Randy Orton is finally back in WWE after more than a year and a half away from the ring. The Viper was out of action from May 2022 until WWE Survivor Series: WarGames this past November due to a major back injury that left him struggling to stand for more than a few minutes at its worst, let alone wrestle a full-blown match. After undergoing spinal fusion surgery and a lengthy rehab period, however, Orton is back as a fully-fledged member of the SmackDown roster.
As he enters the 22nd year of his active career, Orton was asked during an appearance on Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast if he had any plans to make WWE history by surpassing John Cena and Ric Flair’s tied record for the most WWE world title reigns at 16 each. The 43-year-old made it clear that while he still wants to achieve as much as he can in WWE, he’s more focused on ensuring he can compete for as long as possible while ensuring he’s health enough to still spend time with his family.
“At this point, I want to do everything I can, man,” Orton began. “Longevity is always the number one goal for me and being able to go home play with my kids and not be in pain, right? That’d be the ultimate goal. But as many accomplishments as I can accomplish in WWE, the more the better. I’ve already done so much so far. It’s kind of nice being in a position where I can watch other guys’ matches and maybe critique and help and answer questions.
“So for the first time in my career, I find myself being a little bit of, gosh I don’t even want to say the word, a mentor to some people. Like I can pull a guy aside, kind of like how I DM’ed you [Logan] like, ‘Hey man, careful. Don’t go out here and end up in a wheelchair. You got a lot of shit going on.’ You’d be doing a lot of podcasts only, you always got to be thinking of that next one.”
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