10. Old School WWF Wrestler Defends Randy Orton In “Dive” Debate

Randy Orton’s uncle Barry Orton, whom most Old School fans remember as WWF Wrestler ‘Barry O’ was interviewed on a recent podcast. He’s also the brother of WWF Legend “Cowboy” Bob Orton Jr.! Below are the highlights from this interview:

Does he agree with Randy’s “dive” comments:

“Yeah and the problem is these f***ing babyfaces today (excuse my language) want to get over so bad that they don’t want to take any time to tell a story. One of the guys who taught me about that was after I had a match with Ricky Steamboat in the Carolinas. It was for TV and the people were going crazy and it was an unbelievable match. After I thanked him and said that he put me over like a million bucks and he said: “It is my philosophy that if you are working with someone that knows how to work, you let them work. If you go out there and eat somebody up and beat them, you didn’t beat anybody.” If you can go out and you are challenged throughout the match by someone who may be able to pull off the upset than the people will get more involved. That was always one of the most valuable lessons that I ever learned.”

Do fans dictate the way the wrestlers perform at such a high level:

“They were that way back then. The fans back in the 80s would bring horns and shout BORING. The more they did that, the less I did and the babyface would be going bats**t. I’d work it real slow and by the time we started opening up and he would come full steam than they were coming over the balcony. They have no respect for you if you let them call your match. These are just things that I learned and things that worked for me. But I do think they are better philosophies than what is out there today and there is so much talent out there now that it blows my mind every time I see it.”

Randy Orton’s role today in WWE:

“Even with Randy and even though he is my nephew, you’ve got to admit that he is a machine. About eight or nine years ago I heard from a source very close to the inner workings of WWE that looks straight at me and said that he’s the best guy that they’ve got. Period. The end. That is something that normally someone in that position would not share with me. I think they were stunned and they didn’t think I understood that and I think that is why they came out and said it.”

Did he enjoy his role in the WWF and did he feel under-used with his brother “Cowboy” Bob Orton having such a big spot:

“I was just doing my job and I felt alright. When I started getting bigger and better there was a little window that opened up for me but it was slammed shut because of a very stupid thing that I did. I don’t blame anybody but me for that. Just like for Randy, I wanted the best success I could possibly achieve and that is exactly what I wanted for Randy and I love him so dearly. But with Bob there was never any jealousy.”

Did he ever have an instance where an opponent tried to take advantage of him during a match to make themselves look better:

“I remember some problems with some babyfaces. They want to eat you up and just beat you. They want to shine and bury you. I won’t allow that to happen and I never did. Unless they came to me and demanded it and it was something for TV than I could understand it. But I think just about everybody that I worked with including a couple of good tag team partners that I really can’t think about anybody that I didn’t enjoy working with.”

Any opponents that stick out:

“Kerry Von Erich. I didn’t not like working with him but I was always a little nervous working with him. He had that foot problem and if you would catch him off balance a little bit, it was like he was a half second behind everything. It worried me that his ankle was going to go and he was going to end up hurting both of us. But other than that I thought we had great matches.”