With Randy Orton back and wrestling in a main title WWE title program, it might be easy to forget how severe his injuries in recent years really were.
Orton experienced his longest career layoff from mid-2022 to the end of 2023, with a back injury putting the 44-year-old on the sidelines for some time.
Prior to his official absence from competing, “The Viper” was in rough shape. As he teamed with Matt Riddle to form the duo “RK-Bro,” he recalls being incredibly limited in the ring and having trouble just mustering up the strength to get to the ring. Orton described that rough patch in his career when recently speaking to the Daily Mail.
I was in such bad shape, man, that last year or so that I was teaming with Riddle,” he said. “It was everything that I had in me to get out there and even stand on the apron, and when he tagged me in, I’d come in, I’d blow a comeback, maybe hit an RKO, but that was about all I could physically accomplish … So Riddle, I owe Riddle a lot, man, he’s a good dude, because of him going out there every night and taking the brunt of the punishment in those matches, I was able to extend my career longer than it should have went with that injury that I had in my lower back, and that was just wear and tear over the course of about a decade. It was bad all through my 30s.
Orton spoke about a variety of topics, including his upcoming match against WWE World Heavyweight Champion Gunther. Orton told the Daily Mail how he believes he’s getting a match with Gunther as the champ is in his prime.
“He’s a special talent,” Orton said. “There’s no one else like him. He’s as unique as they get. And he was very seasoned. He’s, not a young pup, he’s 36, but that’s not a bad thing. I think that he’s right smack dab in the middle of his prime. He’s been able to wrestle so many different places, different styles, different talent. And if you look, you talk about his body at work, but look at his physical body. He’s also really busted his ass to get into good shape.”
Orton’s full conversation with the Daily Mail can be read here.
