Randy Orton’s Big Twitter Day Ended With Him Ethering Every Independent Wrestler

In the midst of a very quiet weekend otherwise — and during the tail end of WWE’s European tour — a minor internet brouhaha broke out when Rip Rogers, who is currently the head trainer at Ohio Valley Wrestling, took to Twitter on Saturday to take the piss out of the current state of independent pro wrestling. (It should be noted, of course, that OVW is not affiliated with WWE, and hasn’t been since the company consolidated all of its developmental wrestling in FCW in 2007.)

https://twitter.com/Hustler2754/status/863340857281445888

The reaction from fans and wrestlers alike was swift and varied, with indie wrestlers taking obvious offense. Even WWE’s TJP responded.

And arguably the biggest rising star at the forefront of modern indie wrestling, Will Ospreay, responded to Rogers directly, before doing what all good indie workers do: take advantage of the rapidly-spreading meme by assuming ownership of it.

While indie wrestlers and indie fans were busy alternately being pissed and poking fun at Rogers being “out of touch,” grizzled vets were (perhaps inevitably) enjoying the row. Randy Orton found it funny, for example.

But when Bully Ray chimed in with his own joke, Orton took potshots at the former Dudley Boy, which Bubba’s significant other, Velvet Sky, didn’t appreciate. (Bubba didn’t appreciate it, either.)

But as is usually the case with Orton, he wasn’t satisfied with just potshots at Bully Ray. He later issued a Twitter “apology” that was dripping with sarcasm and blatant, withering disdain for the independent scene. It was truly a tour de force of insulting people’s livelihoods.

In the unlikely event that the tweet gets deleted, here is Orton’s full “apology,” for posterity:

“Sorry to the Indy marks, Indy guys and old timers who do DIVES took offense … just having a good time over a few drinks in Denmark closing the Smackdown Live tour … while beating Raw in making over 5 million dollars in the last 11 shows. Now I know to some that doesn’t equate to a standing room only crowd of 150 people paying $8 at an armory somewhere … but in the big boy world that’s called putting asses in seats. So enjoy your flips, dives, and 20 superkicks per match. To each their own. I will go “dive” back into my 13th title run and get ready to “flip” when my bank statement comes this month.

…………..headlock”

Well at least it seems like he knows who the Young Bucks are! And yeah, it definitely didn’t go unnoticed.

https://twitter.com/MattJackson13/status/863995218089082880

I dunno about y’all, but if I found out Low Ki was pissed at me, I’d hide under my covers and never go outside again. I’m looking forward to Orton keeping this going via subtle shots in whatever promo he does on Tuesday’s Smackdown Live or Talking Smack. The only thing I’m sure of is that this is the most fun Randy Orton has had in a long time.