2024-02-22 20:03:05
As you know, Randy Orton missed 18 months of WWE action due to a back injury. During this absence, we learned that Randy Orton’s career was in question since he could potentially never return to the ring.
This week, Randy Orton was interviewed for the New York Post and he confirmed that at one point doctors told him that the possibility that he would have to retire was very real and that he shed a lot of tears. Randy Orton tells the story:
”I was with my wife and some of the best neurosurgeons in their field and they had looked at the MRI (examination). And based on my symptoms and the condition of my lower spine, based on the MRIs, they were like, ‘You know what, you’ve had a great career. You need to start thinking about your life after wrestling and being there for your kids. This operation is not the type of operation after which one can continue an athletic life.’
I was in tears. I think it’s normal for grown men to cry and I was a little baby. I was so sad that this opportunity to wrestle again was taken away from me.”
Randy Orton adds that it was very difficult as he spent many months waiting not knowing if he would ever be able to get back in the ring. He says he spent six weeks traveling from his home state of Missouri to Florida to get back into wrestling after a break of more than 13 months. He takes the opportunity to thank Drew Gulak who gave him the confidence to make his first RKO:
”I made my first RKO at the end of August, and without Drew Gulak I would not have regained my confidence. It was from January that I really started to feel OK. I felt like I was in control. It took me a second to realize that this is what I’m good at. Receiving this second chance was very important and motivating for me. I no longer take anything for granted.”
Randy Orton finished his remarks by saying that he feels in his prime since he is confident and that he no longer has any back pain. His goal now is to wrestle as long as he can and possibly approach Ric Flair and John Cena’s record 16 world championships.
Photo credit: WWE
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