During his appearance on Logan Paul’s podcast, Randy Orton discussed his comeback to WWE after an 18-month hiatus due to an injury. Orton expressed his dedication to wrestling and his realization of how close he came to potentially ending his career.

He highlighted the severity of his physical condition before surgery, crediting his tag team partner, Matt Riddle, for helping him through tough times in the ring. Orton also praised his doctors for their skillful surgery that avoided cutting through muscle, which was crucial for his return to wrestling.

“I’m like the only guy that’s never left and come back, other than John Cena. I’m going to be here for the rest…this is me. I’m not moving on to Hollywood. I love what I do. I just had 18 months off recovering from spinal fusion. I was kind of faced with the fact that I might not be able to do this again. It’s almost like I got a second lease on my career here. I’m not going to take a day for granted. Not a second in that ring for granted. Even now, more so than the matches you would have seen a year ago when you first started or a couple years ago, I’m feeling even more in my element now.”

“I changed a lot of stuff off these last 18 months. I really needed the time. I had a lot of ailments. I couldn’t stand for more than a couple minutes without having pain shoot down my legs. When I would sit, I had a disc slipping every time I would bend. On a plane, sitting here, my feet would go numb and I had pain shooting down my legs. It really sucked. It was really hard. That last year, before I had to leave because of the back, I was in a tag team with former WWE superstar Matt Riddle. I have to give him props because that year we tagged together, I was not able to be in the ring unless I was in there with someone like him. He was able to take the brunt of the physicality. He tagged me in, I come in, do my shit. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have made it that far. I had some great doctors, they fixed me up right. They didn’t cut through any muscle, which would enable me to get back in the ring. Once you start cutting muscle, that’s never going to heal back. You’re done. I’m blessed, all the way around.”