April 25, 2022 will mark the 20th year of Randy Orton’s first televised WWE match. With two decades of dominance, The Viper undoubtedly has one of the most impressive careers in the history of wrestling. According to him, the secret to his longevity is figuring out how to get a reaction from the crowd without killing yourself.
The former world champion appeared on The Pat McAfee Show. Discussing the secret of his longevity in the business, Orton mentioned how he got injured several times very early in his career. So he had to understand his limitations and figure out how to get people interested without taking big bumps:
“It’s a lot of bumps, lot of traveling, but I feel like I kind of got injured very early in my career several times, boom, boom, boom. And I had to figure out. [I thought] ‘if I’m going to do this for a long time, if I’m going to have any kind of longevity, I gotta figure out how to do that.’ And that’s what I’ve done.
I’ve toned back the physicality to the point where I know what I’m capable of. I know what my body’s capable of, but I also know what I need to do out there in order to get a reaction and I don’t need to break my neck. 220 shows a year bro, you can’t physically survive decades in this industry if you’re killing yourself every night.”
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