Randy Orton was told by doctors he should retire during his most recent hiatus.
The Viper is one of the longest-tenured WWE talents in the current roster. He has consistently been wrestling for the company for over 2 decades and he has competed in thousands of matches since his debut in 2000.
This longevity however comes with its own consequences. Orton found this out when he had to take 18 months off from WWE programming due to a serious back injury in May 2022. He finally returned to the company at the Survivor Series PPV in November 2023.
The Legend Killer opened up about his long recovery process during a recent interview with SportsKeeda. Randy Orton revealed that after taking a look at his injury, top neurologists were telling him that he should retire to preserve his body:
“I had top neurologists telling me, ‘You know what? You had a great career, you have a life after wrestling, and you wanna be comfortable. You don’t wanna be in pain the rest of your life. We’re gonna fix your back, but you’re gonna have to stop wrestling’. The first six months that I was out, I had that in the back of my head, and it was tough. It was mentally very challenging.”
While Randy is looking better than ever since his return to the ring, the months away from wrestling have definitely given him a new perspective and forced him to think about the end of his wrestling career.
The former world champion recently stated that he doesn’t want to have to convert to a part-time schedule like we have seen some other legends do. It’s likely that he will retire from active competition when he turns 50.
Randy Orton is currently competing in the ongoing King of The Ring tournament. Gunther has already entered the finals taking place in Saudi Arabia on May 25. Orton will be looking to do the same when he faces Tama Tonga in the semi-final on this Friday’s episode of SmackDown.
