Originally Randy Orton was supposed to face off against Kevin Owens at WrestleMania 41, but Owens was unfortunately pulled from the show due to a serious neck injury.
Ahead of WrestleMania 41, Randy Orton announced that he would be holding an open challenge during night 2. When it came time for Randy Orton’s opponent to be revealed it was none other than Joe Hendry who answered the call. The Viper picked up a win over Joe Hendry on the Grandest Stage of Them All, but Hendry’s appearance sent shockwaves throughout the wrestling world.
Joe Hendry recently appeared on the Ariel Helwani Show, and he revealed that Triple H got in touch with him about a week before WrestleMania to pitch the idea.
“I found out about [WrestleMania] a week before. I had to sit on this for a week. I got a text from Triple H, saying, can you talk… Triple H says, ‘Listen, I’m sure you’re aware that, Randy needs an opponent.’ And yeah, that threw me off completely. I was in a state of shock, but I just knew there was a job to be done”
“It was a huge moment for me, and what an honor to share the ring with Randy Orton. I just wrestled Randy Orton at WrestleMania. What is going on?”
"I found out about [WrestleMania] a week before. I had to sit on this for a week. I got a text from Triple H, saying, can you talk… Triple H says, 'Listen, I'm sure you're aware that, Randy needs an opponent.' And yeah, that threw me off completely. I was in a state of shock,… pic.twitter.com/ztW5WbV1t5
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 23, 2025
While talking about the Randy Orton vs. Joe Hendry match during the WrestleMania post-show press conference Triple H indicated that WrestleMania 41 won’t be Joe Hendry’s last WrestleMania, so it will be interesting to see what the future holds for hom.