Randy Orton has noted in interviews that WWE has changed a lot under Triple H’s leadership, and wrestlers (especially veterans like him) can get time off now, which wasn’t always the case under Vince McMahon’s leadership.
During an interview on Adam’s Apple, Orton recalled being in a lot of pain throughout his 30s and begging for time off.
Here’s what The Viper said:
“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 30s and was hurting.
I was begging for time off when I was 35; I think Vince’s 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 a$$ for this company.
There have been some changes. Now, I think instead of pushing the guys and running their d*cks into the ground until they fall apart, there is a great atmosphere of ‘how can we make this guy last?’
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.”
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