Joe Hendry on WrestleMania 41 match with Randy Orton: ‘I’m so proud of what we did’

  • Ian Carey
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Joe Hendry says he’s “so proud” of his match with Randy Orton at WWE WrestleMania 41 on Sunday.

Hendry was Kevin Owens’ surprise replacement against Orton on the show. The match went 3 minutes and 10 seconds, concluding with Hendry doing his signature pose before getting RKO’ed and pinned.

Hendry feels he and Orton gave fans a fun moment, though others have been critical of the TNA World Champion being defeated so quickly.

“I’m so proud of what we did out there,” Hendry told Ariel Helwani on Wednesday. “That shot of the spin around into the RKO, it’s now been made into a trading card. I think it was a really fun moment for the fans. To walk into the ring in front of 60,000 people, it was a huge moment for me and what an honor to share the ring with Randy Orton.”

When asked how Orton felt about the match, Hendry said:

“My understanding is that he was extremely happy with how it went. We clicked immediately, and we were on the same page, which was an awesome thing. He was so amazing to work with.”

Hendry noted that Orton doing a version of his spin at the end of the segment was a show of respect.

“At the end, when Randy does my spin and then does his pose, people who know what wrestling is know that was Randy giving his seal of approval.”

Helwani also asked Hendry about criticism that he was “buried” on the show.

“Ariel, if this is being buried, keep it coming,” Hendry replied. “We understood the assignment. At WrestleMania, we were the fun, the surprise. When you saw Randy’s promo after the match had taken place, that’s what he talked about, about this being fun.”

Our own Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez discussed Hendry’s WrestleMania appearance and what TNA Wrestling may receive in return on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio.

“In exchange for doing what they did with Joe Hendry, WWE will offer a surprise big star at the April 27 pay-per-view show in Los Angeles,” Meltzer said. “I guess a surprise big star from WWF probably would sell tickets without mentioning a name.”

Hendry is set to defend the TNA World title at TNA Rebellion on Sunday against Frankie Kazarian and Ethan Page in a triple threat match.

Meltzer suggested Randy Orton could be the WWE name appearing at the TNA event, while Alvarez noted LA Knight is a possibility.

Hendry’s full appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show is available below: