There have been numerous legendary feuds within the respective eras of WWE. For the PG Era, one of the most famous was between John Cena and Randy Orton, largely contested around the WWE Championship.
2009, in particular, was rife with singles collisions between the acclaimed duo, the WWE Championship changing hands three times in a six-week period as a result. This timeframe included well-received I Quit, Hell in a Cell, and Iron Man matches at the Breaking Point, Hell in a Cell, and Bragging Rights pay-per-views as Cena and Orton handily provided the best match on each of those cards.
Their last singles bout against each other came almost a decade later in February 2017, as John Cena defeated that year’s Royal Rumble winner Randy Orton on the go-home Friday Night SmackDown ahead of the Elimination Chamber.
John Cena And Randy Orton Once Got Into A Road Rage Spat
John Cena and Randy Orton may have also once been rivals outside of the ring, too, per the biography of former WWE Superstar, Tajiri. ‘The Japanese Buzzsaw’ recalled an incident on the road between the two multi-time World Champions that resulted in them getting lost en route to a WWE event.
As translated by Twitter user @BAHUFMW, the incident occurred on September 1, 2002. At this point, both John Cena and Randy Orton were still new to the company, but this didn’t stop them from almost getting into it in Dallas, Texas.
— Bret (@BAHUFMW) November 16, 2022
The incident in question would have taken place ahead of an untelevised SmackDown live event. There, John Cena was felled by Matt Hardy, whereas Randy Orton teamed with Hardcore Holly in a losing effort to Billy and Chuck. Tajiri, for what it’s worth, featured in the opening bout, a six-man tag team affair that saw him, Chavo Guerrero, and Jamie Noble lose to Billy Kidman, Shannon Moore, and The Hurricane.