TNA Champion Joe Hendry answers Randy Orton’s WWE WrestleMania 41 challenge

TNA World Champion Joe Hendry was in action at WrestleMania 41 night two, answering Randy Orton’s open challenge.

Hendry made his surprise WrestleMania debut in a loss to Orton at Sunday night’s event in Las Vegas. Though Hendry entered with his TNA World Championship belt, it was not on the line in this impromptu matchup. They wrestled for three minutes until Orton got the win with an RKO out of nowhere as Hendry was posing.

After the match, Orton showed respect to Hendry and gave him a moment in front of the crowd — before dropping him with another RKO.

It was originally supposed to be Orton vs. Kevin Owens tonight, but Owens had to be pulled from the WrestleMania card due to injury. Owens announced on SmackDown earlier this month that he’s been dealing with a neck injury and needs to undergo surgery.

Insisting that he still wanted a WrestleMania match, Orton issued an open challenge for anyone to face him. WWE kept his opponent a surprise until Hendry’s music hit.

Hendry’s popularity has grown over the past year with his “I Believe in Joe Hendry” theme song going viral on social media. With the partnership that exists between WWE and TNA, Hendry made several NXT appearances in 2024 and was later a surprise entrant in the 2025 Royal Rumble.

Hendry became TNA World Champion this January — and his next title defense will be at TNA’s Rebellion pay-per-view next Sunday (April 27) in a three-way match against Frankie Kazarian and NXT wrestler Ethan Page.