Randy Orton felt he destroyed 38-year-old star's massive WWE push by injuring him; apologized privately
WWE legend Randy Orton had a conversation with a wrestler back in 2021, with The Viper apologizing to him. Back in 2019, Orton gave Mustafa Ali a swollen eye during a match.
Mustafa Ali recently made an appearance on Insight with Chris Van Vliet. The former WWE Superstar discussed several topics, including a candid conversation he had with Orton a few years back.
Mustafa Ali stated that Randy Orton was apologetic for giving him the eye injury during a match in 2019. Check out Ali's comments below:
"He felt really bad about the concussion. Like, he obviously, he was apologetic at the time. But it's almost like, a year or two after it, like him and I were just talking. He's like, 'Hey man, I never meant to tell you but I really messed up things for you, man. You were here [raises hand].' I go, 'Randy, like stuff happens, bro. I know it wasn't intentional.' He goes, 'No, I just want to let you know, like it bugs me that I took that away from you.' I was like, 'You didn't. You didn't take anything away. It just happens.'" [56:48-57:14]
Ali has previously clarified that Randy Orton didn't put him out of action
Back in 2019, Ali had a chat with TalkSPORT and made it clear that Randy Orton wasn't at fault for him being put on the shelf. Check out an excerpt from the interview:
“Unfortunately for Randy, a lot of people point the finger at him, thinking the black eye was the cause of me missing the Elimination Chamber – that wasn’t the case. I had a series of injuries that were just piling up and unfortunately, I had a pretty serious injury after that at a live event. That’s the injury that took me out." [H/T - TalkSPORT ]
Ali was scheduled to compete for Dominik Mysterio's NXT North American Title last year. However, WWE released him mere days before the scheduled match.
Please credit Insight with Chris Van Vliet and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling if you use Ali's quotes!