WWE Star Je’Von Evans Shares Randy Orton’s Honest Thoughts On Botched RKO

WWE

Je’Von Evans has shared Randy Orton’s honest thoughts on a botched RKO that was delivered during their WWE NXT match.

In a rare appearance for Randy Orton, the main roster star heading to NXT back in October 2024 to face Je’Von Evans.

The match would see Orton victorious, despite a mistimed counter that would have seen an aerial move from Evans countered with an RKO “out of nowhere”.

During a recent appearance on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Evans would look back on the match and how he discovered it was going to happen, saying:

“So honestly, they tried to surprise me, but I knew before it was gonna happen, and I’ll tell you why. So before the match, and not before the match announcement, maybe like a couple days, we had like promo class at NXT, and I’m talking to the writer, and I’m like, ‘Hey, do I get new gear for this show?’ He was like, ‘Yeah, we’re working on something…’ Whatever, whatever. All right, cool. Say less.

“Then it was me and Cedric versus No Quarter Catch Crew, I believe, and before the match, Randy Orton follows me on IG. All right, that’s cool, that’s cool. Then I’m about to go out, and I’m not gonna say their name. Actually, it already happened, right? I think it was just Harlem Lewis. Maybe it was just him. But he’s like, ‘Yo, did you see this post?’ And I’m like, ‘What post?’ ‘You going against Randy Orton?’ This was before the match. I’m like, ‘I am?’ He shows me the post, and I’m like, ‘Okay, that’s fire, whatever.’

“Then I go have the match, and then the ref is like, ‘Hey, stay here, just react to whatever’s on the screen.’ I was like, all right, cool, and then I look at the screen. It’s the post that I saw before the match, and I was like, Yeah! So, Harlem Lewis, it’s your fault, and you’re probably gonna get hit for it.”

Addressing the RKO that went awry, Evans would state that he “was pissed”, before going to on to address whether he had rehearsed the match, explaining:

“No, we didn’t. It was literally just us saying, ‘Oh, this is gonna be a cool idea. Let’s do it.’ He was like, ‘You do like the spinny thing, and I catch you.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.’ But I think just like position-wise, we didn’t try it before the show. It was just kind of like a thing we had an idea about.

“It took me a while to watch that match because of that. I didn’t watch that match for months. But also, it’s cool to look at it and be like that was just a real moment. Everything in wrestling is not pretty. We’re still fighting at the end of the day. I just love now I can look back at the moment, kind of like this. But I still look at it like okay. But I can look back at it, and say, dang, I learned from that moment.

“Then even if we hit that smoothly, we probably wouldn’t have got Randy Orton moment saying, ‘Hey, bro, you’re the man.’”

Evans would reveal what Orton had said to him after the then-NXT star apologized, saying:

“He was like, ‘Hey, don’t worry, bro, you’re the effing man. Raise my hand, bro.’

“Of course, I was still pissed, but in my head, I’m like all right, bro, Randy just said I’m the man.”

With criticism of the RKO spot online, Booker T would share his thoughts, noting the “high-pressure situation” and disagreeing with the backlash that had been levelled at Evans.

The Heat Was Online

Shortly after that episode of NXT, it was reported that there was no heat, internally, on Evans for the missed RKO, despite how the star may have been feeling in the aftermath of the moment.

Not for the first time, the heat seemed to exist purely online, something that Booker T addressed in his comments, saying:

“All the haters online that’s giving this kid hate, they wish they were as talented as this kid.”

It has become easy to judge from a distance, with social media playing its part in how that discourse is spread across platforms.

Far too frequently, an accident will happen and someone will be deemed to be to blame, regardless of the circumstances. For some stars, it becomes their legacy, as was seen with Ridge Holland, despite Big E addressing the hate the former WWE star received, stating that “people crossed the line and went too far.”

The distance that social media offers plays a part in the way that critics can go after a target, regardless of the arena. There are arguments to be made as to why this behavior takes place, but outrage has become a currency of its own, despite a lack of real value.

To make sure you stay up to date with all the biggest wrestling and WrestleTalk news, follow us on Threads by clicking this link!

• Je'Von Evans
• nxt
• wwe
• Randy Orton
• rko

Share this article with friends