Randy Orton Almost Faced Ex-WWE Champion At WrestleMania

Randy Orton went into WrestleMania not knowing his opponent but it seems he almost shared the stage with a former WWE Champion he knows very well.

Randy Orton was supposed to be facing Kevin Owens at WrestleMania 41 to get his revenge after Owens took him out of action for several months. However, that was not to be.

Kevin Owens was pulled from WrestleMania due to a serious neck injury that could leave him out of action for a year. Nevertheless, Orton wanted his WrestleMania moment and headed into the event knowing that he’d have a match but didn’t know who his opponent would be.

In the end, that opponent turned out to be TNA World Champion Joe Hendry. Orton quickly wiped Hendry’s trademark smile off his face with an RKO from deep “outta nowhere.” But it seems Orton almost faced another TNA star who once held the WWE Championship.

Randy Orton Almost Faced Old Rival

Cory Hays of Bodyslam reported that Jeff Hardy had also been considered to appear at WrestleMania as Orton’s opponent. That would have been Jeff Hardy’s first main card WrestleMania match since he returned to the company in 2017 with his brother Matt Hardy to win the Raw Tag Team Championship in a huge ladder match.

Randy Orton and Jeff Hardy have shared the ring over 100 times in their respective careers, with the two men clashing several times for the WWE Title in 2008.