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Randy Orton recently opened up about his first experience of being in a pro wrestling ring and how he thought he almost killed then WWE trainer Tom Prichard.
On the Broken Skull Sessions with Stone Cold Steve Austin, Randy Orton spoke about how his father helped him set up a trial with WWE.
Orton stated that in his first trial with WWE, he got in the ring with Tom Prichard. He narrated his first experience in the ring where he thought he killed Prichard after the latter took a bump from his shoulder tackle.
"They sent me up to Stamford, Dr. Tom (Prichard) puts me in the ring and teaches me how to tie up. This was October 1999... He's the man. He asked me to give him a shoulder tackle, which I'd never done before. He takes the bump and immediately goes down and I thought I killed him. He starts rolling and writhing in pain and screaming, and I'm like, 'I don't know what...', I'm in this warehouse in Stamford, 'I just hurt this guy, oh my god!' I go back and I'm like this (holds his head) and my dad was on the phone, they put me on the phone with my dad and I guess while he (Prichard) was selling the shoulder tackle, his brother Bruce called my dad and said, 'Hey Bob, congratulations, we're going to sign him to a developmental deal.'"
Randy Orton said he moved to OVW six months after signing the contract. The Viper told Austin that he was "handed" this opportunity to become a future WWE Superstar.
Randy Orton's early years in WWE
Prior to signing a developmental deal with WWE in 2001, Randy Orton wrestled a handful of matches in indie promotion MMWA-SICW.
He spent a year at OVW, wrestling alongside John Cena, Brock Lesnar, and Batista, and was then called up to the main roster.
Please H/T Broken Skull Sessions and SK Wrestling if you use any of the above quotes.
