Randy Orton Broken Hearted Over Vince McMahon Allegations
Randy Orton says reading the allegations against Vince McMahon “hurts his heart.”
On January 25th, news broke that Vince McMahon was facing horrific allegations of sexual assault and sex trafficking. The accusations led to TKO bosses telling Vince McMahon to step down from his position as the Executive Chairman of TKO, bringing an end to his time with WWE.
Since then, multiple stars have commented on the allegations leveled against their former boss, the latest of these being Randy Orton. Speaking to Sports Illustrated, Orton said that he wouldn’t be where he is today without McMahon, but admitted that reading about the lawsuit “hurts.”
“I’ve got to say this, I wouldn’t be where I am without Vince McMahon taking a chance on me a handful of times. I would not be where I am today without Vince McMahon.
“But, f***, I’m reading this s***. What you’ve seen and read, I’ve seen and read. As far as commenting on that, it f***ing hurts my heart. It hurts my heart.”
Randy Orton Believes WWE Has Changed Under Triple H
Orton was forced to take time away from WWE in May 2022 due to a back injury. He ended up being out of action for 18 months before making his triumphant return at Survivor Series in November 2023.
The Viper reflected on how things had changed in the company while he was out, recalling that McMahon was still there and shows were constantly being rewritten up to the last moment, whereas that’s no longer the case. Orton also says he used to try to persuade higher-ups to allow him a lighter schedule to heal up and extend his career, but he was always turned down.
“Throughout the course of my career when my back was shot to sh–, there were many times I went to the powers-that-be and said I’d have a longer career if I was off some of these shows so my back could heal up. Instead of 20 days overseas in Europe, I’d say, let me do just 10–or miss a TV once a quarter. I was denied at every turn. ‘I’m sorry Randy, I need you at these shows.’ ‘Sorry, Randy. Mother Nature gets us all.’”
Things are a lot different now, with Triple H and Nick Khan allowing him to adapt plans to work around any physical issues.
“Since I’ve been back, post-spinal fusion, and I’m talking like Chicago Survivor Series, Triple H and Nick Khan reassured me to come to them if I needed anything and they’d take care of it. They’ve already proven they weren’t full of s*** when they said that.
“If something is bugging me and I don’t want to put my body through a physical toll of a match, I can still make the TV, cut a promo, and hit an RKO or two. That is going to enable me to do this for a long time. I’m very happy with the changes, and I’m very happy that Nick Khan, Triple H, Bruce Prichard and all those guys are proving they mean what they say. The company changed, and they care about the talent. I think everybody feels the same way.”