Randy Orton is going to WrestleMania! Rey Mysterio’s favorite wrestler just won his second Royal Rumble and the right to challenge probably-not-John-Cena at the biggest show of the year, and we’re suddenly reminded that, thanks to injury and storyline, it’s been a good couple of years since the guy was in the title picture in a serious capacity.
ESPN interviewed Orton after his Rumble win, and one of his answers was extremely interesting. When asked if he had been hoping to win the Rumble, Orton gave a very interesting answer explaining how you can’t hope for anything in WWE, and that if you start getting a big head in the locker room, you’ll quickly be shown the door.
“Very little is up to me and hope isn’t worth anything, as far as I’m concerned,” Orton said. “Whether I’m given a match with X, Y or Z, or winning the Rumble or out first, it doesn’t matter. You are going to give your all. I think our locker room, everyone gives it their all. We are all working together to put on the best show you can.
“When you start hoping too much, you start believing your own hype, and the next thing you know, you can’t do that here or you’ll get buried and get kicked out of the door. You can’t change in the locker room if you are one of those guys. The attitude has to be on point here.”
First of all, I feel like we must point out that how much Orton has changed since his early days in the company. Over the course of his first, oh, several years in WWE, he developed a deep reputation as a mean-spirited and entitled prankster. Lately, however, he’s been much more humble in interviews and in anecdotes, and is a real locker room leader. (Even if he is still a jerk on Twitter sometimes, but have you ever BEEN on Twitter? I don’t blame the guy.)
I know that these remarks might seem to be at odds with the ongoing backstage narrative that Vince McMahon wants people to step up and “grab the brass ring,” but there’s a difference between being motivated to be the best and sitting around complaining to the rest of the “boys in the back” that you deserve stuff because you’re already the best.
Orton has been accused of being a jerk in the past, but he’s rarely if ever been accused of politicking. Maybe that’s because he’s never had to, as he was seen as a can’t-miss golden boy from day one and his status as a main eventer hasn’t been threatened in the last decade or so. All I’m saying is, Randy Orton is the guy saying not to get too cocky and give it your all, regardless what’s asked of you. We may be in bizarro world, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t good advice.
