Jon Heidenreich has recalled a terrifying training accident involving Randy Orton early in his WWE career, saying he was convinced he had seriously hurt the future star and was ready to quit the company if the worst had happened.
Speaking on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Heidenreich described the moment a sunset flip attempt went wrong during a practice session.
“Me and Randy, we were actually practicing one day, and I went to give him a sunset flip, or he was giving one, and I lost my balance and fell on him. I landed on his face and neck, and I thought I hurt him, man. I was like, I’m done. That’s Randy Orton. I thought I might have hurt his neck.”
“He turned out to be fine. They called an ambulance, bro, because I thought I landed on his face and his neck, and I was thinking ‘Oh my God, if I hurt him, I’ll say I’m just gonna quit, because they might kill me.’”
Orton was evaluated and cleared of injury. Heidenreich had a notable WWE tenure in the early 2000s, being briefly managed by Paul Heyman and feuding with The Undertaker.