Shocking tweets from Randy Orton about TNA

[wrestlemaniaxxx]

I'm surprised this has not been posted here. Kudos to TNAWrestlingNews.com for posting the tweets.

Randy Orton wrote on Twitter that he checked out TNA iMPACT! for 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.

It's shocking for me to see Randy, one of the top 5 WWE Superstars, praising TNA and its talent. Usually these guys bash the show "without watching it" before. I have more respect now from Randy to step up and speak his own mind. Is Vince going to get angry about this?

Comments?

 

[RobL15]

To be honest, nice guy.

I think even if he's in a rival company, he doesn't have to bash them. He can say what he likes about them. Nice to see him complimenting guys he's never met before and I believe the whole Mr Kennedy stuff, I didn't think he got him fired, never did.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Good to see Orton being honest and open about his thoughts on TNA. Most WWE guys probably do take an interest in the competition, but credit to Randy for not being a jerk and just slagging on TNA for the sake of it.

I agree with his points too, and his praise for AJ will only be beneficial to Styles' chances of ever being a star in WWE, as we know how far one can go after being praised by one of WWE's big stars (Sheamus and HHH anyone?)

Competition is always a good thing, as it encourages and forces talent to be at their very best at all times, which is only going to benefit the product and make an more enjoyable wrestling show for us fans.

Well done Randy. After hearing so many bad things about you over the last few years, its nice to see you arent a complete asshole

 

[Dzone]

Orton's always been like that, know a few people who've randomly met him on the street in the UK *surprisingly O.O* and he was nice to kids etc even though he was heel at the time on TV.

Orton is kinda like the few "veteran" wrestlers who have a brain... i.e. HHH, Undertaker atm etc and he's already on that list. He says what he wants but also respects talented people back stage *so it seems*.

Watch some idiot come out with "Orton's going to TNA!!" or "Orton's getting fired from the WWE because he likes TNA!" or even "Orton lost him WWE belt because he likes TNA" it's inevitable someone will but I see nothing wrong with him or any other fan just liking both.

If you realise every single thing he did say made absolute sense and was true like Samoa Joe is good in the ring and TNA could have done without JWoW (but it got more viewers so probably better that they did). He's just one of those people that have a mind for the business and he's probably got it earlier than most people that have a "mind for the business" by about 10 years... so credit where credit's due.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Let's not get carried away either canonising or disparaging the guy on the back of some tweets... he is in a position where he can tweet about the opposition and not have it come back to bite him... if someone lower down the card did it, there would be consequences... WWE works that way... the wrestling business does... but you don't see many actors or musicians tweeting negatives about competition either...

Brad Pitt doesn't come out and slate a movie... even if its percieved as a turkey... why? cos one day that actor/developer/writer/studio who might be working with him and shaping something for him down the line... You don't make enemies... his comments on Joe might be a "feeler" or message that he would be welcome in WWE... same for Kurt AND Jeff... but on the whole this seems like part of the plan for WWE right now...

Remember Orton is in a leading face role now behind Cena... so he HAS to come across as someone genuine and accessible as part of the PG/Political campaign... After all, it would be very easy for WWE bashers to pick up on Orton's flawed past as in terms of Military Record and the seamier stuff in his backstage past a negative on the company...

The Anderson stuff is most telling though... that one I cannot believe 100%... I think Randy might have done something, but now regrets it as he has seen that Kennedy has improved... biggest thing in all this tho and amaze no one has picked up on it...

He portrays a character called the "Viper"... what does a viper do... gets close to its victims and attacks...

 

[Dzone]

THTrobtaylor I see your point it could just be an act and wanting to push back regrets in his mind about Anderson but having know someone who's met him it does seem like a real comment on Orton's behalf. Although I do see your point about now he's in a better position so he can't really be touched and I agree with the mid-card thingy.

Oh yeh btw no offence you use more ellipses than me... O.O lol

 

[It's Damn Real!]

What's so shocking about what he wrote? What, because he's a WWE "Superstar" he's supposed to shit all over the competition the way all the WWE fanboys do? He's incapable of objectively watching something other than his own company's programming, or worse — he shouldn't be allowed to?

This is average Joe-type tweeting from a wrestler with an account who's not using it as part of kayfabe — it happens all the time. He's not the only one voicing his actual opinions over the internet and he certainly won't be the last — I just fail to see how any of this is "shocking".

 

[hatehabsforever]

These "shocking tweets" from Randy Orton regarding TNA are refreshing to see. Surprising candor from a professional wrestler regarding a "rival" organization. Nice to see one wrestler not blasting the other company, just because it's the other company. In my opinion, the TNA wrestlers, and TNA in general, do far too much of this anyway. Constant jabs at WWE, constant negative references, whether it be online or on actual televised programming. Great to see that Randy Orton does not feel a need to do the same. Although, to be honest, I know several WWE guys who have been guilty of taking shots at TNA as well.

The other thing these tweets tell me as well, though, is how utterly dismissive WWE is regarding TNA. WWE does not appear to feel threatened by TNA whatsoever. If they were, I doubt one of their top guys would be publicly praising them. And if they did, I am sure there would be repercussions. Randy Orton can tweet positively about TNA because he knows they are nowhere near posing any form of a threat to the company where he is currently employed. Vince McMahon, and the WWE in general, like won't punish him or even reprimand him, same reason. It just goes to show me that the people associated with WWE view themselves on a totally different plane than TNA, well above them. And I tend to agree with them.

 

[Midnite Express 2009]

I don't think Randy Orton was "praising" TNA more than making an opinion on what he saw. That's like going to a movie that you think is pretty good, telling a few friends about said movie and then it gets back that you said it was the greatest movie of all-time. Yes, to Orton's credit some of the things he said about TNA were true. AJ Styles IS a tremendous talent, mostly everyone with two eyes knows that. Same thing with Kurt Angle. Angle is by far one of the greatest wrestlers ever in any company, you'd have to be a complete hater to deny him that. Jeff Hardy on the other hand, IMO is a joke and shouldn't be in the position he's in. As far as Mr. Anderson and Randy Orton, who knows and really, who cares? I do believe that Randy isn't telling the truth when he said he has no pull, that's like HHH saying he's not deep in the company.

Good for Randy on his post. The WWE needs to start acknowledging TNA, everyone knows they exisit and they'd be playing people for fools to pretend as if they didn't.

 

[Ferbian]

There have always been someone ready to praise the fact that competition is good, and that they applaud what the rival promotion is doing. Even if it means that they're praising the competition, and putting them over, there's really nothing surprising or wrong with it.

Randy Orton is a stand up guy it shows. He has some good points and he realizes what a lot of people doesn't. TNA does have some decent material going on, sadly a lot of people seem to think it sucks because some severely awful things at times overshadows the good. The same goes for WWE at times, or vise versa in terms of good overshadowing the bad parts.

I'm certainly not surprised by the comments of Randy Orton. Especially considering he's right in more or less all he said.

 

[Oracular Spectacular]

While from what I hear(which since its from the internet could be totally false) WWE wrestlers twitters are suposed to be sort of a work-shoot. While some tweets give inside info on the buisness others sort of play to the storylines they are in. Some celebrities actually get paid to tweet, while I am not sure WWE wrestlers do, I would assume if you are payed to tweet then your tweets have to be to WWE's standard.

Thus said, this may be proof that Randy's is completly personal. While he obviously wanted to put over people in the buisness he see's as friends(Jeff, Angle) he also brought up the fact of enjoying the competition(which is really non existent, but whatever.)

I did notice he said nothing about Hogan or Bischoff or even Flair, but mentioned backstage segments(which they were part of) maybe WWE has told him he can praise certain workers(Especially ones that the WWE wouldn't mind seeing in a WWE ring at some time) but maybe not some of the "Old guys"

 

[Kitten Cutter]

Keep in mind one more thing: Randy Orton is older now. It could easily be a Shawn Michaels kind of thing, where he woke up one morning and realized he's been a dick for most of his career, and doing that won't get him too much farther in the business.

Plus, wrestling is pretty much like any other competitive sport. While the fans have that vicious rivalry thing going, a lot of players on said rivals (Cowboys and Redskins, Yankees and Red Sox, Lakers and Celtics, etc.) are friends in their personal lives. It's not like the players have to hate each other because they play on different teams. If anything, with free agency, you may end up playing there sometime.

Maybe not now, but who knows where Orton may end up or who he may end up working with in 5 years or 10 years. You might want to be on the good side of Samoa Joe and Kurt Angle, two guys that can legit hurt someone. In terms of Anderson, something had to happen that Anderson did. I just can't see one complaint from Orton spells the end of a man's career, otherwise Kofi may as well be employed as well. Remember that Daniel Bryan got released for no other reason than looking too vicious by choking someone. Unless we were there, we'll never know the ultimate reason Mr. Anderson got released.

 

[Kenny Powers]

Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels have said good things about the product, along with other WWE superstars. I don't find Orton's remarks shocking really. It is odd to see a top guy in WWE give praise to TNA, but it isn't bad. Jericho has sad good things about TNA as well, along with bad as far as Bischoff goes. Maybe if the stars were praising a show like Nitro 12 years ago it would be a problem since Nitro was heavy competition. Nothing wrong or shocking though for any worker from WWE or TNA to praise the talent in another company. Especially since they have probably worked with them.

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

I don't think Vince is going to get upset about it. Randy is a good guy, but more importantly he's smart. If it would have brought him heat backstage, there's no way he would have done it. You don't get to where Orton is in the WWE without being smart. Also, I feel like lately WWE hasn't been very negative towards TNA as a whole. They featured Mic Foley on their website and plugged his new book on an episode of Monday Night Raw. They're also trying to get Sting for the Hall of Fame in 2011 (or so the rumor mill says), so that could have something to do with it. It's possible that somebody up top realized all the negative things being thrown against TNA was actually helping them gain popularity, or maybe making it impossible for WWE to ever use their talents if their contracts expired. Who knows... Or maybe WWE had nothing to do with this, and it was just Randy Orton speaking his mind about a product he enjoys. Notice though, even in what he said he was careful. I'm sure there are still things you don't want to say around VKM, and if you notice Orton said nothing about Hogan, Bischoff, or Flair. Three of the biggest things in TNA and Orton said nothing about them. That was probably intentional. I'm assuming there's a lot of heat on the 3 of them right now. Like I said...Orton is smart.

 

[Chess]

This is good to see. Perhaps the will encourage the WWE smarky fans to actually watch TNA before bashing the crap out of it. Also coming from one of the top talents in WWE this can only be encouraging for the TNA talent.

Perhaps orton is getting bored of the PG show WWE puts on and fancied watching something entertaining

 

[ForeverRKO]

im a big wwe fan and an even bigger Randy orton fan , I've watched tna a few times ( Jeff hardy matches to be exact ) and I think tna has potential .. they will never be wwe or anything close to it .. but it's good to see Randy orton speak good on tna .. oh and orton signed a 10 year wwe contract so he's not going anywhere .

 

[TheFatManFromYoutube]

IDR will you SHUT THE FUCK UP!!! You talk about WWE fanboy's all the fucking time You need a fucking life kid. So next time you say WWE fans shit on TNA remember Even more TNA fans shit on WWE for the stupidest fucking reasons dumbass.

Now on to the tread, I'm glad he didn't trash it like different stars may do. He admit's their is other promotions out there and great talent out there, i respect him for that. Not every day you see the top face of WWE talk about competition in s good way.

 

[daletango]

TNA isnt competition, infact I probaly think WWE apreciates its being there. It keeps good guys in work and it makes them,the WWE, look good (TNA is awful).

It doesnt take a genius to see Samoa Joe moves good in the ring as Randy points out, theres NO reason for Orton to speak badly against TNA.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

IDR will you SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!

I'm sorry, is this a question or a demand? The answer to both is a resounding 'no' coupled with a 'but you're welcome to a luke-warm glass of eat shit and die', but I just thought you should know that grammatically speaking your statement makes no sense.

You talk about WWE fanboy's all the fucking time You need a fucking life kid. So next time you say WWE fans shit on TNA remember Even more TNA fans shit on WWE for the stupidest fucking reasons dumbass.

English your second language?

I don't care who shits on who — I'm going to say what I'm going to say and if you don't like it, see the second half of my first reply to your post. But if you wanna act ********* over it, be my guest.

Now on to the tread, I'm glad he didn't trash it like different stars may do. He admit's their is other promotions out there and great talent out there, i respect him for that. Not every day you see the top face of WWE talk about competition in s good way.

Like who? The majority of Twitter-using pro-wrestlers don't talk shit about their rival promotion — in fact, I can only think of two: Mr. Anderson and Chris Jericho.

Orton, Nash, etc. have all objectively critiqued and praised the work of rival competitors for some time now.

 

[hatehabsforever]

Just to play devil's advocate with you for a moment, IDR, don't you think it is somewhat telling on WWE's and TNA's part in terms of how threatened WWE feels by TNA? Or rather, how non-threatened they feel? Let's face it, if TNA were a concern on WWE's part, if TNA were gaining momentum and closing the astronomical gap between the two companies, there's no way in hell that Randy Orton would be coming on his twitter account and praising the "competition." And if he did, Vince McMahon and his associates would be very pissed off about it. If twitter was around back in the days of the Monday Night Wars, you can be sure that WWE guys would not be tweeting positive statements about WCW, nor would WCW guys be doing so in regards to WWE guys. They were true rivals, true competitors, and one would not be praising the other. The fact that Orton can tweet positively about TNA tells me that neither he nor the WWE view TNA as a serious issue whatsoever.

You can say all you want about Randy Orton being an average Joe who is just giving his opinion in a non-kayfabe context, but in reality, such conduct would neither occur nor be tolerated if there was real competition between the two. If "they" ever do arrive and change TNA forever, as I'm still waiting for because I still cannot believe "they" could possibly be the Immortals, you can be sure that such shocking tweets will cease to exist. The only shocking tweets which will exist then will be those never-ending promises from Dixie Carter.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I don't see what's so shocking about it really. Just because Randy Orton works for the WWE doesn't mean that he simply has to hate or rag on TNA. A lot of WWE stars have given nice comments on TNA or, at least to its wrestlers. Also, Randy Orton is actually involved in wrestling. He has a perspective that the vast majority of us don't have and can possibly see certain things in a different light due to that perspective. That doesn't mean that you're right or wrong for your like or dislike of TNA because there are almost no definitive good or bad things, only perceptions.

I'm not all that fond of the TNA product because I'm just not feeling or caring about the storylines/angles happening right now. If you don't care about seeing what a wrestler is involved in, then it's hard to like what you see. However, that doesn't mean that TNA doesn't have a lot of talented guys on its roster. I think, generally speaking, TNA has a very good roster of wrestlers.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Just to play devil's advocate with you for a moment, IDR, don't you think it is somewhat telling on WWE's and TNA's part in terms of how threatened WWE feels by TNA? Or rather, how non-threatened they feel? Let's face it, if TNA were a concern on WWE's part, if TNA were gaining momentum and closing the astronomical gap between the two companies, there's no way in hell that Randy Orton would be coming on his twitter account and praising the "competition."

Perhaps, but that's conjecture on your part (and anyone else who draws the comparison), as rival companies being rival companies does not necessarily equate a mandatory hatred for all things not your company — you being the one working for either in this case. Had Twitter or the like been around during the WCW/WWF era, I strongly believe that yes, a number of talents would have chalked up their friends and their "competition" just fine on something as inconsequential as an online social networking tool.

And if he did, Vince McMahon and his associates would be very pissed off about it. If twitter was around back in the days of the Monday Night Wars, you can be sure that WWE guys would not be tweeting positive statements about WCW, nor would WCW guys be doing so in regards to WWE guys. They were true rivals, true competitors, and one would not be praising the other. The fact that Orton can tweet positively about TNA tells me that neither he nor the WWE view TNA as a serious issue whatsoever.

To the contrary, I believe the exact opposite. Those at war then were Bischoff and McMahon, not Perry Saturn and Ahmed Johnson. What would it matter if Booker T wrote "Damn son, just saw Mick Foley go through a table — dat boy crazy!"? Not one iota.

These territorial pissing contests are something the fans create, not the performers.

You can say all you want about Randy Orton being an average Joe who is just giving his opinion in a non-kayfabe context, but in reality, such conduct would neither occur nor be tolerated if there was real competition between the two. If "they" ever do arrive and change TNA forever, as I'm still waiting for because I still cannot believe "they" could possibly be the Immortals, you can be sure that such shocking tweets will cease to exist. The only shocking tweets which will exist then will be those never-ending promises from Dixie Carter.

I disagree. See above.

 

[shattered dreams]

Habs, I do not think you get it. For starters was there ever a question that WWE as a company is lightyears ahead of TNA? This has always been obvious but for some reason WWE fans get off on bringing it up. By talking about WWE in such a way in relation to TNA it just makes all the times you want to make apples to apples comparisons between the two seem as misguided as we have been saying they are for months. The two companies are essentially not in direct competition yet for some reason the IWC has not been able to get over when TNA moved to monday for a little bit. Why should the few prowrestling fans left force-ably split themselves into groups for no good reason essentially making both products flounder?

I think the noticeable uptick in TNA references from all things WWE is not a coincidence or Vince simply loosening the strings because he doesn't care. I think it is somewhat calculated to simultaneously deflect some criticism of the current state of the wwe by bringing an unfair comparison into the conversation and possibly down the line to try and re-capture some of the magic that BOTH companies could use. Maybe TNA is part of what WWE needs to get the prowrestling audience energized again so WWE's commanding market share can be worth more.

 

[The Pizzaman]

Just because Randy is with WWE doe not mean that he cannot watch, enjoy or praise the rival company. Its good that wrestlers share interest with other wrestlers who they dont get the chance to wrestle. I expect that even though they may be in differant promotoins that they may move in the same kinds of circles as each other and possibly meet each other. TNA regularly mention WWE, granted in not so good situations, but they still mention them. As far as I know, WWE does not ever mention TNA at any time. Why? Its not as If TNA does not exist as every wrestling fan knows about them even if they are not fans of the promotion. Is WWE worried that if they dare mention the excistance of their rival company that they will lose fans or is it that Vince cant take the fact that TNA have ex stars in it that Vince himself got rid of prematurely or just pissed off and they jumped ship. Hogan, Jeff Hardy, Ken Anderson, Mickie James RVD, Kurt Angle, Kevin Nash, Team 3D and others. Im a fan of both promotions. Competition is a good thing and its good to see that some superstars do watch the other company and enjoy what they see and praising them. Just wish that Vince can do the same

 

[CM11]

Just because Randy is with WWE doe not mean that he cannot watch, enjoy or praise the rival company. Its good that wrestlers share interest with other wrestlers who they dont get the chance to wrestle. I expect that even though they may be in differant promotoins that they may move in the same kinds of circles as each other and possibly meet each other. TNA regularly mention WWE, granted in not so good situations, but they still mention them. As far as I know, WWE does not ever mention TNA at any time. Why? Its not as If TNA does not exist as every wrestling fan knows about them even if they are not fans of the promotion. Is WWE worried that if they dare mention the excistance of their rival company that they will lose fans or is it that Vince cant take the fact that TNA have ex stars in it that Vince himself got rid of prematurely or just pissed off and they jumped ship. Hogan, Jeff Hardy, Ken Anderson, Mickie James RVD, Kurt Angle, Kevin Nash, Team 3D and others. Im a fan of both promotions. Competition is a good thing and its good to see that some superstars do watch the other company and enjoy what they see and praising them. Just wish that Vince can do the same

Tna mentions WWE to run it down because they want to be in the same level as WWE. Also the reason Vince dosent need to take jibes constantly at tna is because he does not want to stoop to there level as it does nothing positive for his own company. As for letting wrestlers go, Jeff Hardy left WWE to persue other things lik art which WWE let him as they had an unofficial agreement if he was to wrestle it wud be in WWE again, Similar with RVD Vince wanted him to stay, Ken Anderson had many chances in WWE, he got over then got injured then over then injured, Vince even wanted to name him as an onscreen son to push him unfortunately injuries prevented this and WWE thought time to invest in others, Mickie James who cares noone watches women wrestle. Kurt angle was a fall out because Vince had his best interests and asked him to rest kurt said no and as everyone in life has they disagreedand went seperate ways. Team 3D had their time in WWE but budget cuts and tag team wrstling falling in WWE they went. Nash i wnt say cause i honestly dont know. Butinstead of u writing pointlessness why dont you give WWE the credit it deserves and vince for that matter, in any sport entertainment its opinioned, things happen but all these guys and all the main guys bar abyss owe WWE for giving them a shot and giving them the name they have now TNA has big names thanks to WWE nt becuse they created there own (with exceptions to samo joe n styles) please reply if u have a structured evidence based argument to this point.