WWE says it is "looking into" old allegations of sexual impropriety against Randy Orton that resurfaced last week.
Former WWE writer Court Bauer accused Orton of exposing himself to new writers as a form of "initiation" in a 2012 podcast. The story gained traction after a Reddit user reposted the quote.
“For every new writer that would show up, he comes in the room puts his hand down his pants, pulls out his d--k, touches himself, then says ‘I’m Randy Orton, shake my hand…oh you don’t want to shake my hand? You’re big leaguing me? That’s f--ked up man. Should I tell Vince and Steph you won’t shake Randy Orton’s hand?'” Bauer said, per Paul Davis of WrestlingNews.Co.
Bauer confirmed the story was true Friday on Twitter.
Orton, 38, has been a mainstay with WWE for the better part of two decades. He has a history of issues outside the ring, most notably multiple violations of WWE's Wellness Policy.
By all accounts, Orton has matured in recent years and has had seemingly no documented issues lately.
It's unclear if any WWE executives knew of the hazing ritual. Bauer said Orton did not harass him on his first day with the company because Stephanie McMahon was present.
It's really unfortunate that Orton went AWOL and got discharged from the Marines. The world would have been a much better place without him. The only meaningful thing he's done in WWE is wrestle Cena so many times that it's surely prevented Cena from burying at least one or two people he would have loved to take down a notch.
First order of business - somewhere in here (probably last week, honestly) a numbering error cropped up, so possibly many previous recaps are misnumbered.