In May 2022, Randy Orton suffered a back injury that took him more than a year to recover. He finally returned to WWE at Survivor series 2023. However, before returning, Orton was advised by his doctor that it was time for him to think about his life after wrestling and he should not go back to the ring again.
The Viper was advised to stop wrestling
Orton struggled with the major injury for over a year but a few weeks back in an interview he stated that he wants to keep wrestling in WWE until he is 50. Orton talked about being diagnosed with a career-threatening injury and what went behind the scenes while he was out of action for a long time.
Recently, in an interview, The Viper revealed how close he was to quitting wrestling. Top neurologists had him telling that he had a great career, but he has a life after wrestling and he will be wanting to get comfortable.
The doctors told him, “You don’t want to be in pain for 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 mind and it was tough. It was very challenging mentally,I didn’t really know what the future held for me” said Orton.
Successful surgery led to his comeback
Orton further revealed that he found some doctors who had performed the same surgery on MMA fighters who had gone through similar situations. Once he learned that some MMA fighters had undergone the same surgery and returned to the Octagon and found success, his mind was made up.
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Since coming back to WWE, Orton has spoken about his working agreement with the company and how great a bond he has with WWE CEO Triple H. Whenever he needs a break, he tells Triple H and he is ok with it as long as he is given some advance notice. While The Viper doesn’t appear every week on WWE shows, he is a regular on programming and hasn’t missed much time since his return. Orton is set to face Tama Tonga in the semifinal of the King of the Ring tournament on Friday night’s SmackDown. If Orton wins, he will face Gunther in the finals.
