WWE veteran defends Randy Orton's recent match from criticism

Randy Orton's recent match was on the receiving end of some criticism. A WWE veteran has come to his defense.

Matt Hardy is the latest to comment on Randy Orton's recent match at WrestleMania 41. Orton was supposed to face Kevin Owens at WrestleMania 41, but the latter had to pull out of the bout at the last minute due to neck issues, leaving The Viper without an opponent at The Show of Shows.

Hence, he issued an open challenge, which was answered by Joe Hendry. Orton and Hendry faced each other in a three-minute match that ended with the former winning. The match was criticised by fans who believed the TNA World Champion was squashed in three minutes.

Speaking on his Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, the WWE veteran explained that Joe Hendry's WrestleMania appearance was a boost to the TNA brand. He further explained that nobody cared about the match itself since Hendry's appearance was beneficial to TNA.

“The match was irrelevant at the end of the day. The only people that are worried about that are the die-hards, the sickos,” he commented. “You have the TNA World Champion against Randy Orton, a legit legend… Everybody was highlighted, everybody got their stuff in, and it’s helped TNA.” [H/T - Wrestlingnews.co]

Matt Hardy explained how Joe Hendry's WWE WrestleMania appearance boosted his popularity

Joe Hendry was already one of the most popular men on the TNA Wrestling roster. Now, he has been exposed to the WWE Universe as well, who are fast becoming fans of the TNA World Champion. This has provided a bit of a boost to his image and popularity.

Speaking on the same podcast episode, Matt Hardy explained that Joe Hendry gets more fans asking for his autographs during meets and greets than before due to his WWE appearances.

“I can tell from the boom in business,” Hardy revealed. “I can tell because we were doing the meet and greets at Rebellion and after that, Joe Hendry was there much later in the night than he was previously… That helped his popularity. Him doing this NXT thing is only going to be beneficial for him as well.” [H/T - WrestlingNews.co]

Joe Hendry is set to defend his TNA World Championship against Trick Williams at NXT Battleground 2025.

About the author

Sunil is a pro wrestling journalist, covering AEW and WWE news stories at Sportskeeda. He holds an MBA degree in Marketing, and has nearly 7 years of experience. A wrestling aficionado since childhood, Sunil used to imitate his favorite wrestlers as a young kid, and started writing professionally about the sport via Sportskeeda’s revenue-sharing opportunity.

Sunil admires former world champions AJ Styles, Will Ospreay, and Kenny Omega for their ability to consistently deliver great matches as well as entertain crowds with their mic skills.

If ever given a chance to change a storyline, Sunil would have booked Roman Reigns to end The Undertaker’s WrestleMania streak instead of Brock Lesnar. According to him, The Tribal Chief needed the victory more than Brock Lesnar, as the latter was already an established performer when he defeated ‘Taker. He would’ve also made that as Taker’s final match.

Always focused on making his work accurate and reliable, Sunil thoroughly checks his facts before writing his articles. When not writing for pro wrestling, he spends his time watching cricket.

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Edited by Harish Raj S