WWE legend “The Viper,” Randy Orton, spoke with Ultimatekiko at Culture Kings in Las Vegas, Nevada, about various topics.
He shared insights on how many legends and Hall of Famers respected his father, “Cowboy” Bob Orton. Additionally, he discussed how WWE Hall of Famer JBL offered him protection early in his career.
Orton said, “Guys like JBL, Arn Anderson, Dean Malenko, Jack Lanza, Tony Garea; they’re in the locker room when I debuted. And they knew my father and respected my father and would say, you know, he was a wrestler’s wrestler and and had all the respect of the boys in the back. And the fact that they had such high regard for my dad, that helped me even more because they made sure to take care of me. The horror stories you hear of JBL f***ing with the new guys; he didn’t mess with me like that because of my dad. JBL’s very first overseas tour of Japan on the indies was with my father, and my father took care of him for the 3 months they were over there. So when JBL was able to take care of me, he returned the favor. So, if anything, there wasn’t a shadow that I had to to bust out of or live in. It was more like it it it helped me get my foot in the door, and it helped me earn the respect quicker from my peers, and the men and and women that I was learning from.”
You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
