TNA World Heavyweight Champion Joe Hendry recently appeared on The Ariel Helwani Show to discuss his surprise appearance and match against Randy Orton at WWE WrestleMania 41.
Hendry, who stepped in as Orton’s opponent on Night Two, addressed fan reactions to the match, particularly those who felt he was “buried” in the encounter. He also touched on comments made by Triple H that suggested this might not be his last WrestleMania appearance. This collaboration between TNA and WWE allowed Hendry, a prominent figure in TNA, to compete on WWE’s grandest stage. Here are the highlights:
On people saying he got buried in his match against Randy Orton: “It’s about creating moments. You know what this business is. At the end when Randy does my spin and then does his pose, people who know what wrestling is know that was Randy giving me his seal of approval. If this is being buried, keep it coming.”
On Triple H implying this won’t be his last WrestleMania: “It’s a huge compliment. Wrestling at WrestleMania is the pinnacle of our industry. This is something that nobody would have thought possible. This is where I like to give credit to both WWE and TNA wrestling as well. I’ve said this before that TNA or WWE could have turned around at any point and gone that, you know what? but both parties worked together to give the fans an amazing moment and to help me as well, I feel like we’re in a situation where everybody’s working together and everybody’s winning, and that is what great business is, and that’s when the professional wrestling business is at its best. I’ve said this before. Different title reigns are about different things, and this title reign is about bringing as many eyeballs to TNA wrestling as possible. This is about big business, and I believe that I am helping facilitate that for TNA wrestling in collaboration with WWE. I’m very grateful to both parties and the fans for loving it to happen. This is a win, win, win, win for everybody.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit The Ariel Helwani Show with an h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
