“It’s Almost Like I Got A Second Lease On My Career Here”
Randy Orton opens up on his return to WWE.
The Viper has been out of action for over a year due to a back injury, one that nearly ended his prestigious career. Orton spoke about his comeback during a recent appearance on Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast, where he admits that he feels like he got a second lease on his career.
I’m like the only guy that’s never left and come back, other than John Cena. I’m going to be here for the rest…this is me. I’m not moving on to Hollywood. I love what I do. I just had 18 months off recovering from spinal fusion. I was kind of faced with the fact that I might not be able to do this again. It’s almost like I got a second lease on my career here. I’m not going to take a day for granted. Not a second in that ring for granted. Even now, more so than the matches you would have seen a year ago when you first started or a couple years ago, I’m feeling even more in my element now.
Orton later adds that he changed a lot of his health routines over the last 18 months and built up a ton of muscle to protect his body going forward.
I changed a lot of stuff off these last 18 months. I really needed the time. I had a lot of ailments. I couldn’t stand for more than a couple minutes without having pain shoot down my legs. When I would sit, I had a disc slipping every time I would bend. On a plane, sitting here, my feet would go numb and I had pain shooting down my legs. It really sucked. It was really hard. That last year, before I had to leave because of the back, I was in a tag team with former WWE superstar Matt Riddle. I have to give him props because that year we tagged together, I was not able to be in the ring unless i was in there with someone like him. He was able to take the brunt of the physicality. He tagged me in, I come in, do my shit. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have made it that far. I had some great doctors, they fixed me up right. They didn’t cut through any muscle, which would enable me to get back in the ring. Once you start cutting muscle, that’s never going to heal back. You’re done. I’m blessed, all the way around.
The former multi-time world champion has since signed with the WWE SmackDown brand. You can check out his full interview below.
(H/T and transcribed by Fightful)
