Earlier this week on RAW, we had a celebration for Randy Orton’s 20th anniversary as a WWE superstar. Orton’s longevity in the sport is ridiculously admirable. While other stars have left for Hollywood or other companies, Orton has remained a fixture of WWE programming for two decades now. Over the years, one person Orton has crossed paths with is Matt Hardy, famously punting Matt on an episode of RAW in the late 2000’s. They also crossed paths again in 2020 as part of Orton’s feud with Edge.
On the most recent episode of Matt Hardy’s podcast The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, Hardy talked about Orton and how he was one of his biggest supporters when Hardy left the WWE for AEW:
“Quote me: I think Randy Orton is f***ing awesome, I love Randy’s work, I always enjoyed working with him and I think as a person, me knowing him for these 20 years, we have so much in common. The last couple of years I was [in WWE], we became closer than we ever had just because we shared those personal family lives together and we were kind of in the same boat. Both of our wives are pretty intense if you know what I mean, they’re good for us because they keep us both in check. I have nothing but positive things to say about Randy. I love his storytelling in the ring and I love the way he tells his character.
Randy was one of my biggest supporters when I left and went to AEW, to get over and my stuff on my own, being one of the older guys that were never one of Vince’s top guys. Randy was one of my biggest supporters and constantly would text me and we’d stay in contact. I think Randy is awesome, people who think Randy doesn’t do a lot of work at a slower more plotting pace, I just don’t think they get the basic aspects of traditional pro wrestling. When it comes to traditional pro wrestling and traditional storytelling, there is no one better than Randy Orton. He’s so smooth, he’s so good, and he’s so committed to whatever personality he’s working. He’s just a joy to work with.”
Matt Hardy On The Extreme Life Of Matt Hardy
It is nice to hear that Randy supported Matt when he made the jump as well as Matt putting over how good Orton is in the ring. Perhaps one day we may see the two cross paths again as unlikely as it may seem right now.
H/T To Wrestling Inc For Transcription
If you enjoy Bodyslam’s content, you can help donate to the site here. You can also visit our PWTees store and buy Bodyslam official merchandise here.
You can listen to all of Bodyslam’s podcasts by following us on Spotify and subscribing to our YouTube Channel, or any of your favorite podcast platforms.
Follow us on Twitter: @BodyslamNet
