Randy Orton Discusses How He Changed From Being An 'A**hole'

During a recent interview with The Ringer Wrestling Show, WWE Superstar Randy Orton revealed that he had COVID-19 this past June.

He also discussed his change personality since he first joined WWE, when he had somewhat of a bad reputation for some of the antics he pulled.

On having COVID-19:

“In June, I got Covid. I missed seven weeks of TV because my blood inflammation levels were so high that they were worried that it was going to turn into a mild cardease or echo cardease or something with the heart. I lost 20 pounds during Covid. I had it so bad. I was stick skinny, stick thin. I had a chance to rebuild. I’m either going to do it this way or I’m going to do it that way. I cut the alcohol. I cut the sugar. I started training a little harder. I started seeing another physical therapist for some issues with my shoulder and my back because we’re always staying up on those injuries. Here we are six months later and I think I’m feeling the best that I’ve felt physically since I can remember to be honest with you.”

On his change in personality:

“You learn from your mistakes. Hearing stories. Every once in a while there will be a cameraman or a lighting guy that has been with us as long as I have with the company, and they will be like, ‘Remember that time, I think it was ‘05 when you did blah, blah, blah?’, and they’ll proceed to tell a story in front of a group of people that paints me in the worst light. It’s embarrassing. It’s like, man, I was an a**hole. I think being a father changed me. I think my wife really had a lot to do with opening my eyes, but it’s been a group effort. I’ve been lucky to be around a lot of talent backstage that not necessarily mentored me, but I learned a lot from John Cena, to be honest with you. I learned a lot from Edge just in this last go around. Being a father, being a professional wrestler and traveling, the temptations, what you’re putting your body through, all the stuff that can really add up, I was lucky to have some great men in the locker room that I can see how they went about life and see how they were with their kids. I got to see Shawn Michaels who on all accounts, was a complete a**hole. When I met him, I even thought he was a pr*ck. I saw the change. I heard the stories. The same thing kind of happened to me. It’s part of the journey. I think my legacy is the longevity and being able to be one of those guys that got to wrestle everybody and got to see a generation come in, and then see another generation come in. Having the newer mindset accepting that I’m happy, that’s it’s ok to be happy, I think that’s helped me overall as a human being more so than a performer. If anything, I’m able to have more fun in the ring now because I don’t take everything else so seriously.”