Randy Orton Plans To Be Done With Wrestling When He’s 50

In an interview with The Ringer Wrestling Show (via Fightful), Randy Orton said that he believes he’ll be done wrestling by the time he turns fifty years old. This lines up with what Orton said in a separate interview, that he thinks he has another ten years left in the business.

He said: “I’m 41, by the time I’m 50, I think I’m done,” Orton said on the Ringer Wrestling show. “I’ll do auditions every once in awhile, but I almost only do them because my wife says, ‘do them because what if you don’t and then you’ll wonder what if you did.’ I do auditions here and there, crossing my fingers that I don’t get a callback because I love what I do. I don’t want to stop and I don’t want to have to stop because of my body. I’ve taken it upon myself to make sure I do everything I can upon the daily to where physically I’m able to continue. If it’s up to me, and I knew physically it wouldn’t be a problem, I’d say I’d wrestle until I’m 50 and I would go out and have that last match when I’m 50 and be able to say I did it on my own terms. That’s nine years from now. I don’t see an end to my career anytime soon, I’d like to continue to go.”

He also spoke about his schedule, noting that while it may be more limited, he still wants to be active. He added: “That sought after ‘WrestleMania, get the summer off, come back for SummerSlam, disappear until Survivor Series,’ I think Shawn Michaels was doing that, Undertaker was doing that for a while. I don’t want to do that. I think that burns you out. Wrestling once a week for me would be ideal. That’s kind of where I’m at right now, schedule-wise, I don’t think anyone knows this and I don’t care if they do, I’m maybe one of the only guys who has an amount of dates that I’m contractually obligated to do and that’s 80, 80 shows a year. Sounds like a lot, but after you do one TV a week, one pay-per-view a month, you’re left with 15 to 20 live events. Those are the Saudi Arabias, European tours, Madison Square Garden live events. With me wrestling once a week, I’m able to kind of keep the joints lubed and feel like I’m in shape enough to continue to do it. If I take a bad bump and hurt my neck, I’ll take a week off. That’s what’s going to make me be able to wrestle until I’m 50. I’ll take the week off. You have a lot of guys who will wrestle through these injuries. That’s how it used to have to be. You weren’t paid if you weren’t working. If you didn’t show up to that Garden show, you weren’t getting paid. The pay structure has changed to where, I’m getting paid no matter what. I’m going to do whatever shows they want me to do and I’m going to do them to the best of my ability, but there are 80 of them. If I keep that number 80 or less and if that number goes down maybe a few every year, I’m good. I don’t want to have two shows a year because that’s when you do a moonsault off the top rope to the floor and two 30-year veterans don’t catch you and you almost break your neck. wink wink.“