Former WWE World Champion Randy Orton recently shared a message for NFL legend Tom Brady. 'The Apex Predator' wants Brady to take the RKO.
Appearing on The Pat McAfee Show at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, Orton was asked about Brady's recent remarks describing professional wrestling as "cute" and his response revealed just how much he's changed over the course of a 26-year career.
10, 15, 20 years ago, I would have been hot. I would have had choice words to say for Tom Brady," Orton said. "But every second I'm in that ring, I am soaking it up. Tom, if you want to take an RKO, dude — call Pat. Pat will call me.
The RKO Became Bigger Than Randy Orton
The Brady exchange opened a broader conversation about the cultural reach of Orton's signature move and how it may have transcended him as a performer. He used his first encounter with Logan Paul as the clearest example.
When I first met Logan Paul, he was like, 'Man, I was doing the vines and I was doing the RKOs,'" Orton recalled. "He said, 'I didn't know who you were, but I knew what the RKO was.' And I was like, 'Uh, thanks.' But that's just an example — it superseded everything that I was as a brand. It was like the RKO. It was huge.
The RKO-outta-nowhere meme era on Vine gave the move a life entirely separate from wrestling, introducing it to millions who had never watched a WWE show. For Orton, it's a point of complicated pride.
France Made His Music His Own
The Brady conversation also led Orton to reflect on another cultural shift — the moment a French crowd in Lyon spontaneously began singing his entrance theme, "Voices," and changed his relationship with it forever.
I've had that entrance song since 2008 or '09. That's forever. Nobody ever sang it," Orton said. "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 we come back across the pond to the States and they start singing it, and I'm like, 'Okay, this is my music.'
For a man who spent years not fully connecting with his own theme, it was the crowd that finally made it stick. Orton first addressed Brady's comment on ESPN's Get Up earlier this week, but the McAfee interview gave him more room to put it in perspective — and extend the open challenge.
