Randy Orton had a blast being looked after by ‘uncles’ like Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant before becoming a WWE Superstar himself.
A third-generation Superstar, Orton’s success in wrestling has far surpassed his father, uncle, or his grandfather. Orton returned from a lengthy injury at WWE Survivor Series: WarGames 2023, and is pleased with how he handled being upstaged by CM Punk’s return to WWE.
Randy Orton On His Uncles
Before making it into the business himself, Randy Orton was a young kid who would follow his father’s career intently. Being at WWF events meant Orton was often surrounded by wrestlers who showed an interest in the future Legend Killer. Speaking to A&E Biography: Legends, Orton recalled being cared for by some of the biggest stars of the time.
“I was fortunate enough to travel with my Pop [WWE Hall of Famer ‘Cowboy’ Bob Orton] now and again… The few times that I did get to go with my father, I’ll never forget. Being in the locker room seeing the bigger-than-life guys walking around.
“These were like my uncles. My dad’s close friends, I was in awe as a child when I did get to go with my dad. They treated me just wonderfully. I was there little buddy.
Orton also recalled that while he was surrounded by wrestlers from inside and outside of his own family, he never saw himself getting in the ring.
“Early on, people would always ask me, kids at school, teachers would ask me ‘Are you going to be a wrestler like your dad?’ But never, ever, was it something that I contemplated because I just didn’t see it in myself to do something like that.”
Cowboy Bob Orton On Young Randy
Randy’s father also weighed in during the sneak preview of A&E Biography: Legends. The 2005 WWE Hall of Fame inductee joked that he was fine leaving Orton in the care of the wrestlers as his matches rarely lasted too long.
“I didn’t take him [Randy] very often unless we were already pretty close to home. But yeah, those guys used to watch him when I was in the ring. So he got to know everybody when he was still pretty young.
“I had no problem, you know, with them watching over him. I knew I wouldn’t be gone too long from Randy. It didn’t take me long to win or lose [laughs.]”
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