Randy Orton Says His RKO Finisher is Starting to Take a Toll on His Body
Randy Orton has been synonymous with his RKO finisher for nearly two decades. But, as the 14-time world champion admitted in an interview with FOX 2 Now in St Louis while promoting the 2022 Royal Rumble, the move is starting to take a physical toll on his body. "The Viper" explained, "I've been doing it for a very long time and I kind of wish I could go back in time and create a finishing move that didn't entail me jumping up as high as I can and landing on my back. After doing that a couple of thousand times over the last few decades, I'm starting to feel it."
Orton has spent nearly half a year in a storyline with Riddle as the pair have formed the unlikely alliance of RK-Bro. The two won the Raw Tag Team Championships at SummerSlam and only recently dropped them to Alpha Academy. Riddle told TalkSport last year that it was Orton who came up with the idea to form a tag team.
"He was like 'Hey, this RKBro thing you mentioned, it actually sounds pretty cool,'" Riddle said. "And I was like [speechless expression]. Nobody else thought it was cool, the only people who really thought it was cool was Randy and me. So then we pitched it and I don't think it was supposed to have legs or last that long, but kind of like with me and Pete Dunne as the Broserweights, people saw our chemistry together in backstage segments, they know we can both go in the ring for days and here we are."
"Vince [McMahon] loves it," he added. "Bruce [Prichard] loves it. Everybody at the office loves it. The boys love it. They love it so much, they're starting to hate it [laughs]. That's how much they love it. ... It was a team that nobody knew they wanted and now they need it."
Check out the updated lineup for the Royal Rumble below! This year's event will take place at The Dome at America's Center in St. Louis on Jan. 29.
- WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins
- WWE Championship: Brock Lesnar vs. Bobby Lashley
- Raw Women's Championship: Becky Lynch vs. Doudrop
- Edge & Beth Phoenix vs. The Miz & Maryse
- Men's Royal Rumble (Johnny Knoxville, Big E, AJ Styles, Angelo Dawkins, Montez Ford, Rey Mysterio, Dominik Mysterio, Austin Theory, Sheamus, Damian Priest, Happy Corbin, Madcap Moss, Sami Zayn, Kofi Kingston, Kevin Owens, TBA)
- Women's Royal Rumble (Charlotte Flair, Mickie James, Rhea Ripley, Nikki A.S.H., Dana Brooke, Carmella, Queen Zelina, Shotzi, Natalya, Aliyah, Naomi, Shayna Baszler, Nikki Bella, Brie Bella, Lita, Michelle McCool, Kelly Kelly, Summer Rae, Bianca Belair, Liv Morgan,TBA)