SUMMARY
- In May 2022, Randy Orton suffered a serious back injury that sidelined him for 18 months.
- Although he is back performing in WWE, it looks like Orton has some big regrets about his career.
Randy Orton is a well-known name in the world of professional wrestling. He is currently a part of WWE and has been involved in some huge storylines for SmackDown.
Randy Orton previously became a part of WWE in 2000. Following that, he participated in several storylines and headlined multiple pay-per-view events. Also, he has bagged many championships to his name. In fact, he is a 14-time World Champion in WWE.
However, Orton’s career has been riddled with some big injuries. In May 2022, ‘The Viper’ suffered a serious back injury, which kept him away from the ring for 18 months. But he later returned to the Stamford-based promotion and has been dominating the ring since then.
Even after such big setbacks, Orton’s career has spanned over 20 years in WWE. Meanwhile, despite having a long WWE career, The Viper still has some big regrets.
Randy Orton recently opened up about his regrets
Recently, Randy Orton appeared for an interview with ESPN. During that, the interviewer talked about Orton’s accomplishments in WWE and then said, “What you’ve accomplished most recently, to me, impresses me maybe more than anything you’ve done and that is simply The comeback.” After that, the interviewer also asked The Viper how he felt after his comeback following his injury hiatus.
To this, Orton said, “I don’t want to take a second for granted. I look back at the wasted time in my career when I may be complacent or bitter about something… I feel like I could never feel like that again.” He then mentioned that he got a second chance.
It looks like Randy does regret the amount of time he “wasted” throughout his career. However, Orton is also grateful to be able to perform inside the ring once more and added he was very close to having his career taken away from him after the injury.
“My career was supposed to be over.” He then stated that lower lumbar surgery, or lower lumbar fusion, is a serious matter. He added that he has “titanium everywhere,” but he mentioned that the main thing is that his surgeons didn’t cut through any muscle; if they did, he wouldn’t be able to return to the ring.
Revealing another regret ‘The Apex Predator’ said, “I’ve had back problems for like 10 years.” Thus, it seems Orton has had his fair share of struggles outside the squared circle. Meanwhile, now that he has made his return to WWE, he will do his best to continue to impress his beloved fans.
Focusing on Randy Orton’s injury and his WWE return
Previously, in May 2022, it was reported that Randy Orton had suffered a serious back injury and would be out of action for a long period of time. With that, updates about Orton’s injury began to come to light. It was reported that his injury was severe and he might have to take his retirement from the ring.
Not too long ago, ‘The Viper’ appeared for an interview with Sports Illustrated, where he opened up about his struggles. He said, “I had stenosis, degeneration all over my lower spine, and a slipping disc.” Randy added that every time he extended his spine, it would slip and “press on those nerves.”
He mentioned that he couldn’t sit without pain in his legs or his feet being numb. He added that there were times when he tried to move and instead ended up on the floor. Also, during his recent interview, Orton mentioned that the recovery was long and grueling after the lower lumbar surgery.
However, after being away from the ring for 18 months, Orton finally did the unthinkable and made his return to WWE at Survivor Series: WarGames 2023. This was a huge moment for the WWE Universe, and the fans welcomed ‘The Apex Predator’ with a huge pop.
With that, it now remains to be seen what lies ahead for Orton in the largest wrestling promotion in the world. Also, with WWE Draft 2024 quickly approaching, fans will definitely look forward to witnessing The Viper’s fate during the show.