Randy Orton Dismisses The Undertaker WWE Schedule
Randy Orton is a WWE star reborn after returning to the ring at Survivor Series 2023 but just how long does The Viper plan to keep going?
Randy Orton was forced to miss 18 months from the ring between 2022 and 2023 as he underwent serious back fusion surgery. Orton returned to be part of WarGames at Survivor Series in November 2023 and has been a firm part once again of the WWE roster ever since.
Before that surgery, Orton thought his days in the ring were numbered but now he has a very different outlook for the rest of his career.
Randy Orton Wants To Keep Going Until He’s 50
Speaking to Adam’s Apple, Randy Orton discussed his future in WWE and explained that the company no longer looks to run its stars until they can’t go anymore:
If you would have asked me two years ago, I would have thought I was close to the end because I had spinal fusion about a year and a half ago. That changed the game. I had been in pain through my entire 30’s and was hurting. I was begging for time off when I was 35. I think Vince’s [Vince McMahon] quote to me was, ‘Mother nature gets us all.’ That’s hard to hear when you’re 35 and your back hurts and you’re busting your ass for this company.
There have been some changes. Now, I think instead of pushing the guys and running their dicks into the ground until they fall apart, there is a great atmosphere of ‘how can we make this guy last?’
Randy Orton continued by noting that he wants to be on the road full-time and wants to keep wrestling until he’s 50 without resorting to a part-time schedule that The Undertaker worked towards the end of his career:
The beauty of it is, I’m not even there yet. I feel so great after my surgery. I’m a full-time guy. I don’t want to do the old Undertaker or Shawn Michaels schedule, which they needed to do, understandably, but wrestling at WrestleMania, take the summer off, maybe you see them at SummerSlam. I want to be on the road every week. I want to make all the TVs, I want to be on all the PLEs. At 44, I would love to be able to go until my 50’s. Maybe I wrestle until I’m 50 and call it. That’s 30 years. 30 years with the same company, on top.
It feels like now is the perfect environment for me to thrive. If I do need to take a week off because I am getting up there, I get it. There have been twice since I’ve been back where I was like, ‘Hey Hunter, can I take a week to recover so I can be 100% for the following week?’ ‘Sure, as long as you communicate that to me, no problem.’ Having that in my back pocket is real peace of mind knowing that if I need a week, they’ll give it to me.
Randy Orton has become embroiled in the Bloodline’s issues in recent weeks. Orton and Kevin Owens teamed up to face Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga at Backlash France. R-KO came up short thanks to a shock WWE debut as The Bloodline added yet another new member.