Randy Orton Opens up on Battling with Anxiety and Mental Panic Attacks During Injury layoff

Randy Orton may appear on camera as if he is having the time of his life with fans embracing his legacy around the globe. And in 2025, ‘The Viper’ is in a better place mentally, a far cry from the man who struggled with substance abuse a couple of years ago. The 14-time World Champion recently opened up about his history with panic attacks on Stephanie McMahon‘s What’s Your Story podcast.

‘The Apex Predator’ told McMahon that his mental health started deteriorating after he first met his now-wife, then-fan Kimberly Kessler. Orton mentioned that he could not talk about it to his family and didn’t think he would even talk about it publicly. The 23-year veteran disclosed that these issues became extremely prominent when he was sidelined with a back injury between May 2022 and November 2023.

I was having panic attacks and it was like, it started to become hard to fly, started to become hard to stay in another bed and I would be up all night and it was really rough, and I think it kind of came to a head when I had my spinal fusion and I was out for like a year and a half and it was like, here’s my identity. This is who I am. This is the one thing I know that I’m good at and I get respect for and I can’t do it anymore and for like six months, I was under the impression that that was it.

Randy Orton via What’s Your Story podcast

The WWE legend was experiencing a vicious cycle of thoughts while lying in his bed at the time about not being able to wrestle again. Orton even believed that he was done for. He eventually underwent a successful spinal fusion surgery, for which he thanked Dr. Adam Kanter. But those 18 months on the shelf were not by any means kind to Orton’s mental health. As he mentioned, ‘The Apex Predator’ unfortunately fell into that dark circle of panic attacks and anxiety once again.

Consequently, he’d revert to some of his old habits, which would have seen him smoke or drink recklessly. But with the support of his family, ‘The Legend Killer’ was able to nip it in the bud. Orton even revealed that he had to put on SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors) to preclude any further damage to his mental state.

During that time, that six months where I thought that was it… When I was younger, I felt so mentally strong and mentally tough and nothing could shake me, and I got to a dark place and I started to revert back to some of my old habits and I’ve got a wife and five kids and luckily, I was able to kind of nip it in the bud quick.

Randy Orton via What’s Your Story podcast

Orton finally made his grand return at Survivor Series 2023 in Chicago, where he joined Cody Rhodes, Sami Zayn, Jey Uso, and Seth Rollins to beat The Judgment Day and Drew McIntyre in a War Games match. And more recently, ‘The Viper’ has lost the 2025 King of the Ring final to his former legacy stablemate. But the important thing is that Orton is finally back for more inside the ring. Amid the vulnerable talk, McMahon and Orton reflected on one of their most famous segments dating back to 2009.

Randy Orton discusses an awkward segment with Stephanie McMahon

Randy Orton has had a number of career-defining feuds in WWE. Moreover, he has main-evented a couple of WrestleMania(s). The Viper was embroiled in a heated rivalry with Triple H while heading into WrestleMania 25 in 2009. It gave the fans one of the most-viewed WWE moments ever when a menacing Orton handcuffed ‘The Game’ and kissed his wife, Stephanie McMahon, in an unconscious state.