"One of my biggest regrets in the business" – When Randy Orton let The Undertaker down
Randy Orton once opened up about the time he missed rehearsals ahead of his WrestleMania 21 match against The Undertaker.
The legendary opponents were supposed to meet with several WWE officials on the morning of the 2005 Hall of Fame ceremony. The Undertaker, Orton's father Bob Orton Jr., and producers John Laurinaitis and Ricky Steamboat all showed up on time. However, The Viper was nowhere to be seen.
In a 2020 episode of WWE Untold, Randy Orton said he arrived at the rehearsal area when everyone else was about to leave:
"Let's just say I got into a little trouble, didn't get much sleep, just in case my kids are watching. Now, keep in mind, this is my second WrestleMania. I'm 24, I'm being given the world. My f***ing dad is there, 'Taker's there. I got down there just as they were finishing up, they were walking out. I'm working with The Undertaker for a year, and it all started off with me missing rehearsal for the biggest match of the year."
Underrated WrestleMania match. The Undertaker vs Randy Orton at WrestleMania 21 https://t.co/WwSZeoLtcZ
Orton added that missing the rehearsal was one of the worst things he has done in WWE:
"A lot of people may have opinions about me earlier in my career, but nobody considers myself more of an a**hole than I do. So, 'Take, if you're watching, thank you for not b****ing me out, cursing me out, and chokeslamming my a** to hell after I missed that rehearsal. That's probably one of my biggest regrets in the business, letting you men down that night."
The next day, The Undertaker defeated Orton in a 14-minute match at WrestleMania 21. In the process, the WWE icon extended his winning streak at the event to 13-0.
Randy Orton references that moment to teach younger wrestlers
As one of the most experienced superstars in WWE today, Randy Orton occasionally passes on words of wisdom to his co-workers.
THE UNDERTAKER VS RANDY ORTON:
Wrestlemania 21.
Summerslam 2005.
Armageddon 2005. https://t.co/1Godv4ExZp
The 14-time world champion believes his career could have gone differently had it not been for his feud with The Undertaker:
"Now, as a father, a husband, a 40-year-old man, I think that I see now how wrong that was, and when I'm in the locker room and when I'm talking to the young guys and girls in the back, trying to teach them about the little things, I always go back to where I started, and I knew that if it wasn't for Undertaker, none of this would have ever happened," Orton continued.
The lengthy storyline concluded in December 2005 when The Undertaker defeated Orton in a Hell in a Cell match at Armageddon. Four months earlier, The Viper secured one of his biggest career victories over The Deadman at SummerSlam.
Do you have any memories of Randy Orton and The Undertaker's storyline? Let us know in the comments section below.
Please credit WWE Untold and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.