Will ‘The Viper’ Step Away from the Ring for Good in 2026?

Several WWE legends retired last year in 2025. John Cena and Goldberg were the two most notable ones. ‘The Franchise’ has its Hollywood commitments and is approaching 50, while the master of the Jackhammer is turning 60 later this year. A.J. Styles retired at the 2026 Royal Rumble after Gunther ended his legendary career, too. Brock Lesnar looks like he’s retired after his WrestleMania 42 loss against Oba Femi. All these legends clearly lost a couple of steps and couldn’t perform certain moves, but they had the capability to still go whenever the time was right. Just look at the incredible match between the G.O.A.T. of WWE and the G.O.A.T. of TNA at Crown Jewel last year. With the superstars of the past couple of decades ending their careers in the last two years, one other legend killer could call it quits in 2026 and join these legends in retirement.

Randy Orton has arguably been in the best physical shape in his career for the past few years. His muscle mass increase has seen ‘The Viper’ transform from a lengthy, slender wrestler under 250 pounds to an impressive powerhouse at nearly 300 pounds. The added muscle mass has created a more imposing image, and the slower-paced wrestling style has been able to highlight his improved strength in the ring. His vintage snap Powerslam looks more effective than ever. The improved physique and maintained positive relationship with the fans have helped position the ‘Legend Killer’ for multiple quests for his 15th WWE Championship title run. 

Lingering injuries have stopped these campaigns, however. The two most well-documented repeat injuries on Orton have been his shoulders and back. The past several years have seen him go down several times due to lingering back issues. ‘The Viper’ was reported to have lingering back pain heading into his WrestleMania 42 WWE Championship bout against former Legacy student Cody Rhodes. He was seen favoring his back throughout the match, and it could be a reason why he couldn’t pull back his deadly Punt Kick. The once-banned move landed perfectly on the champ’s head, causing a completely shut and black eye; it also led to lingering side effects over the next couple of weeks. It also doesn’t help that Orton hasn’t appeared on WWE television since WrestleMania.

Another thing that could see the future Hall of Famer step away from the squared circle is how bad his last major feud went. The heat between Rhodes and Orton wrote itself. The history over the past two decades should’ve been the focus of the rivalry. Two wrestlers from wrestling families fighting were fighting for legacy and the biggest prize in WWE on the grandest stage. ‘The American Nightmare’ tried to pull the trigger and surprise ‘The Legend Killer’ when the latter least expected it. The teacher had pulled the trigger on his student whenever the opportunity presented itself. The student was trying to one-up his teacher and finally pull the trigger on his teacher. WWE didn’t need to do or touch anything to make the feud better. They didn’t want to. TKO decided to interject themselves when they didn’t need to, unfortunately. The reveal of Pat McAfee as Orton’s mystery caller and advocate for the future Hall of Famer to listen to the voices in his head ruined a storyline two years in the making that was nearly foolproof. It only got worse when McAfee brought up the lack of ticket sales and how the modern WWE product wasn’t good. Some of it is absolutely warranted, but he’s the wrong messenger. It shouldn’t be involved with one of the main event storylines of WrestleMania. WWE would have to fix a lot of TKO’s wrongdoings to Orton and his character, should he want to continue his career. The failure of this storyline could’ve rubbed ‘The Legend Killer’ the wrong way, and no one would blame him if he decides to retire soon because of it.