How Randy Orton reacted when female star expressed concerns before receiving the RKO
Nia Jax recently recalled how she raised concerns with Randy Orton before the 2019 WWE Royal Rumble about her ability to receive the RKO.
Jax competed in the Women’s Royal Rumble before going on to surprisingly enter the Men’s Royal Rumble later in the night. The former RAW Women’s Champion famously received an RKO from Orton during her stint in the 30-man match.
Speaking on Renee Paquette’s The Sessions podcast, Jax said Orton reassured her during a backstage conversation about taking the RKO:
“We walked through it. I kept telling Randy, I was like, ‘Man, I don’t wanna f*** up the RKO. I just don’t wanna f*** it up.’ I’d just never taken it. He was like, ‘Don’t worry about it. Turn left and just ride with me.’"
THIS. JUST. HAPPENED. 😱😱😱😱 #RoyalRumble
@NiaJaxWWE @RandyOrton @reymysterio @HEELZiggler https://t.co/8Qydqkbui3
Jax’s participation in the Men’s Royal Rumble came about after she attacked the original 30th entrant, R-Truth. She went on to last three minutes and 11 seconds before being eliminated by Rey Mysterio.
Nia Jax eliminated Mustafa Ali before Randy Orton hit her with an RKO
ATTENTION: @NiaJaxWWE is IN the Men's #RoyalRumble Match, and she just ELIMINATED @MustafaAliWWE! #RoyalRumble https://t.co/Zp7hRAkUiS
Nia Jax threw Mustafa Ali over the top rope shortly after entering the Men’s Royal Rumble. Moments later, she received a superkick from Dolph Ziggler, followed by a 619 from Rey Mysterio and an RKO from Randy Orton.
The recently released superstar added that Ali gave her some words of advice before the match:
“Ali was just such a sweetheart, such a great, great guy. He’s such a good person," stated Jax. "I’ve had really great conversations with him backstage. [He’s] just genuine, such a great human. He was like, ‘Just toss me over, it’ll be great.’ I was like, ‘I love you! Thank you so much.’”
Jax went on to describe her 2019 Royal Rumble experience as the “craziest opportunity” that she never thought she would have.
Please credit The Sessions and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.