WWE SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis appeared on “Insight With Chris Van Vliet” to discuss various topics, including whether he always thought about wrestling in the company.
Aldis said, “Yeah, might be, but that doesn’t mean that this one didn’t come as a total shock, because it did. You know what’s funny? There were two people when there were other moments where it looked like that might be on the cards. Two people that said to me, ‘You have to stay somewhat ready because they’re not gonna give you three months’ notice. You’re gonna get like a couple weeks.’ One was Mickie [James], and one was Randy [Orton]. Because last year at WrestleMania, a lot of people felt like maybe that was a possibility. Was never discussed with me, you know, and even Randy even kind of leaned toward it on TV. But like I said, I try to make a point to stay out of it in that respect. I didn’t lobby for anything. But I remember Randy talking to me at WrestleMania and kind of saying, you know, you need to stay ready, because it’s gonna happen, and they’re gonna do it like that. It’s gonna come out of nowhere.”
On the buzz around a potential match with Randy Orton at WrestleMania 41:
“Yeah, it could have been. I mean, could have been anyone. It was a great spot for Joe Hendry. I thought it was a really entertaining segment. It was a great piece of business for WrestleMania. But had they decided, ‘Hey, it’s there,’ that would have been great. But I will say, this has real meat on the bone. With Randy, that would have been cool, but it would have been very much like a sort of, oh, hey, let’s have a wrestling match kind of thing. It would have been nice, but it would have felt very, sort of, you know. This has some genuine emotion.”
You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
