Randy Orton reveals he got through career-threatening injury by playing a lot of Elden Ring

WWE wrestler Randy Orton revealed that he has put in hundreds of hours in Elden Ring while recovering from surgery.

Orton opened up about his love for the game in an episode of the What Do You Wann Talk About podcast with fellow entertainer Cody Rhodes.

The two got on the topic of gaming by discussing John Cena’s inclusion in Mortal Kombat 1 as Peacemaker. Orton said that he’s still a “gamer” despite his busy schedule as a wrestler and has put in around 600 hours into Elden Ring.

He explained that he had a lot of free time to play the game after its release in early 2022 as he was recovering from spinal fusion surgery. The WWE star was away from the sport for 18 months due to the operation and required recovery period.

He said he has continued to grind in the FromSoftware title, especially with the new Shadow of the Erdtree DLC.

“I get lost in it. The kids go to sleep, I’ll give the wife the iPad and say ‘Hey, buy stuff on Amazon.’ And I’ll just play. It’s like Christmas every day at my house,” Orton said.

Elden Ring can take over 100 hours to finish if you tackle every side boss and strive to complete the entire game. So, Orton likely played through the game more than once while in recovery and since his return to the ring.

Orton’s love of the Elden Ring is well-documented. He has posted on social media about his playthroughs and reportedly paid someone to level up his character after struggling in the early parts of the game.

With this new reveal, however, the wrestler must have gotten the hang of the early parts of the game or is spending ungodly amounts of money for other people to level up his characters for every playthrough.

Elden Ring has continued to be popular years after its release thanks to the infusion of DLC in early 2024 and Kai Cenat’s marathon streams of the game.