Despite what many fans suspected, a rumoured WrestleMania opponent for Randy Orton was never seriously considered.
Due to Kevin Owens being side-lined indefinitely as he requires neck surgery, Orton was left without an opponent for WrestleMania 41. Following the announcement, General Manager Nick Aldis was hit with an RKO by Orton. In the weeks that followed, Orton made it clear that Aldis needed to find him an opponent for his 20th WrestleMania appearance or there would be repercussions. Given Aldis’ previous history as a wrestler and their interactions, it was heavily rumoured that the SmackDown General Manager was going to get back in the ring and face the 14-time World Champion. However, according to a new report, this was never on the cards.
As reported by WrestleVotes on Sportskeeda’s Backstage Pass podcast, there was never any consideration to have Aldis be Orton’s opponent and their interactions were to simply continue the build:
“For those that are into this type of stuff, we are told. WWE had no real consideration to have Nick Aldis as Randy Orton’s WrestleMania opponent. The segment that was done where all Nick took an RKO was done, quote, ‘To kill a week of TV’ with Joe Hendry already locked down at that point. We are told, however, Nick Aldis is open to competing down the road, if the story is right and appropriate for him to come back and compete.”
Joe Hendry Faced Randy Orton At WrestleMania
At WrestleMania, Orton made his entrance and cut a promo before his open challenge, which was answered by TNA World Champion Joe Hendry. Receiving a huge reaction from the Las Vegas crowd, Hendry lost to Orton in just over 3 minutes.
Orton will challenge John Cena for the Undisputed Championship at Backlash, which will also take place in his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri.
H/t to Wrestling News.co
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