Rob Conway says Randy Orton’s version of their first meeting isn’t how he remembers things, although he can understand why Orton enjoys telling the story.
Speaking with Chris Van Vliet on Insight, Conway addressed Orton’s claim that the pair first met at a gym shortly after Orton signed with WWE. According to Orton’s version, he extended his hand to Conway, only for Conway to look him up and down and walk straight past him.
Conway insists that didn’t happen.
“We were at a gym, and me and him are still good friends, but he claims that the first time I met him, that I walked in the gym, they said, this is Randy Orton, he just got signed. He stuck his hand out, and I looked him up and down, and walked right by him,” Conway said. “That would have never happened. That sounds like something he would do, but I don’t know how that came up.”
Conway added that ignoring someone’s attempt at a handshake simply isn’t something he could imagine himself doing.
“I can’t imagine me in this lifetime not reaching out and shaking somebody’s hand,” Conway said.
While Conway disputes Orton’s story about their introduction, he does have vivid memories of working with a young Orton during the early stages of his career.
Despite immediately recognizing Orton’s natural ability, Conway recalled that his conditioning needed significant improvement.
“When I first wrestled him, he’s a natural, but he was not in the best shape. When I wrestled him, he was so tired that I was basically having to pick him up to clothesline myself,” Conway said. “The office kind of got on him, and I think the next day, I saw him on the stair climber at the gym, and then within a month he was in fantastic cardio shape.”
Conway and Orton wrestled on the June 22, 2002 episode of Velocity, with Orton picking up the victory following a crossbody from the top rope.
By that point, Conway was already an established presence in Ohio Valley Wrestling. He began working for OVW in 1997 under Danny Davis and was among the more experienced wrestlers there when future WWE stars including Orton, John Cena, Brock Lesnar and Batista arrived as developmental talent.
Conway eventually joined WWE’s main roster in 2003 as part of La Resistance. He went on to become a three-time World Tag Team Champion alongside Sylvain Grenier before being released in May 2007.
His post-WWE career included considerable success in the NWA, where Conway became a two-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion and four-time NWA World Tag Team Champion. He also competed for New Japan Pro Wrestling and held the OVW Heavyweight Championship three times.
Despite their differing memories of their first encounter, Conway and Orton remained friends. Orton later helped arrange a guest coaching opportunity for Conway at the WWE Performance Center in 2018 after asking what he wanted to do once his own in-ring career began winding down.
More than two decades after Conway remembers an inexperienced Orton struggling with his conditioning, “The Viper” remains near the top of WWE, most recently defeating Cody Rhodes at Sunday Night’s Main Event in Atlanta.
