All language subtitles for Biography WWE Legends s04e01 Randy Orton.eng

[crowd chanting "RKO"]

- Boy, you're talking about
the blue chip.

He was bred to be a WWE
Superstar.

- Could've never been any
further from the truth.

Never thought I'd be a
wrestler.

- Randy Orton, a
third-generation Superstar.

- We knew he had the
genealogy,

he'd grown up and around
wrestling.

He's a natural.

- The man has every gift
that a man can be given.

- He's effortless.

Everything he does, he makes
it look easy.

- The youngest World
Champion in history.

- You're now the face of the
company.

You know, go out there and
represent us.

Randy wasn't ready for that.

- You get all that fame and
fortune, when you're that

young, you're gonna make
some mistakes.

And he did.

- Smile, you little punk.

- There's a lot that can
blow your head up

if you're not careful.

- I'm the new big man in
town.

- Oh ok.

- Yeah, go tell your
friends.

- Okay.

- Seriously go.

Seriously go.

- Randy has a short fuse.

He would unload on people.

- Stupid.

Stupid.

- Everyone likes to party,
and kinda have a good time,

and then he'd take it one
step too far.

- His demons were taking
over.

It wasn't good.

- I was addicted to
painkillers

at a very early age.

- The thing that I learned
over time with him is that

he's a self-destructer.

You have every gift
imaginable to be the biggest

star this business has ever
seen, and the only one that

can stop you is you, and you
are hell-bent on doing it

and I don't know why.

- Everybody has to travel
that road at their own course.

- I didn't know what it was
gonna take to get me to

where I needed to be up
here.

- He' d figured it out, he
just had to do it

his own way.

- Randy Orton has been a top
star for 20 years.

- The path we take to avoid
our destiny is often the one

that leads us directly to
it.

[laughter]

- All right, what's this?

What's this?

Holy [bleep] a letterman's
jacket with absolutely

nothing on it?

- Where's that from?

- From when I was in high
school.

- Oh, is it?

- Yeah.

- I thought this was all
wrestling.

- Well, thi-thi-this is from
high school.

- 189 pounds.

- 98, yeah 189.

Does it say it on there?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Conference champs,
state qualifier.

- Is this your father's?

- Well, show it to the
camera.

- WrestleMania 2 shirt.

- Oh, Wrestlemania 2.

- Why do you have this?

Did he bring it for you?

Well, your father was in the
first one, right?

- Wow.

- First and third.

- Okay.

- But I have that 'cause of
my dad, yeah

- Yeah.

- Gosh, I was born in
Knoxville, Tennessee,

and I moved all over the country
with my father,

who was wrestling in the Indies.

It was before I can
remember, of course, but my

father traveled with the
wrestling territories.

He was wrestling all over
the country.

- I basically worked the
East Coast.

I-I started in Florida and
went to Georgia and then

back to Florida, then I went
to Carolinas for a while,

and then I went to Tennessee
for a while.

- We'd be six to eight
months, sometimes a year in

one spot, then we'd move
somewhere else.

We lived in Connecticut,
Kentucky.

Florida, couple other spots.

But we ended up settling in
St. Louis, Missouri, smack

dab in the center of the
country, easier to travel.

My dad could get home on
pretty much any flight when

he was traveling for WWE and
Vince McMahon

and Vince McMahon's father.

- "Cowboy" Bob Orton.

- Great technician.

Bobby was a hell of a
worker.

Nothing he did didn't look
good.

- Most people remember him
from back then, having

the-the broken arm that
never seemed to heal.

- How's the injury coming
along?

- Not too good, Vince.

It just won't get well.

- He used the cast.

That's a weapon.

You cannot use it as a
weapon.

- I knew him as "Rowdy"
Roddy Piper's bodyguard.

- This is my bodyguard Ace.

I love my bodyguard.

- We're great together,
aren't we?

- Oh, I do.

- I like being together
with you.

- So, my dad was in the very
first WrestleMania.

- The wrestling extravaganza
of all time, WrestleMania.

- WrestleMania 1 was-was a
big deal.

Boy, some of the best
wrestler that ever come around

was in that match.

- The most phenomenal
wrestling card

ever put together.

- I wrestled his father, Bob
Orton Jr. several times, and

I grew up watching his
grandfather, the Big O.

- The Big O, Big Bob Orton.

- My grandfather, Bob Orton
Sr. Big O as they called him

back then, he wrestled in
the '50s and '60s.

- Beautiful move
by Bob Orton.

- Just having a legacy in
the business and having

a-a-a father and a
grandfather in the business,

I think at first, that was
the legacy that it was a

family thing, but the
business back then was

pretty hectic.

When I was quite young,

my father was on the
road nonstop.

He was gone.

He was gone for months
at a time.

- The family, uh, didn't
travel with me anymore.

They just stayed home,
and I did the traveling

course back then.

You flew in and flew out all
the time.

So I probably got to see
him.

Gosh, you know, this is
gonna sound horrible, but,

uh, maybe 10,
12 days a year.

- There's Randy.

So big.

- I think not having my dad
around in those early years

definitely was something
that, uh,

kind of sucked as a kid.

All my friends, you know,
they'd have the ball of

glove and they'd be having a
catch with the baseball in

the backyard with
their fathers.

And my dad, he'd be off in
Japan for a month or two,

you know, so if there's one
thing that-that I'm sure

that he regrets, it's not
being able to be the father

that he wanted to be.

- This business takes them
away from day-to-day life.

So you miss out on a lot.

When he was home, he was
there and he played the role

of dad quite well.

- Let's get a nice big
Christmas smile from Randy.

All right?

- But I remember him coming
home and I'd give him a big

hug, dad, I miss you.

You know, I can't wait to go
with you one day.

I was a little too young at
that point, but eventually I

was fortunate enough to
travel with my Pop now and

again, I didn't take him
very often unless we were

pretty close to home.

But yeah, those guys used to
watch him when I was in the

ring, so he got to know
everybody

when he was pretty young.

- The few times that I did get
to go with my father,

you know, I'll never forget
being in the locker room,

seeing the bigger than life
guys walking around,

you know, these were like my
uncles,

my dad's close friends.

I was in awe as a child,

when I did get to go with my
dad

- I had no problem, you know,

with them watching
over him, I knew I wasn't

gonna be gone too long.

It didn't take me long to
win or lose.

They treated me just
wonderfully.

I was their-their-their
little buddy.

Early on, people would
always ask me, kids at

school, teachers would ask
me, you gonna be a wrestler

like your dad.

- Bob Orton.

- But never ever was it
something that, you know,

I contemplated because just
didn't see it in myself.

To be able to do something
like that.

I looked at what my father
did as something

I could never do.

I just didn't have the
confidence.

I was such an insecure kid.

I was a skinny little bean
pole, got picked on bullies.

People might think I was
like popular in high school,

but not at all.

Socially, I didn't have a
lot of friends.

I didn't go to the dances.

I didn't go hang out with
the friends and go to the

parties on the weekends.

I played sports.

Didn't excel at one
particular sport, but I

really enjoyed amateur
wrestling.

And I ended up doing okay
there.

- He wrestled all through
school.

His last year, I think he
just lost one or two matches

the whole year.

- I made a good GPA.

It was like 3.1 something or
whatever, but wasn't sure

what I was gonna do with
myself.

I wasn't gonna get a
scholarship to wrestle,

I wasn't gonna get, um,
you know, an academic

scholarship either,
didn't really even want

to go to college.

And it was my junior year
that I made the decision to

sign up for the delayed
entry program with the

United States Marine Corps.

The Marine Corps recruiting
officer, his recruitment

office was right next to a
grocery store called Shop

and Save, and he'd give 17
and 18-year-olds liquor

and-and beer, and in turn,
we pretty much

signed our lives away.

"You sign this paper when
you go to the Marine Corps,

you're gonna get paid, man.

You'll be able to buy that
fancy car

you always wanted."

Drug, sex, and rock and roll
is what he was selling us.

You join the Marine Corps
and you're gonna have girls

throwing themselves at you.

You're gonna wear the
uniform.

"Girls love a guy in uniform."

He did his best to be our
best friend, and that was

part of the reason why I
signed up.

I thought,

"Hey, maybe the
military is the place for me."

And, um, I was not correct
in that assessment.

When I graduated high
school, I think it was two

weeks to the day that I got
on a plane and I flew to,

uh, San Diego, California to
the, um, Marine Corps

Recruit Depot, MCRD,
California.

Marine Corps boot camps like
one of the hardest, more

grueling boot camps and I
ate it up.

I loved it out there,
I loved it.

I was excited to go out
there and be a part of

something bigger than
myself.

To be a part of a team, so
to speak now, and be in the

Marine Corps, which was
hard, it was grueling,

mentally and physically, but
I excelled and I graduated

boot camp with a meritorious
promotion and went from

private to private first
class.

Boot camp turned me into a
man.

But I went to the fleet.

That's where, you know, you
find these relationships

with these men who are gonna
have your back and this is

where the [bleep] goes down.

But instead, it's almost
like boot camp part two,

only worse.

I witnessed a couple other
guys get hazed.

You know, guys being
stripped down to their

underwear holding a- pushup
position and being cattle

prodded with a lamp that had
a light bulb that was

plugged in and hot, you
know, which couldn't break

the pushup position and [bleep]
like that, the kind of thing

where it-it-it had happened
to me, like I'd-I'd have

PTSD from it.

They had this one kid, they
tied him up in telephone

cord, wrapped him up in a
sleeping bag,

and he had a panic attack.

What the-they didn't know
was he had just called his

mother or something and
when-when they came into his

room and did this to him,
and she was still on the

phone and the phone was off
the hook.

So she heard all this, you
know, guys were sitting on

him and he's screaming
and I quickly realized like,

oh man, I don't want to be a
part of this.

I've had to deal with
bullies my whole life like,

why did I sign up to deal
with them?

Like, this is stupid.

I even tried going to the
Chaplain and telling him

about what I had seen and
how I wanted to go home, but

that wasn't happening.

All I kept hearing was, you
signed a contract with the

United States government,
you're here to stay, we got

you for four years, you're
ours, you know,

you ass is ours.

So I was like, okay, what
are my options?

And I got on a Greyhound bus
and I took a two day trip

from Oceanside, California
to St. Louis, Missouri and

my mom picked me up, brought
me home, and I stayed home

for like two and a half
months.

So I went to AWOL.

Check this out,
it's not all wrestling.

Oh [Bleep]

- Aw.

- Yeah.

That's from, uh, 1998 and
1999.

- Dad was in the Marines.

- Look-look, I-I-I'm a-I'm a
soldier.

- Yeah.

Is that cool?

- Actually, I can't claim
that [bleep].

I went AWOL, essentially
and, um, it wasn't what you

think, I wasn't on the run,
there wasn't people after

me, they didn't send the
cops banging on my door,

they knew where I was, and
I just kind of waited it out,

nothing ever happened,
so I went back to California,

turned myself in and said,
all right, I-I want out.

And now I've-I've shown you
that I'm serious,

I want out and they were like,
yeah [bleep] you go to the field

pick up your rifle, you're going
back to training.

You signed a contract with
the United States

government, you ain't going
anywhere.

So now what am I gonna do?

And so instead of grabbing
my rifle and go back to

training, I just said, nope,
I'm not going anywhere and,

uh, that was a rough day.

I disobeyed direct order and
the-there's serious

consequences when you
disobey a direct order.

So they kind of got me on
that, and they sentenced me

to 110 days in the brig.

It was like, "Oh my God,
this is real life [bleep].

I'm an adult now.

There's consequences for my
actions."

And I think I did 38 days
because I was good.

You know, 38 days, what's
that?

You know, well, for a
18-year-old kid,

that's an eternity.

That first night was rough.

It was a little scary, and,
you know, I definitely

didn't make a lot of friends
in there, but just counting

the days, counting the days.

So, I finally, I-I get out
of the brig.

The battalion commander
calls me into his office the

next day and he's like,
"Here's your discharge

papers, good luck and
whatever you end up doing."

And when he said that to me,
I was like,

"What am I gonna end up doing?"

Once I finally made it back
home my parents

weren't too happy.

- Wasn't doing much or
anything.

I think he worked up at the
corner gas station there

for a little while.

- I'm paid under the table
$5 an hour.

Right now here I am like
working at a gas station

midnights, so I'm like a
vampire up all night

sleeping like pretty much
all day.

I remember going to sleep
and just looking at the

ceiling of the basement and
just wondering, like,

"What am I gonna do
with my life?

What am I going to become?"

I didn't know what I was
gonna do, and I knew I

didn't wanna work in a gas
station, you know.

I was meant for something
more.

I start watching wrestling
again.

I thought, because my father
was a professional wrestler,

maybe there's this chance
that he could get

my foot in the door.

Was it because I was this
aspiring professional

wrestler and, you know, had
grown up with the wanting

to do this my whole life?

No, it wasn't.

It was because I didn't know
what the hell I was gonna do.

I went to my father and I
said, "Dad, what's up with

this pro wrestling thing?

You think I could maybe be a
part of it?

Do you have any old
numbers?"

That's when my dad made
the call.

- So I got a phone call from
Randy's dad, Bob Orton.

And Bob is-is like, "I have
a kid, you know, and he's a

pain in the ass,

but he really wants to be in
the business."

I was intrigued and I said,
you know,

"Bob, let me discuss it."

And went into Vince and
said, "Vince, there's a

third generation of Orton
out there

[chuckles]

that would like to come
in."

And he's like,
"You do what you think."

and said, "Yes, we'll-we'll
take a look at him, Bob."

- I took him to the show
here in St. Louis.

They met him and everything.

- I believe it was in
October of 1999.

I remember walking backstage
for the first time since

I was a little kid, and I
remember Edge came up

to my father and he told my dad
like, "Oh, man."

You know I'm-- I was a huge
fan, I am a huge fan, you

know, and hearing Edge- say
that to my dad was like so

cool on so many levels and
we still talk about that.

Like every once in a while,
it would come up.

And you were like up his in
a good sense.

[laughs]

- Like I was-- I-I was
like, "Oh, my God."

Like my dad.

- My dad.

- These guys could
talk to my dad.

[laughs]

- I went up to meet Bob and
tell him that I was a fan.

And he said,
"Whoa, meet my son."

With that gravelly voice
that he has.

And he says,
"This is my son, Randy."

I'm like, "Okay."

Big kid, good-looking kid.

Good to meet you, man.

And just had that intuition
that this was going to be more.

- I'll never forget him
wishing me luck and saying

that, you know, one day, you
know, he hopes to be

in the ring with me.

- I said, good luck,
I think.

You know, and-and, uh, I
have a feeling

we'll be seeing you soon.

- Got a call a call from
Bruce Pritchard himself and

he said, "Okay, we're gonna
start paying you

$250 a week.

That 250 a week was so that
I could demonstrate the

capacity to save some money
and then move down to

Louisville, Kentucky with
the money I had saved, get

an apartment, and begin
training with OVW.

I think it was May or June
of 2000, I finally drive

down there with everything I
own in the back trunk and I

show up at this big
warehouse.

I don't know if I've got the
right place.

It's just like old- like
World War II ammunitions

factory and it's just broken
down, just a one huge

grizzled, falling-apart
building.

I'm like, "Okay, lemme get
outta the car."

I'll give it a knock-knock
on it.

The one door I see that's on
hinges.

And who opens a door, but a
335-pound Dave Bautista.

- Randy shows up all
confused not knowing

where to go.

[laughs]

I think he might've been
like 20 years old

and he was a little chubby.

I didn't know what to make
of him.

- Dave is obviously a
larger-than-life guy and me

at 19, compared to a
30-year-old Dave Bautista,

at 19, compared to a
30-year-old Dave Bautista,

you know, not much of a
comparison and I immediately

knew I was in the right
spot.

And I also immediately was
wondering what the [bleep]

am I doing here?

When I first got down to
Louisville to report to OVW,

I realized I was down there
with some

really crazy athletes.

Of course, John Cena, Dave
Bautista, Shelton Benjamin,

Brock Lesner.

We were around a bunch of
great talent and I didn't

really know what I was
doing.

I was 19, a little soft
doughy.

I thought I'd got in over my
head.

- We knew he had the
genealogy.

He'd grown up around
wrestling,

but he was 19 years old.

He didn't look that great
physically.

So Randy had to get with
the program a while.

- Come on Randy.

- I didn't really feel like
I had much to offer other

than the fact that my dad,
and grandfather,

and uncle wrestle.

You know, the name
recognition is huge,

but then you gotta be able to
back that up.

- Randy Orton, a
third-generation superstar.

His father was Cowboy Bob
Orton Jr., his grandfather,

the legendary Bob Orton Sr.

- My first recollection of
meeting Randy was as a

person at practice at Ohio
Valley Wrestling.

I thought he was a [bleep]

Who didn't enjoy or like the

dedication to the business
of Sports Entertainment.

Really just wanted to
collect his pay

and get out the door.

- He didn't have the best
attitude.

We caught him one time on
tape in OVW.

He got overheard by the
announcer's microphones.

"I just-- I hate wrestling.

I'm just here to get my 750
a week."

- Needless to say, I was not
liked very much at first,

but uh, I knew I had to earn
that respect.

All the drills, I made sure
I was there for them.

I went from not being able
to throw a dropkick to

throwing the best dropkick
down there.

- Randy Orton man who's
come on over the last few

weeks, even quicker than we
ever thought they might.

- I remember asking WWE
headquarters to send me

tapes of Ricky Steamboat,
Arn Anderson, Pat Patterson.

Then you go watch these
greats of their era doing

what they do and you're able
to pick up little things.

The next year, year and a
half was a crash course in

Pro Wrestling 101.

- Randy Orton-

barely 20 years old.

He will be a force in this
industry.

- Yeah, he picked up on
things real quick.

He's got the look, he's got
the ability, so I wouldn't

be worried about him making
his way.

- I finally got to this
point where

I had this confidence.

And with that confidence
came this like kind of

arrogance and this cocky
nature.

I'm no punk kid.

As a matter of fact, I'm the
future of OVW.

- Randy was one of those
guys.

I think he knew he was
awesome.

He just oozed confidence and
he didn't give a [bleep]

- It's insane when you think
about the class of superstars

that were in OVW at that time.

Randy Orton, John Cena,
Brock Lesnar, Dave Bautista,

all desperate to get their
chance.

And it really speaks to
Randy's natural gifts that,

he was among the first
to get the opportunity.

- I received a call a couple
of days ago from the

Vice President of Talent
Relations of the World

Wrestling --, Jim
Ross, who informed me that

effective immediately, Randy
Orton will be starting a

full-time schedule on the
road with the World

Wrestling --.

- Getting called up to the
main roster was everything.

You know, I'll never forget
that call.

So now I'm on the road
full-time with the WWE, and

we're doing these house
shows, we're doing dark

matches before Raw, and
before SmackDown.

And a dark match for those
of you who don't know, it's

just a- it's a dark match
because it's not on TV.

It's just for the house.

And doing dark matches is
where I think I developed

the skills I needed for me
to eventually get the big

call from Jim Ross to Main
Roster Town.

Here.
Hold on, hold on, hold on.

That's pretty funny.

I debuted in these on
SmackDown in April of 2000

and-- Well, he-he-he just
shook his head, like.

- Gen 2.

- I don't know.

- I thought you were gonna
say like the month.

- You're like a walking
encyclopedia.

Don't front.

Yeah.

- Gen 2.

- Oh, you think?

Yeah.

You know.

April of 2002, I was told
that I was gonna actually

debut finally on SmackDown.

- You're a - You're Randy Orton.

- Yes, sir.

- He's getting a tryout
match tonight.

- I was ecstatic, but it was
also- it was frightening.

- I heard about Randy Orton.

His father was a great,
great wrestler, no doubt.

His grandfather too.

- Randy was this green but
talented kid coming up.

You didn't get that
impression just looking at

him right away.

But then you saw him work
and you knew like, okay,

yeah, I understand what
everyone's talking about.

- Oh, there's a drop kick
for you.

Look out, crossbody.

May have it, a hook of the leg.

- Cradle, he's got him.

- What an upset.

[laughs]

- This is a blue chipper.

This is someone that is
gonna be a huge star.

- Shortly after my debut, I
went from

SmackDown to Raw.

This was gonna be where I
began my momentum to become

whatever it is I was going
to become.

I'm wrestling Christian, and
I go to throw a dropkick.

And as I throw my hands in
the air, I dislocated my

right arm and tore my labrum
and my shoulder.

The adrenaline rush was so
high that the pain was

secondary and I had to
complete this match.

I just kept going, I
pushed through the pain.

I was thinking in my head
like it's over.

I'm just getting started,
I'm having a big injury this

early in my career.

Like, I'm done.

- Here is your winner, Randy
Orton.

- In 2002, I had my first
serious injury.

I tore my labrum, and I
ended up needing an open

Bankart repair on my right
shoulder.

They had to cut straight
through all the way to the

bone and fix everything.

It was horrible.

All this hard work, all this
potential, and it's gone.

But the company was
high on me.

- He was so new, and we had
just started with Randy

and-and felt that Randy
could be on a roll.

We didn't want to have to
reintroduce

Randy to the audience.

Let's continue to tell the
Randy Orton story, and

develop his personality
throughout.

- So then I came out,
my arm in a sling to inform the

world that I was gonna be
okay.

Now, the doctors tell me
that a normal person with

this injury, they'd be out
nine to twelve months.

But the fact of the matter
is, with my drive, with my

athleticism, with my
commitment to all these

people, I will be back in a
mere three to four months.

- And the crowd doesn't
give two [bleep]

[crowd singing]

- And I promise--

Thank you.
Thank you.

Please, thank you.

I wasn't smart enough to the
business in that moment to

realize that this was [bleep]
great.

- Randy would give us weekly
updates on how

he was progressing.

- Hi, Randy Orton here,
with another special

injury update.

I have great news to
announce.

My shoulder now has 32%
mobility.

That's up 2% from last week.

- And he gets a little more
irritating, a little more

annoying each and every
week.

- My shoulder sling has been
chafing me, leaving a

portion of my skin irritated
and susceptible

to infection.

- Randy is one of the
greatest [bleep] ever to walk

the face of the earth.

And I mean that as a
compliment.

He really is.

He had this natural cocky
arrogance about him, that

when he did that, then gave
the little smile at the end,

if you're sitting at home,
you're going, "What a [bleep]."

[chuckles]

You know.

- It was great [bleep] and it's
very funny to me that I

didn't realize how great it
was when it was happening.

It was cringe, it was corny,
it was some of the best [bleep]

I've ever done.

I had a recent injury.
It's devastating.

Keep me in your prayers.
Okay?

- And then not too long
after that, it was brought

to my attention that Triple
H had decided along with Ric

Flair, that they were gonna
start this group and they

were looking for some young
talent.

- You are constantly looking
at the things that are

around you in moments in
time, and we're getting to a

place where a lot of our top
guys were going away, and we

were starting at a little
bit of a new generation.

It started to really
resonate, you know, of well,

if we took a couple of young
guys, you know, maybe I

could put them with me and
Ric Flair and put us all

together as a group, made a
faction.

I can kind of anchor it.

He's kind of the mentor and
the guider, and I wanted

there to be a guy that was
sort of,

a Gazier apparent.

Ric and I were pretty much
of the same mindset of Randy

Orton, of being a guy just
with every single tool that

you could possibly have.

- You know, I-I think Randy,

I've always likened to The Rock.

He was just a natural.

The only question was,
how long is it going to take

before he just takes over
from everybody?

- It was insane to think
that I was gonna go from

where I was, to potentially
being in a group with the

best that had ever done it.

Only we need one more guy.

We need some muscle.

Who's it gonna be?

Of course, it was Dave
Bautista.

- Hey, hey, hey.

What's up man?

- What's up guys.

- Randy and I are very giddy
about the idea of us being

paired with him.

This would set us up with
two of the greatest

wrestlers that have ever
lived.

- Yes. Yes, we have arrived.

I don't know what they saw
in me, but I guess they saw

something and I'm so glad
they did, because if it

wasn't for Evolution,
if it wasn't for Triple H,

and if it wasn't for Ric Flair,
you know, I wouldn't be sitting

here right now.

To be able to pick their
brains and make myself

better, to be able to just
be in the car and

hear them talk.

That was such an experience
for me.

- He reminded me of myself.

He was just a young kid.

I said, "Randy, I don't know
if I can pull this off, but

I'm gonna live vicariously
through you."

- I remember doing these
Evolution shoots and they

were a lot of fun.

- Hold it.

- The helicopter, the food,
the models,

like it was the coolest.

Ric Flair pulling out his
wallet and tipped the

waitress $100.

You know, he tipped the
bartender $100.

He tipped everybody $100
bill.

And I remember thinking
like, that's cool.

You know?

That's where I wanna be.

- Where are we going Ric?

- Downtown, baby.

- You're now in a group, a
faction with the Nature Boy,

Ric Flair.

- We are the best of the
best, woo.

- When Evolution gets done
working,

they're out partying.

[cheering]

- And Randy Orton is
learning firsthand how you

style and profile from the
Nature Boy himself.

- But he was young and
impressionable, and you

could also see that if he
went down the wrong path he

could get screwed up very
easily.

- And even though I was
young, dumb, and didn't

really know everything I
needed to know to thrive in

the business at this point,
I think my natural talent

kind of thrust me into the
spotlight.

- I love you Randy.

- Because I was in
Evolution, it was imperative

that we create somewhat of a
character for me, right?

You needed to somehow give
me a nickname and a- and a

reason, uh, for being
around.

I needed more, I needed some
substance.

Randy Orton, Legend Killer.

- What?

Oh.

- Oh, my God.

I don't believe he just did
that.

- The Legend Killer
character, that came out of

Randy's, like, just natural
persona and his natural

arrogance dare I say.

The character can [bleep] all
over legends and great, you

know, Hall of Famers in the
past.

- And another legend bites
the dust.

- Becoming the Legend Killer
just helped elevate the

stock of Randy Orton.

- All these guys that I
killed the legend of, they

respected my father.

- I know your father real
well.

I have a lot of respect for
him.

- Guys like Harley Race, I
had enough mutual respect in

the relationship that Harley
would come in and allow

Cowboy Bob's son to spit
right in his face.

- Oh, God.

Randy Orton just spit in the
face of Harley Race.

- The Legend Killer gimmick
just took off and I would

say that with Mick Foley is
where all that culminated

into propelling me to the
next level.

- Well, I think I had a big
part to do with

the Legend Killer.

It was the loogie,
the magic loogie.

He spit in my face and then
he kicked me down that

flight of stairs.

I thought I could help Randy
take a really important step

up that ladder.

I had a meeting with Mr.
McMahon and I said,

"I've got an idea for Randy
Orton."

One of the things I remember
most about the Backlash

match was meeting up with
Randy the night before and

just seeing how wide his
eyes were like he realized

this was a huge moment.

It was a huge moment for
both of us.

- I was kind of the pretty
boy.

I was young and I needed
to add some validity

to the character.

I needed the fans to see me
get my hands dirty.

Add the fact that this was
back in an era where

there's gonna be blood.

There was a lot of blood.

- That was the key to make
fans feel like this despised

guy was finally overmatched
because the matcher played

to all my strengths and
shied away from what we

thought were his strengths.

And then we find out during
the course of that match

that he's got the strength
of character.

- We are witnessing a human
demolition derby.

- Can you believe the
endurance of this

Randy Orton?

- The match itself
was just crazy.

And then out comes the
burlap sack full the 10,000

thumbtacks.

I remember sprinkling those
thumbtacks on the ground and

just hearing that crowd I
knew that this was gonna be

special and I knew it was
gonna [bleep] hurt.

- I don't think anybody
thinks when Randy gets ready

for the RKO that he is
ending up in those glorious

majestic sharp thumbtacks.

And yet he did and it was
beautiful.

- How much pain can this kid
be in right now?

- So many of them sticking
to my back.

But I remember sitting up
and, um, just to get out of

them and like they're just
pushing into my ass.

I'm like a pin cushion.

I'm a [bleep] pin cushion.

And I get up out of these
things but still sticking in me.

And then he rolls me back to
my back and I'm like, aah.

So like that was even worse
than landing in them

in the first place.

- He is put to the test in a
way that changes people's

opinions about him
instantly.

He was a new guy with a
whole new perception about

what he was capable of.

- That did it,

- It's over.

- The Legend Killer lives.

- That win is what
jumpstarted me to where they

go, okay, this kid isn't a
kid anymore.

But I didn't have the
maturity.

These are pretty cool.

I think these are awesome.

And I solely feel like this
might be what puts you

through college.

Like who knows?

- Yeah, well, that was the
first big title, right?

- Yeah, this, uh-

- World Heavyweight Championship
SummerSlam.

- Yeah, these-these are
probably my most, uh,

precious pair of trunks-
That I got.

So in 2004 we're going in a
SummerSlam and everything

had been going so well for
me.

- Well, Randy Orton become
the youngest World

Heavyweight Champion in the
history of the WWE.

- One of the youngest most
charismatic WWE superstars

is gonna ascend to greatness
tonight.

And what a surreal moment.

- RKO out of nowhere.

Randy Orton has done it.

The youngest world champion
in history.

- This was the culmination
of all this hard work.

I knew that my father and my
grandfather would be

watching me and would be
proud of me.

I believe Stephanie McMahon
gave me her cell phone.

She's like, "Call your dad,
call your grandpa. Talk to him."

And I'm so glad that she
did.

My-my grandpa, he was only
around a few years after.

So just hearing his voice
and hearing how proud he was

of me, you know, that's a
conversation

I'll never forget.

- You know, dad was just,
uh, beaming

[laughs]

Come up that fast and, uh,
learn so much in such a

short period of time.

So proud.

- Same with my father.

I called him next.

You know, I never heard my
old man get choked up like

he's old school to the bone,
but he was choked up

on the phone that night.

So it was a special night.

It's hard to describe the
feeling, uh, the

responsibility, the amount
of awesomeness that comes

with holding that belt.

I had the title, but I
didn't have the maturity.

You know, I definitely was
not ready.

You know, I'm really just
sitting on top of the world.

I'm making a lot of money
for someone my age and you

know, I'm living the dream and
am a cocky son of a bitch

Yes.

It's a big money in our
pockets, baby.

- And it's like all of a
sudden, first you have nothing.

Now you have millions of
dollars in your bank account.

You have girls throwing
themselves at you, you have

people buying this for you,
buying that for you,

offering this and that you
have access

to whatever you want.

- There's a lot that can
blow your head up if you're

not careful.

- That's great
Thank you very much.

- Nice to meet you.

Yeah, sure, sure.

Yeah sweetie.

One second, one second.

You don't have to grab me.

Sorry.

- You're now the face of the
company.

You know-you know, go out
there and represent us.

Randy wasn't ready for that

[laughs]

- Hell no.

No, he was not ready because
it kinda went to his head at

first and that's when the
so-called self-proclaimed

[bleep] came out.

- I like your haircut.

[foreign language]

- Now-now tell him I'm just
kidding.

Ha ha

- He-he became a monster.

- I'm loved extremely
actually.

I found that out last night
in the hotel lobby.

Because I'm the best [bleep] boy

- I think he was ready to be
the world champion in the ring.

I don't think he was ready
to be world champion

outside the ring.

- I'm the- I'm the new big
man in town.

- Okay.

- Yes, tell your friends.

Seriously, go.

Seriously, go.

- I think sometimes it puts
an undue pressure on guys

when they're young.

You need them to be able to
act like they're 30 or 35

when they're 24.

- In retrospect, now I think
Randy, uh,

he wasn't mature enough.

He just wasn't ready.

He was still-

you know, he was-
he was a kid.

- I think even back then,
when I was 24 years old I

knew that I wasn't ready.

Not just because of the
experience that I hadn't had

yet at that point in my
career, but because,

you know, I was a little
immature.

I didn't understand what it
was to be the face of the WWE

I'm a baby face.

I'm a baby face.

Smile you little punk.

- When I arrived in WWE, um,
Randy's reputation

would-would be one that he
wasn't approachable.

And that was the reputation
that was the perception.

- Looking for attractive
people.

Slim pickings.

- You could call it
arrogance, cockiness.

Like he knew he was good.

He definitely knew he was
good.

- You know, he didn't give a
crap.

If he didn't like something
he'd let you know.

- My, uh, reaction at first
was that, uh,

I didn't want to do it.

But then I got here and
I got to, you know, the studio

looked around and still
didn't want to do it.

- Being famous and having
girls all over the world

scream for you.

- Go, Randy.

- That admiration is
addicting.

- You know, you get all that
fame and fortune and you're

that young, you're gonna
make some mistakes and he did.

- Everyone likes to party
and kind of have a good time

and then he take it one step
too far.

- You know, it's funny
talking about the stories

him throwing oatmeal in the
Cracker Barrel and puring

shitake mushrooms on people's
heads being 45 minutes late to

the bus every single morning,
you know, ripping a urinal

off right in front of me.

- There were times when on a
European tour, whatever, all

of a sudden he was gone.

Much like me back in the day
there'd be, you know,

security or police in the-
in the lobby about something.

- One time in Mexico he was
determined on finding dynamite.

There was a hotel that had a
big atrium-

And of course, like three
in the morning, I'm in bed

and just boom and the entire
hotel is shaking, I'm just

like, I know exactly what it
is but he got off on, Catch

Me If You Can a little bit.

- Being around the person
and his complete lack of

filter, and him saying what
he wants, when he wants, him

also doing what he wants
when he wants is a little scary.

- The one thing that worried
me the most is how Randy was

with the fans during that
time, he was very vicious.

The wrong fan approached him

That's all he needed.

- Don't do it please,
Randy be cool with them,

be cool with them.

- I let the fame get to my
head.

I let the vanity creep in, I
let the narcissism creep in

and I think that as a
performer, as an

entertainer, there's a
certain amount of both

that you need.

The best out there know how
to control it but I didn't.

Look at me.

Look at me.

Look at me.

Look at me.

Look at me.

- Hey, take easy

- Now say it again

Say it again.

I dare you to say it again.

- Shut up, you're being a
really big [bleep] this time

so just stop.

- I thought my [bleep] didn't
stink, plain and simple

and um it did.

I liked painkillers early on
and I attribute that to the

injuries I sustained in the
ring and back then, I was

given prescriptions of 120
Percocets maximum strength,

120 Vicodin maximum
strength, 120 Somas muscle

relaxers, I was enabled in
that sense because I had the

means and the doctors in the
back pocket.

I was able to kind of stave
off the consumption until

probably 2005 right around
WrestleMania 21.

I remember WrestleMania 21
It was Randy Orton versus

The undertaker and this is
probably the most important

match in my career up to
this point and

I had a packed weekend.

Saturday night, the day
before Wrestlemania was

the Hall of Fame.

The Friday prior to the Hall of
Fame, I decided to stay out all

night and party with some of
the guys.

I was out all night.

I was [bleep] up.

I didn't sleep.

And Saturday morning was
rehearsal

for the match on Sunday.

But, cause I was up all
night the night before, I

slept in through the alarm
and I missed the entire

Undertaker rehearsal.

You know, I had disappointed
a lot of men that morning.

- I was pissed.

I was extremely pissed and
disrespected.

But then again, I thought,
okay, tomorrow you're

gonna be wrestling.

You're gonna be wrestling
The Undertaker tomorrow.

Uh, I don't want nerves,
any more nerves than you're

already gonna have.

So I basically, I gave him a
pass on that.

- Talk about just feeling
like a low point, like

lowest of lows.

But it got lower.

It got lower because that
night I inducted my father

into the Hall of Fame.

- Here we go in three, two.

- Standing by, of course,
with Randy Orton,

the Legend Killer and dressed
like this.

You could be the lady
killer.

- Yeah.

You know, I was up, you
know, a few nights and get

too much sleep and I can't
wait to get up there and

tell whoever's in that
audience, whoever's in the

amphitheater, how proud I am
to be his son and have my

father Cowboy Bob Orton.

This was a son inducting his
father, while third

generation, you know,
grandfather

was in the audience.

My grandfather was-was in
this business.

Where are you at, grandpa?

Where are you at?

Come on now.

There he is.

My grandfather, Bob Orton
Sr.

I have no notes, no speech.

I went up there
and I winged it.

And it was probably less
than 90 seconds-

I'd like to thank the WWE.

Without the WWE none of this
could happen.

- I was out of it.

- I started going to the
wrestling matches with my

father when I was a very
young man.

[indistinct]

Andre the Giant

I go man this is for me

This is what I'm gonna do and
by golly-

- Personally, that was
probably one of my biggest

fails, was not giving my
father his proper due.

You know, his- you know,
what he deserved, uh,

that night.

And, um, you know,
that's-that's probably

my biggest regret.

Definitely my biggest
regret.

The more amount of time
that I get away from that

point in my life, the more I
realized that those men,

you know my father, especially
the Undertaker, they chose not

to make it a thing, they
chose to give me a pass.

You would think that after
being given a pass that I

would have come to my
senses, snapped the [bleep] out

of it and righted my wrongs,
but I didn't.

It's almost as if I took it
as if I was untouchable.

Fast forward a year later,
2006 still haven't learned

my lesson, I was having a
problem

with substance abuse.

I'm sure I was in pain, I
had the injuries, my foot,

my shoulder early on.

Yes, I was in pain but I let
these things get a hook into

me and I was addicted to
painkillers at a very early age.

I was getting hundreds and
hundreds of every type of

pill you could imagine and I
was taking them because I

thought I needed them.

I was using them to perform,
I was using them to go to

sleep, to wake up.

- Randy, he'd keep that to
himself, but the

painkillers, he needed them
and I think it got to the

point where even after he
didn't he felt like he did.

so I think there for a while he
was a little bit of trouble.

- These demons were taking
over at that time, you know

and it-it wasn't good.

- We get injured and got to
work through it, got to get up.

- We're all wired
differently and we all deal

with pressures differently.

It all comes out in
different ways.

- For Randy, everything came
easy, the thing that I

learned over time with him
is that he's a self-destructor.

If there was something that
could go wrong, Randy would

force it to go wrong.

You have every gift
imaginable to be the biggest

star this business has ever
seen and the only one that

can stop you is you and you
are hell bent on doing it

and I don't know why?

- There are a lot of people
that tried to reach out with

them and help him for
whatever reason,

you know, it didn't stick.

- I told him how important he
was, how good he was.

Why don't you see what you
have?

- There were times that
Randy needed to get his

head on straight.

Randy's worst opponent in
the history of his WWE

career was himself.

- He's legit, he got the
shortest of fuses, it's like

seeing a bomb, a human bomb,
and at any point could go off.

- He didn't take [bleep] from no
one, whether it was the

office or a fan or a guy who
was going to be working with.

- Stupid.

Stupid.

- There was a time that Rock
came in to work with Randy

and we did this whole thing
about

Little Rock and Little
Randy.

- The Rock remembers in the
locker room, you're all man

called The Rock over, "Hey,
Dwayne, I want you to meet

my son, there's Randy
Orton."

I remember that I remember
looking at you sitting there

picking the nose wiping it
on your shirt.

- I remember Randy being a
little pissrd in terms of well

that he made, he made me
look stupid, that was dumb,

why would I do that?

In hindsight, you'd love to
pull Randy aside and have this

conversation of like, "What's
the root of the issue here?"

and I don't think Randy had the
wherewithal to have that

conversation, I don't think
I did either.

- At that point in my
career, I'm still having a

problem with substance abuse
and there's many, many times

where I probably shouldn't
have woken up the following

morning and I don't say that
lightly, like I really mean it.

I'm sure that I was just a
couple of pills away from

that being my last night
you know, back then.

I was at a show in 2006 and
I believe it was close

enough away from my house
to where

I was able to drive home.

I wanted to make it home, I
didn't want to stop, get a

room, I wanted to sleep in
my own bed, so I made sure

that I was able to stay up
for the drive.

When I got home, I was wide
awake and took a couple

pills you know on an empty
stomach thinking it would help

me get some sleep and that
didn't work, took a couple

more pills, that didn't
work.

It just hit me all at once

and I woke up in the
emergency room.

I've had an accidental
overdose.

I've had an accidental
overdose and I kept it from

the company but word got
back you know.

Thinking about it, it
shouldn't have been I'm glad

it did but word got back to
the company.

So a few days later, I get a
call, "Hey, were you just in

an emergency room?"

I go, "Yes, this is what
happened.

Boom, boom, boom, but I'm
okay.

I'm okay. I'm Fine."

Well, Vince didn't think
I was.

I remember Vince McMahon
pulling me into his office

and telling me that I was
suspended for 60 days and I

remember being in such a
weird dark place like I beat

the [bleep] out of myself, but
he didn't know how to take

it at first, I'm banging my
head against the wall,

punching myself-
I'm just ashamed.

I'm embarrassed.

I'm at the lowest of lows.

I go to leave, Vince was
like, "No, no, no, no, no,

no, sit your ass down,
you're not gonna leave this

room like that.
Gather yourself."

I remember like sucking back
the tears, you know,

and I'm angry, you know.

You know, I've always been
an emotional guy where my

part of my sleeve, you know.

I'm not mad at anybody,
I'm mad at myself.

I'm mad at myself that I was so
[bleep] dumb to jeopardize all

these opportunities that
I've been given.

- Randy needs help and he
needs to go to rehab and he

needs to straighten his life
out if, again, you're, you

keep looking for the future
and at Randy's age, you nip

it in the bud and hopefully
that future's going to be

long and prosperous.

- I didn't necessarily act
out because I was an [bleep],

I acted out because I didn't
know who I was yet and that

I had been thrust into the
spotlight so early where I

hadn't led enough of life
and been schooled on what it

means to be a man yet but it
was a reality check.

I knew that I had to listen
to my boss and-and get the

help that I needed.

I was very close to being
fired.

He sent me to rehab and I
was given a 96-hour

assessment as to what my
problem was.

And after lying and turning
on the charm or whatever,

none of the doctors thought
that I had a problem with drugs.

Maybe they weren't good
doctors, but they did see

that I had, uh, some anger
management issues, that I

had some narcissistic
personality issues, that I

had problems with authority,
and so I did a three-week

stint which was for anger
management.

- So obviously, you know,
you hear about it and look

there were, um, yes, there
were times that I--

You know, you do what you can to
share your stories, people

tried to do it with me
as well.

Everybody has to travel that
road at their own course.

- Shawn was on that same
road.

Shawn was a young guy, had a
lot of success, had a lot of

demons, dealt with it in the
way that he did.

- But folks were ready.

- When I first met Shawn
Michaels,

we kind of butted
heads.

- And there was a couple
times where he had to,

you know, give me the what for
and tell me to stop [bleep] up.

Thank you, thank you.

- Everybody has periods of
growth and levels

where they evolve.

Like we used to ride
together for a little bit.

I got to know Randy for more
than the shell

of what you see.

But underneath is a human
being.

- You've got to have those
people that you know you can

turn to, you can lean on

whether it's advice,
whether it's just a vent,

my-my biggest concern was it
"Man, don't just, don't

throw this away, cause
you-you can be

one of the best at this."

And uh, there were some
years there where I wasn't

sure it was gonna happen.

- I remember a few times
where I wouldn't have been

able to get myself
to my room.

Edge was there.

And, you know, if he
wouldn't have been there,

and I would have been left,
you know, passed out in the

lobby, you know, who knows
where I would be right now.

It was a struggle.

And at the time I was riding
with uh, Santino.

- I'm pretty spiritual in
the sense, you know,

I just really grateful for them
for being alive.

And-and life and he got one
shot.

- One time, I remember
driving along the ocean, and

I had gotten my hands on
some painkillers, and I had

been clean a few months.

And I remember he made me
throw him out the window.

- Umaga, Test, Lance Cade,
this is our generation,

these guys all died.

They kind of makes you
think, "God, am I-am I

headed in that direction?"

These are your friends
dying, you have to, you

know, you gotta make some
changes.

- I didn't know what it was
gonna take to get me to

where I needed to be up
here.

You know, and physically, to
be able to not only keep my

job, but to keep my [bleep]
life.

And there was my little
girl, my uh, daughter from

my first
marriage, Alana

who in the summer of 2008
was born.

Just knowing she was on the
way gave me the strength to

do what I needed to do
because I didn't want to not

remember changing diapers
and then her first word and

watching her crawl and
eventually walk.

I wanted to be there for all
of that.

And if I was on painkillers,
I wouldn't have been able to

be there for all of that.

- Well guy now you got uh, a
little baby there you gotta

take care of, you gotta
watch her grow up, make sure

you don't make any mistakes.

So you gotta straighten up.

- That hits you in a way
that I think is the only

thing that gets you to that
point to where,

"I've got no excuses."

You know what I mean,
"From this point on, I've really

got no excuses.

Everything else it's gonna
be a cop-out.

Gonna be cowardly,
it's gonna be BS."

And the reality of it hits
you in the face.

And thankfully, it changes
you for the rest of your

life and you don't ever go
back.

- The whole locker room was
actually really taken by how

much he just opened up about
being a dad.

It's like he found this new
love that he's never

experienced before and it
was just so pure.

He-he was smitten.

- I wasn't using and I was
able to think with a clear

head, and I had been under
the tutelage of some of the

greatest performers in our
industry, and I realized

that to get ahead, I could
kind of be like these method

actors and almost pull from
real life experiences, and

that's exactly what I did.

- Randy makes the most out
of what he's given, and I

think that a lot of that has
been able to play on the

human being, overcoming his
demons, and being able to

take some of those journeys
that Randy's been on in his

life outside of the ring,
bring it into the ring and

adapt it and tell stories.

- I was able to use that
real life anger as a kind of

a catalyst to start this new
character, this Randy Orton

that just went off the
hinge.

- Whatever's going on with
him, whatever is being

stirred up.

Why not save it, for when
we're on the screen?

- Oh, here we go.

- Yeah, this is where things
change for Randy Orton.

- He just poured everything
out.

I mean, if that was Randy's
formula, I'm getting better.

Well, he nailed it.

- Orton is getting to that
place, that gear that only

Randy Orton has.

- Randy Orton seems
possessed.

- I think being in the ring,
it can easily be a catharsis

for all of us in many ways.

- In a way, that's almost
the healthiest thing is to

take your pain, take your
emotions, and just unleash

them onto the audience.

- If you accept that part of
yourself and you accept that

you're not perfect, that
we're all sinners, you start

picking through that [bleep].

There's a lot of things that
I can use for motivation.

I'm so grateful
that I was able to have the

guidance back then to be
able to find that I could

tap into that reality and
use that to better myself

in the room.

- History was made tonight
we have one champion, one

undisputed face of WWE.

Randy Orton is the WWE World
Heavyweight Champion.

- He had everything going
for him man

I mean like he had this
incredible life, big

mansion, superstar, but one
thing was missing.

- More times than not.

Like each week I can find
the time to come do

stuff like this.

There was so many years that
I missed birthdays and-and

holidays and things like
that, but now here I am, I'm

doing stuff that-that-that
other men, other husbands,

other fathers get to do.

And I've always been kind of
jealous of enjoying the best

of both worlds.

- My kids would let me know
when he was on TV.

They're like, "Mom, he's on,
mom."

And I would come running
inside and check him out.

I started watching and I was
like, "Ooh, wait a minute.

Mommy likes him."

I just thought he was cute.

I liked his tattoos.

And I used to tell everybody
for probably like two years

that if I ever met him, we
would make out and he would

fall in love with me.

I was convinced.

- When I first met my wife,
it was, uh, June 2nd, 2013.

We had a house show in
Poughkeepsie, New York.

- We got tickets and we were
like eighth row.

- I, of course, had no idea
who she was, but when I saw

her I was drawn to her.

- He keeps looking like our
way.

So when the match was over,
I run to the barricade and

he's walking out and he's
going to everybody else but

me, but he's looking at me
the whole time.

- I weasel my way towards
her, but I gotta

be cool about it, right?

And, uh,

[chuckles]

try to get to know her.

- Finally, he comes to me
and he goes,

"What's your name?"

And I'm like, "Kim."

And he's like, "Huh, I gotta
get to know all of this Kim."

- She met me later that
night.

We went to a diner and just
sat there and, you know,

in the wee hours in the
morning,

got to know each other.

- I thought like he was the
guy that he plays on TV.

So I was pleasantly
surprised that he was just a

romantic sweet person.

He like pushes my hair
behind my head and he-he

asked me, he's like, "Would
you mind if I kissed you?"

And of course, I kissed him.

- And the rest, is history.

- Yeah, it calmed him down
and he found love, you know,

true love.

And that's-that's a great
thing.

- Everyone would come to me
and go,

"Oh my God, thank you.

He's like a different person
since he's met you."

- I don't want to discredit
Randy, but I'm gonna go

ahead and say, I think Kim
is almost solely to blame

for him getting his life
together.

- I actually love this new
Randy that we get to see.

I remember when Kim got him
dancing and he had no idea

she was recording from the
inside of the house.

- We had both been married
prior and we had been

through the whole wedding
thing and preparing for the

wedding and- like we were
like, you know,

let's not do that [bleep] again.

Let's go to Vegas.

Let's do the drive-thru
marriage thing and let's

just make it official, right?

Well, months go by.

Next thing you know I'm
flying out 100 people to

Vegas for a wedding wedding.

I'm so glad we did it
because the kids were so

young then and to go look
back and see them walking

down the aisle holding
hands, it was beautiful.

I'm very blessed to have met
Kim and to get to share her

boys with her and call them
my own.

- So I had three boys he had
a girl but we were like, oh,

you know what, it would be
nice to have one of our own.

- When Brooklyn was born, it
was a pivotal point in my

life because I realized
like, well, the family is

the most important thing
that I have.

That has to be the first
priority.

- I knew he was gonna be
like the best dad to her.

- I remember it was Randy's
daughter's birthday.

And he says, can I ask you a
favor?

Could we get the guys to
sing Happy Birthday

to my daughter?

- Happy Birthday to you.

- I'm blessed to be where
I'm at and to have all these

people in my life that I
care about and that care

about me because I wouldn't
have thought when I was

younger that I would have
this many people

around me this close.

Like I wouldn't have thought
that I was worth it that I

would have mattered enough
to, you know,

have this much responsibility.

- If I helped him loosen up
a little bit, then wonderful.

But, you know, they're just
getting to see

the guy I love.

- My family has
reinvigorated my love for

being out in that ring.

All that is so worth it in
the grand scheme of things.

- He says to me, I love when
you're sitting in the- in

the front row because I put
a little extra into it.

I show off for you.

- Before I wrestled Bray
Wyatt at WrestleMania we

went to the stadium and it
was just me, Kim and the

kids and we had the ring to
ourself.

They are definitely getting
used to the fact that they

get special treatment at
these wrestling events and

that means a lot to me.

- He wants the best for
everyone around him.

If it's his wrestling fans
when he's working

he wants them happy.

And when he's home,
he wants us happy.

As long as the people around
him are happy I think he's good.

- Shoot, I think he's done a
heck of a job with his life and

he's become a man there's no
doubt about that.

- 20 years flew by in a
flash.

It's been a hell of a
journey, a lot of ups,

a lot of downs.

- It's amazing.

If you really think about
all the stories you'll hear

about Randy throughout
people telling his journey

about who he was to end up
getting to where he is now.

The path we take to avoid
our destiny is often the one

that leads us directly
to it.

I think Randy senses, he is
now in a position where he

can leave the industry
better than he found it.

- I'd say paying it forward,
giving back to the business

is helping out the guys that
need the help.

When I was coming up,
Undertaker, Shawn Michaels,

Triple H, Ric Flair, all
these guys, they made sure

to instill in me as many
good habits as they could.

Here I am 20 years later and
a lot of things

come full circle.

- Thank you,

- Thank you

- Thank you.

- He's really taken on the
responsibility of helping

out the younger generation.

- For an individual who has

been so adamantly against
rules and structure and

management, the irony is
that he's become

such a great leader.

- He knows it's his time to
help get that next

generation ready to be a
next Randy Orton.

- Yeah, he's a locker room
leader now.

He-he didn't have to be
either, but he took on that

role because he cares about
this business and he doesn't

get the credit,
he'll never get the credit until

now hopefully.

- My wife's like, are you
getting matching gear?

- I think it matches.

- It works, yeah.

If we came out and I was
wearing pink and blue and

green, that would be too
much, I feel like this works.

- Yeah.

I love it.

I'm just glad you're wearing
snakes skin, that's amazing.

I'm very happy about it.

- This is real team stuff.

- We're a team.

- Know that you just went
above and beyond, Randy,

you already-you already know,
you make me so happy.

- When I first met Randy,
you know, I thought he was

cool, you know, laid back
kinda guy kinda like me.

Some people liked him a lot,
some people kinda kept their

distance, but, uh, you, he
was-he was Randy.

- Just passing, bro.

- I remember meeting Matt
Riddle and I'm like,

what's up, you know.

And that son of a bitch
just looked at me and kept

going and I was like, what
the [bleep], where am I?

- I guess I should have said
hi to Randy and I didn't go

up and shake his hand and I
kinda just gave

him like a nod you know.

because I thought he was busy

and I was kind of busy and Randy
took that as disrespect.

A while ago he was like,
"Yeah, when you did that, I

was like, "How can I get
this guy fired?"

"And I was like, "Oh, Randy,
that's pretty harsh, bro."

- Whatever.

Matt Riddle.

Then I hear, "Hey, we're
thinking about starting a

tag team with you two."

I was not too happy
about it.

- Randy didn't want to have
anything to do with Riddle

in the beginning.

And then once Randy got
around, Matt started talking

to him and they became
friends.

It was just synergy.

- Does that mean you like
me?

- No.

- Oh, Randy.

- I slowly begin to realize,
like, this is like one of

the most likable human
beings on earth.

- This bond is clearly
getting stronger between

Randy Orton and Riddle.

- We actually have quite a
bit in common.

- We've been through a lot
of the same things

throughout our lives.

I was in the WWE from my
20s, but I was in the UFC

from my early 20s.

So just having two lives
that are kind of always been

in the spotlight.

And, uh, just dealing with,
you know, divorces, the

road, wear and tear
on your body.

I feel like Randy- Randy was
like my therapist on the road.

I think that's what really
brought us together.

- RKO.

And we have new champions.

- Yeah, Riddle and I, we
clicked.

And the matches we were
having, it was great.

It was great because I was
starting to suffer from just

the wear and tear of decade
upon decade of being

in this industry.

My, uh, lower back was
giving me a lot of trouble.

I was able to wrestle
because Matt Riddle was out

there taking all the
punishment, and I would just

tag in to the end of tag
match, and I'd come in, do a

couple things, show 'em some
Randy Orton, you know,

character, hit an RKO,
maybe.

- That last year- year and
a half, that I was able to

continue to work with my
injury was because of Riddle.

So I- I owe him big time.

[background conversation]

- What I have to do is just
be careful.

So I really-- So I just keep
an eye on him.

You just kind of don't know.

Like I want to be around him
in 10 years.

- It's tough because we know
that our business

is very dangerous.

We put our bodies on the
line each and every time we

go out there, and sometimes
over time injuries happen

and they get worse and worse
and worse.

- I knew he was hurt.

I knew he was going
through a lot.

I knew he was getting shots and
just doing everything

to get by every day.

It wasn't a overnight thing.

- With Randy Orton's injury,
when you get to the back and

the neck, that's when it
starts getting, oh, I need

to start thinking about my
health and me being able to

play with my children.

And you know, you start
thinking, okay,

how can I do this?

- I had a couple top notch
neurosurgeons tell me,

- I had a couple top notch
neurosurgeons tell me,

hang up the boots.

Comfort for the rest
of your life.

Being able to play with your
grandkids.

That's what you need to be
worrying about right now.

Not performing for the WWE.

And that was a--
that was tough.

That was tough to hear.

I've been in a lot of pain
and it's hard to bitch and

moan when you're in a locker
room full of big, bad, tough

SOBs that are in pain.

It's hard to complain to
them about the pain you're

in cause everybody's
in pain.

So it's funny with the guys
in the back, and this

is-this is more like old
school terminology.

You'll hear Flair and guys
like that, talk about

the bump card.

You know, you only got so
many bumps

on your bump card.

Every bump in that ring, it
takes a little something

outta you physically.

The very first time I
remember my back giving me

an issue was around 2010.

I had a match with Wade
Barrett and I RKO'd

Barrett on the top of a car.

The middle of that roof
gave, but the exterior, the

sides of that roof didn't.

So my hips fell into the
roof, but there was part of

that roof that didn't give
and it just caused some pain

in my lower back.

And from that point on, you
know, for the next 10 years

I was in pain and it got
worse and worse and worse to

the point where those,
that last year with Riddle,

I was doing everything that I
could to walk out there and

not wince with every step I
took.

- Randy was having tons and
tons of back pain.

But the concerning part was
he was also starting to have

some low extremity symptoms.

Symptoms, numbness,
tingling, pain, weakness.

He was having difficulty
standing and just

experiencing, you know,
daily life activities

at this point.

So that's why he ended up
coming to us.

This is an MRI and this is
his lumbar spine.

He's facing this way here.

Here's his tailbone.

If you look at the amount of
fluid here, that's very

different than when you get
down here and you can see

the slippage as well.

You can see this bone is
forward on top of this bone.

So he has what we call
stenosis.

So Randy was walking around
on an unstable spine.

There's no guarantees here.

There's no guarantees that

this fuses up nicely and
everything goes wonderfully,

and that Randy gets back
into the ring.

Obviously, as you can see
here, these are the implants

that we put in.

Most importantly, though,
is how you're doing.

- I feel fantastic.

I feel fantastic.

I-I don't think- I don't
think most people understand

that for the past 10 or 12
years, I've been walking

around in pain.

I've been, uh, performing in
the ring in pain.

Um, only the other guy that
I'd be in the ring with

would-would have any idea
that I was hurting.

It was hard.

And, um-- which is so much
more than just me

and my spine.

It's me, it's my life.

I'm so happy that I've got
my life back with my family

at home, rolling around the
living room floor

with my kids.

You know, playing with the
dogs in the backyard.

You know, like I'm able to
do all that stuff, no joke,

without being in pain.

So, as far as like, you
know, whether or not I'm

gonna be able to wrestle
again.

I ain't even worried about
that.

I'm enjoying life right now
for the first time in a long

time, pain-free.

So the wrestling, putting a
hold on, and I'm just

enjoying life right now.

And that's mostly thanks to
Dr. Kanter and his team here.

- I do think that if
nothing else, he'd want to

get back for one, just to be
able to-to close it.

Because, speaking from
experience, when you can't

close it rattles around
in there.

Just it-it stays with you.

- The legacy of Randy Orton
is really simple.

He's a performer who stood
the test of time and

deserves to be in the
discussion for the greatest

wrestler of his generation.

- Randy Orton has been a top
star for 20 years.

- He's like the ultimate
wrestler.

I mean, he's perfect.

You know his look, his size,
his work, his timing,

his interviews, everything's
perfect.

- Third generation
superstar.

The man has every gift that
a man can be given.

- I don't know how many
legacies come in and far

exceed the one before them.

I mean that, no disrespect
to his father, but Randy, in

a short amount of time,
stepped out of that shadow.

Everything.

He just created something
all himself.

And the fact that Orton was
his last name just happened

to be a happy coincidence.

- All the potential in the
world was always within

Randy Orton.

- Randy Orton is the coal
that will be squeezed into

the next diamond.

- His legacy is that of
being one of the brightest

diamonds ever in Sports
Entertainment.

And it was a hell of a
battle to get there.

- To know where he was and
where he came from and

fought his demons and come
back better and stronger, I

think that says a lot about
who Randy Orton is.

- A justifiable standing
ovation.

- He deserves and earned and
commands respect from

everybody whether it's the
crew, the fans and the

superstars as a first ballot
Hall of Famer and one of the

greatest to ever step foot
in a WWE ring.

[crowd chants "RKO"]

- You know as my, as my
career goes on and I think

about the legacy that I will
leave one day eventually you

know, I don't know quite
yet.

I still got a couple years
to go but as far as like

what I want my peers to say
about me is that you know,

I was a hell of a hand.

That's all I need to be
happy is knowing that the

guys in the locker room
respected me and considered

me one of the best to ever
lace up a pair of boots.

That being said this is like
the first time in two

decades where I have been
able to stop

and smell the roses.

And I was able to be a
father.

I was able to be a husband
and I was able

to be a son as well.

[laughter]

My dad and I have gotten
even more close.

We were actually able to
have that catch

[laughs]

that we never really seemed
to get to have

back when I was a kid.

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