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Randy Orton Defeats TNA World Champion Joe Hendry At WWE WrestleMania 41 [Exclusive Details]

TNA World Champion Joe Hendry has answered Randy Orton's open challenge at WrestleMania 41 and fell victim to the RKO
Rick Ucchino|
Joe Hendry is at WrestleMania!
Joe Hendry is at WrestleMania! | WWE.com

Someone must have said his name, because Joe Hendry appeared at WrestleMania 41!

The reigning TNA World Heavyweight Champion received a thunderous ovation from the Las Vegas crowd Sunday night when he answered Randy Orton's open challenge.

The Viper was in need of a new opponent after Kevin Owens announced that he needed to undergo neck surgery and would not be medically cleared to compete in Las Vegas.

Orton issued an open challenge on Friday's episode of SmackDown and Joe Hendry decided to step up to the plate for his WrestleMania moment.

Hendry actually had the Viper reeling for much of what was a relatively short match-up. Joe's fatal mistake was when he did his patented turn for the hard cam, he opened himself up for an RKO out of no where.

After the match was over, Hendry received another huge ovation and even got his hand raised by The Viper... before he was given a second RKO just for the heck of it.

Our Jon Alba is reporting that Joe Hendry was supposed to be booked for a main roster WWE match during the most recent European tour, but that did not come to fruition. Tonight's appearance was an apparent make-good. Echoing Alba's sentiments, that's one heck of a make-good.

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Rick Ucchino
RICK UCCHINO

Rick Ucchino is the Assistant Editor & Content Coordinator for The Takedown on SI. He also works full-time for 700WLW Radio in Cincinnati, Ohio as a local news and sports anchor, in addition to his time covering the Cincinnati Bengals for Sirius XM. Rick has been on the professional wrestling beat since 2019, having provided coverage for a number of outlets, including Fightful, SB Nation’s Cageside Seats and the Bleav Podcast Network. With an educational background in theater, creative writing and journalism, Rick focuses primarily on the storytelling aspect of pro wrestling, but he’s no stranger to the squared circle himself. He had the privilege of training with former WWE & WCW cruiserweight Jimmy Wang Yang for nearly two years and retired early due to back issues with a perfect 1-0 record in singles competition. Rick is a married father of two incredibly adorable children, who are budding pro wrestling fans themselves. Much to the chagrin of their mother. You can reach Rick at rwucchino@gmail.com

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