Randy Orton has been praised by fans on social media for his handling of an in-ring mishap at the climax of his match on NXT on Tuesday night.
With WWE recently moving NXT – effectively its developmental brand – to the CW Network, the first time the popular show has ever been on network television.
Randy Orton and Je’Von Evans main evented Tuesday’s NXTWWE
As such, they’ve been front loading the broadcasts with some of its biggest names to supplement the array of starlets regularly performing under the banner overseen by WWE legend Shawn Michaels.
CM Punk, Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill were all involved last week, and Tuesday’s edition saw veteran performer Orton lace up his boots to wrestle 20-year-old prodigy Je’Von Evans on an episode that saw Belair and Cargill return and Intercontinental champ Jey Uso show up.
Trash-talking Evans had previously had plenty to say going into the bout and, during it, showed his obvious and natural talents, including a marvellous spot that saw him close to winning when he nailed am eye-catching double jump-cutter.
Orton, as would be expected for this type of match, came out on top as the established talent, but it took two bites of the cherry to get the job done after what appeared to be the initially planned finish went wrong.
It looked as though Evans, going for a risky twisting senton, was meant to transition into Orton’s RKO finisher, only for the North Carolinian to fall short, leaving Orton grasping at thin air in an awkward-looking moment.
Back in 2009, Orton famously raged at fellow wrestler Kofi Kingston after an in-ring mistake, clearly calling his colleague ‘stupid’.
As if to illustrate the difference between that Orton and the 2024 vintage, The Viper appeared to brush off the mistake, simply improvising and quickly nailing Evans with another RKO to finish the match seconds later.
Eagle-eyed fans on social media spotted Evans apologising to Orton after the bell, seemingly mouthing: ‘I’m so sorry’ numerous times as he was helped to his feet.
The 44-year-old was having none of it, however, and was seen giving his reply as: ‘It’s okay. You’re the f****** man’ before raising his hand in the air.
Such a respectful showing towards a younger colleague in a moment that allowed him to shine went down well with viewers, who saluted the more decorated performer for his handling of the incident.
Orton allowed Evans to take the spotlight following the dramatic end to their matchWWE
“Randy Orton knows these mistakes can really bring down confidence,” one said, adding. “The way Randy Orton comforted Je’Von Evans after the botched RKO shows how professional Randy actually is.”
With a nod to the infamous Kingston incident, another added: “Nice to see he’s matured. He certainly was not always this way.”
A third said: “Randy’s leadership shines through in tough moments like this,” with another chiming in: “This is what wrestling is all about man. Love this.”
Evans joined WWE in 2023 having made a strong showing on the independent scene and featuring fleetingly in AEW.
Initially spearheaded by Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque, NXT had has aired weekly since 2012 leading up to its network television debut and has helped shape the career of some of its most influential performers.
WWE stated ‘nearly’ 90% of the stars who featured at last year’s WrestleMania were developed through NXT, with its alumni including Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and Becky Lynch.
The debut edition of NXT on CW on October 1st proved to be a resounding success, delivering the largest audience for the show in over a year with 895,000 viewers.
