WWE Superstar Randy Orton provided some insight this week into what he was going through physically and mentally while on the shelf with a back injury for a year and a half from 2022 to 2023.
During an appearance on Stephanie McMahon’s What’s Your Story? podcast (beginning at the 17:45 mark), Orton divulged that he had doubts about whether he would ever be able to wrestle again and found himself in a “dark place” as a result:
“I think it kind of came to a head when I had a spinal fusion, and I was out for a year and a half. It was like, here’s my identity. This is what I am. This is the one thing that I know that I’m good at, and I get respect for, and I can’t do it anymore. And for like six months, I was under the impression that was it.
“During that time, that six months where I thought that was it, it was like … when I was younger, I felt so mentally strong and tough and nothing could shake me. And I got in a dark place.”
Orton added that he “started to revert back to some of my old habits” at that time, but his wife recognized it, and he was “able to nip it in the bud quickly.”
The 45-year-old veteran noted that even before landing on the shelf with a back injury, he was going through some mental health struggles, including panic attacks, which made it difficult for him to fly and sleep.
Orton said he was put on anti-anxiety and anti-depression medication at one point before adding, “I’ve actually been off of them for about six months and feel like myself again, but I needed them for a few years because I didn’t know if I could do this job anymore, even after I came back.”
A procedure as serious as spinal fusion surgery is something that can end a professional athlete’s career, particularly when they are past the age of 40.
Despite that, Orton persevered and worked his way back, making his in-ring return in a WarGames match at Survivor Series in November 2023.
Orton has regained his status as one of the most popular wrestlers in WWE since his return, and he has competed in no shortage of high-profile bouts over the past several months.
That included an unsuccessful challenge for the WWE Championship against John Cena at Backlash, and a loss to Cody Rhodes in the King of the Ring final last weekend at Night of Champions.
Orton is a 14-time world champion and one of the all-time greats who truly has nothing left to prove, but being back in the ring as an active competitor seems to have him in a positive head space after going through some challenging times.
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