WWE champion Randy Orton wrote on Twitter that he checked out TNA iMPACT! this week for only the “second time ever” and shared his thoughts on the TNA product.
“Samoa Joe can move. Miss working with (Kurt) Angle and Jeff. Coulda done w/o the JWoW segment tho. I enjoyed the backstage stuff for the most part anyway. Something about the realness of the conversations between some of the talent was really well done.”
When a fan seemed surprised that Orton was praising TNA, Orton responded:
“Who said that I do not like TNA? I surely didn’t. Never approved of the 8(sic) sided ring tho. Competition is a good thing.”
Orton put over TNA TV Champion AJ Styles:
“never met him. Can do some amazing things in the ring. IMO has alot to do with tna’s early success.”
He finished with some comments about Ken Anderson, who was outspoken against Orton following his WWE release:
“The only prob I ever had with Ken was him telling the Internet that I used my ‘pull’ to get him fired. Not tru, I have no pull.”
In a 2009 interview with ESPN 540’s “Pro Wrestling Report,” Anderson said he and Orton became “very good friends” in WWE before their relationship turned sour. At the time, he seemed to blame Orton for his WWE release:
“The fact that he made such a big stink about supposedly dropping him on his head. He literally blew up in front of all the talent including Vince and Stephanie and began to lecture me about how I had to be careful and his health was very important. It just doesn’t make sense to me.”
