During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, broadcast live from the NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, WWE Superstar Randy Orton discussed a variety of topics regarding his 26-year career. Orton touched on his upcoming match at the Elimination Chamber PLE, almost changing his iconic entrance music, and his willingness to mentor younger talent.
Orton revealed that while recovering from his spinal fusion surgery, he strongly considered changing his entrance theme, “Voices” by Rev Theory, before the fans in France changed his mind. He contrasted his theme with the energy of NXT Champion Trick Williams’ entrance.
“Trick Williams, his entrance music, I can’t help, and now I can’t dance, I have no business dancing… but when his s**t plays, I can’t help myself. My blood starts pumping. My music never really did it for me,” Orton stated. “So when I was coming back from my fusion that I had a few years ago, I was talking to Neil Lawry, thinking about changing the music… And then I came back and it was like, man, I’ve had it forever, the fans like it, and then all of a sudden we’re in Lyon, and they start singing it. And then the next week they start singing it. And then we come back across the pond back to the states, they start singing it. And I’m like, okay, this is my music.”
Having started in WWE’s developmental system in 2000, Orton detailed how he had to completely alter his in-ring style early in his career to ensure he could physically survive the demanding schedule.
“I had injuries early on, I blew both my shoulders out before I was 25. I had major surgeries, and I had to kind of go back to ground zero and realize, if I want to do this for any length of time, have any longevity, and I love this business, so that’s all I want to do, right? I got to figure out how that I can get longevity out of the sport,” Orton explained. “I kind of honed my craft to where… people, they’re looking to do the fancy moves, it’s not the move being fancy, it’s me that’s doing the move that makes it fancy, baby.”
Orton also discussed his role as a veteran leader in the WWE locker room. He admitted that he was fiercely protective of his spot earlier in his career but has since embraced mentoring the next generation, specifically praising his Elimination Chamber opponent, Je’Von Evans.
“I get some fulfillment in helping the younger guys… I don’t want anybody to take my spot. And then I kind of got to the point where I realized that’s not possible. They can’t take my spot,” Orton said. “You get the occasional kid that’ll come up like, ‘Hey, will you watch my match?’ You watch it, you talk to him, he doesn’t change anything or take any advice. And you realize, ‘Oh, okay, you piece of s**t, you’re just doing what you think you should do.’ But then there’s the guys that really care. And like a Je’Von Evans or a Trick Williams… He’s doing so many things that nobody else can do. And he just doesn’t need to do them all every night.”
Outside of the ring, Orton spoke about how he decompresses from the stress of traveling by playing video games, noting he is currently playing Elden Ring. He also gave a timeline for how much longer he hopes to continue wrestling.
“I love video games. My poor wife… ‘I’m gonna go down to the media room and, you know, see you in three hours.’ But Elden Ring, the one I’m playing right now… it’s like watching a movie, you immerse yourself in it, you have fun, and it’s a way for me to decompress,” Orton said. “I’m 46 in a couple of months, and I can’t do this forever. I’ve been doing it 26 years. If I could do it another decade, I will. The work rate, the way that I wrestle, maybe I could pull that out. But I know that time’s coming. So I don’t know how many more Chambers I got. I don’t know how many more WrestleManias I got. I think this will be my 21st WrestleMania coming up… I just want to keep stacking them up, man.”
Orton is scheduled to compete in the Men’s Elimination Chamber match this Saturday at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. The winner of the match will earn the right to challenge Undisputed WWE Champion Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania 42.
Current WWE Elimination Chamber 2026 Card:
- World Heavyweight Championship: CM Punk (c) vs. Finn Balor
- WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship: Becky Lynch (c) vs. AJ Lee
- Men’s Elimination Chamber Match: Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton vs. LA Knight vs. Jey Uso vs. Je’Von Evans vs. Trick Williams
- Women’s Elimination Chamber Match: Tiffany Stratton vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Raquel Rodriguez vs. Asuka vs. Kiana James
