Randy Orton has worked in WWE for almost twenty years and is a true veteran in the business. It seems there was a possibility that he wouldn’t have signed with WWE.
Randy Orton enlisted with the Marines prior to joining WWE. During his time there, Orton received a bad conduct discharge after being AWOL two different times. He also spent 38 days in military prison.
According to Jim Ross on his Grilling JR podcast, Vince McMahon had no desire in hiring Randy Orton due to his past problems.
It was Jim Ross who had to convince McMahon to give Orton a proper chance. The rest, as they say – is history.
“He was, believe it or not, he was somewhat of a controversial hire for us. Vince was the problem child that went to military school and Randy was the problem child that went to the Marines and got discharged. You know, it’s one of those deals where you say, look, I said, ‘Vince, you got a second chance, so why not this kid?’ He’s only a third-generation performer and both his father and his grandfather were outstanding in-ring guys.”
Orton is currently engaged in a feud with Alexa Bliss and Bray Wyatt.
