World heavyweight champion Joe Hendry made a surprise appearance at WWE Wrestlemania 41, entering the ring as an unexpected adversary for Randy Orton. The match, which lasted just under three minutes, ended with Orton delivering a decisive RKO to guarantee victory.
The brief nature of the fight, associated with the own loss for Hendry, led some fans to describe it as “glorified squash match”. The rapid defeat of the TNA title champion sparked an online debate on how the match was reserved and if this has decreased the prestige of the title.
Hendry recently discussed these criticisms during an appearance on Siriusxm’s “broken open radio”.
When he was asked directly if he considered the match as a squash, Hendry was firmly disagreeing.
“I don’t agree,” he said. “The offense was in both directions, while a squash, for me, it could have been” Ding, Ding, RKO, “that’s it,” said Hendry. “For me, what I thought of, my different title reigns are defined by different things. When Josh Alexander was TNA world champion, it was a classic match after the classic match. My work as a champion of TNA and what defines this reign is business and get as many eyelashes on the TNA fight as possible.”
Hendry continued: “Do you know who else has lost quickly to Wrestlemania in a similar way?” John Cena. All of a sudden, I’m going to say that I’m too nice to do that? For me, that’s exactly how it should have happened, “he said.
Later in the interview, the world champion TNA revealed advice and encouragement which he received from the legend of WWE CM Punk after the game behind the scenes of the alleging stadium in Las Vegas, NV.
“Do you know what CM Punk told me,” said Hendry. “We had a big conversation afterwards, CM Punk said to me:” This is exactly how it should have disappeared. If it had happened longer, I think it would have worked worse for me.
For the future, Hendry does not leave the result of Wrestlemania slowing him down. He must defend the TNA World Championship at TNA Rebellion 2025 in Los Angeles, where he will face Ethan Page and Frankie Kazarian in a match in Triple Threate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6GG_J3PDVA
(H / t to fightful.com to transcribe the quotes above.)
