Kurt Angle Gives Insight Into Severity Of Randy Orton's Back Injury

Former WWE star and Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle has dealt with more injuries than the average person, or even the average wrestler. When discussing a 2002 injury to his back on "The Kurt Angle Show," Angle shared that WWE performer Randy Orton's current back injury could have ended the veteran's career.

"Your back controls everything. You can't do anything when your back is hurting," Angle said. "I'll give you an example. Randy Orton just had surgery on his back. He literally couldn't do anything, and this surgery is hopefully saving his career. But that's how much back problems can affect you as a pro wrestler."

While WWE shared that Orton suffered the injury during a beatdown by The Bloodline, his father "Cowboy" Bob Orton confirmed that Randy has been wrestling through the injury for some time. Orton competed with Matt Riddle in a "Winner Take All" tag team match against The Usos for the "WWE Raw" and "WWE SmackDown" Tag Team Championships, with Jimmy and Jey Uso coming out on top over the RKBros. Apart from a video message for John Cena's 20th anniversary with the company, Orton hasn't been seen on WWE television since.

It's been previously reported that there has been a great deal of worry surrounding Orton's back injury, and Angle's statements seem to confirm that the career of "The Viper" was in jeopardy. Hopefully, with his recent surgery and some extra rehab time to get back on his feet, Orton can make a full in-ring return sometime soon.