Randy Orton reportedly set to retire from WWE in-ring competition?

For a long time, we haven’t seen the 14-Time WWE World Heavyweight Champion on WWE TV due to an injury. Now, it appears that his injury is more troublesome than originally presumed and it could eventually end his wrestling career.

The possibility of Randy Orton retiring from action arose after his father, WWE Hall of Famer “Cowboy” Bob Orton appeared in a new interview with Bill Apter and revealed that doctors have advised Randy to retire to be in good health.

“He’s training, so we’ll see what happens. I don’t know. If he feels like he’s ready to go back, I think he might, but again he’s pretty well taken care of,” Bob said.

“I don’t think he need to. And I think the doctors have told him not to. But Randy will do what Randy wants to do.”

Bob further added that his son is determined to make a comeback to the WWE, no matter what since he just loves the business so much and it’s hard for him to leave in a quiet way.

It was during the spring of 2022 that Randy Orton was last seen on TV before going into a hiatus, owing to a back injury. From a storyline perspective, he was sidelined after a vicious kayfabe assault by Roman Reigns.

Down the road, Orton underwent a lower back fusion surgery, which canceled the original plan for the SummerSlam 2022 main event – Roman Reigns (c) vs. Randy Orton for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.

The surgery reportedly appeared to be a permanent solution to Orton’s back problems but it also ensured that he would be out of action for a longer time span. The possibility of his return around WrestleMania 39 was also wiped out.

Last month, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that Randy Orton is nowhere close to returning to in-ring action as WWE was yet to medically clear him for in-ring competition. There’s still no update on whether he’s started taking bumps in the ring.

For the time being, Randy Orton’s last match went down on the May 20, 2022 episode of SmackDown, where he and Matt Riddle – Team RK-Bro lost the Raw Tag Team Titles to then-SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos.