Randy Orton continues to make the media rounds as the road to WrestleMania 38 continues to wind down.
Ahead of "The Most Stupendous Two-Night WrestleMania in History," Orton appeared as a guest on The Pat McAfee Show for an in-depth interview covering all things pro wrestling.
During his appearance on the popular program, "The Viper" spoke about the finer-points of selling during matches and how NXT talents don't have a good grasp on this concept, as well as
On the finer-points of selling during matches and how NXT talents don't have a good grasp on this concept: “There’s an art to what we do, and a lot of guys have lost that art. Now instead of selling a punch, because you need to sell a punch, now I’m protecting myself because I don’t want to get my fucking jaw broken. That’s unfortunate, but the art to professional wrestling, like when Vince was on [the Pat McAfee Show] he talked about your number one priority above all being protecting your opponent, that’s not taught necessarily in NXT. I know that because I’ve been in the ring with guys that came from NXT and they don’t know what the f*ck they’re doing. It’s unfortunate but I think that is just kind of how things are changing.”
On adapting his style in the ring to extend his in-ring career in WWE: “I got injured very early in my career several times, boom, boom, boom. I had to figure out if I’m going to do this for a long time, if I’m gonna have any kind of longevity, I got to figure out how to do that. That’s what I’ve done. I’ve toned back the physicality to the point where I know what I’m capable of, I know what my body’s capable of, but I also know what I need to do out there in order to get a reaction and I don’t need to break my back. Back in the day with 220 shows a year, you can’t physically survive decades in this industry if you’re killing yourself every night.”
Check out the complete interview below, or by visiting YouTube.com. H/T to WrestlingInc.com for transcribing the above quotes.
