Randy Orton Credits Matt Riddle For Helping Him Get Through Matches While Dealing With Pain

WWE

Top WWE star Randy Orton has credited Matt Riddle for helping him get through matches while dealing with pain.

At WWE Survivor Series 2023, Randy Orton returned to help Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins, Jey Uso and Sami Zayn defeat The Judgment Day and Drew McIntyre to win the Men’s War Games match.

The company that Orton returned to was much different from the promotion he left in May 2022. At that time, WWE was still owned by the McMahon family, the World Heavyweight Championship didn’t exist and his RK-Bro tag team partner was still with the company.

On September 22, WWE announced their latest slate of talent cuts, which included former Raw Tag Team Champion Matt Riddle.

Speaking with Logan Paul on the IMPAULSIVE podcast, Randy Orton was asked about his improved physique upon returning.

Answering and crediting Matt Riddle for helping him get through matches while he dealt with the back pain, Orton replied:

“I changed a lot of stuff off, this 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 pains shoot down my legs.”

“When I would sit, I had a disk that was slipping every time I would bend. So, on a plane, sitting here, my feet would go numb and I’d have pain shooting down my legs. It really sucked, it really was 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, and I’ve gotta give him props because that year we tagged together, I was not able to be in that ring unless I was in there with someone like him, because he was able to take the brunt of the physicality, he’d tag me, I’d come in, do my s**t.”

“So if it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t have made it that far, but 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, because once you start cutting muscle, that’s never going to heal back, you’re done. So I’m just blessed all the way around.”

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On the December 1 edition of SmackDown, Randy Orton chose to sign with the SmackDown brand to go after The Bloodline.

Orton followed this up by delivering a RKO to SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis.

“The Apex Predator” also opened up on his recovery from the serious back injury elsewhere in the interview, which you can read at this link.

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• RK-Bro
• Randy Orton
• Matt Riddle
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