Randy Orton’s longtime friend opens up about the severity of his recent back injury
After 1.5 years, die-hard fans of Randy Orton can take a breath as the legend will finally step back into the squared circle. Often deemed Mr. Survivor Series by the vast majority of the WWE Universe, the Thanksgiving event makes all the sense in the world as the location for his comeback.
Kurt Angle recently revealed that Randy Orton himself was uncertain about returning to the ring. According to the Hall of Famer, if the 14-time WWE World Champion can stay healthy though, he still has a good six or seven years left in his in-ring career.
Speaking on The Kurt Angle Show, Angle reflected on Orton's back injury that kept the latter away from wrestling for this long. He revealed that he had been kept in the loop about what was going on through their wives, and that the two of them spoke about it:
"It's about time. I'm just glad he did [return] because I was communicating with him for quite some time when he was out with the injury because Kim [Orton] and Giovanna [Angle] are best friends. He was telling me, 'Hey, man, it's not looking good. I don't know how my back is going to heal if my back's going to heal,' said Kurt.
Things got better eventually, but the Hall of Famer reiterated that Orton was worried for a while.
"They didn't know [if Orton would return]. Randy, he's young, too. I mean he's in his 40s, but he's still pretty young. [Compared to] me and other guys that are wrestling like Sting in his 60s and Chris Jericho in his 50s. So yeah, he's still young. He still has a good six or seven years if he stays healthy." [H/T: Fightful]
Despite worries of CM Punk chants hijacking the show, Randy Orton's comeback is a big moment that the live crowd would respect. This was reportedly part of the reason why WWE decided to announce it in advance.
John Cena sent a message to Randy Orton ahead of Survivor Series: WarGames
Shocking the WWE Universe post-summer this year, John Cena worked for a prolonged period of time on WWE TV. His latest run culminated at Crown Jewel earlier this month. He put over Solo Sikoa massively on his way out.
Ahead of Randy Orton's return, Cena expressed gratitude to Orton and OVW for his humble beginnings in the wrestling business. He penned a heartfelt post on Twitter/X and shared a clip of their match two decades ago:
"Cannot celebrate this day without being thankful for all the people who helped and grew along the way. Truly thankful for my time in OVW and @RandyOrton during those years. Take a look back at our final match in OVW! Happy Thanksgiving! @tiktok_us @WWE"
You can watch their OVW match clip Cena shared here.
The Viper's last WWE Championship run came in 2020, when he won the belt from Drew McIntyre inside Hell in a Cell and held it briefly. The Scotsman, who is part of the rival team tonight, sent a message to him.
How does Randy Orton fit in to the present landscape of WWE programming? Sound off in the comments section below!