania 35.