5 WWE backstage stories we learned this week: Superstar rehired one day after being fired, CM Punk's in-ring future

#4 The truth behind Randy Orton’s AEW hints

Randy Orton recently signed a new deal to keep him with WWE until 2024, but it looked for a long time as though he could sensationally leave the company in 2020 and choose to join AEW.

Speaking on this week’s After The Bell with Corey Graves, the 13-time World Champion clarified that he was only joking around when he teased on multiple occasions that he could be interested in signing for Tony Khan’s company.

He also revealed that he never seriously considered leaving WWE, where he has been for the last 18 years of his career.

“This may be upsetting for some people, but I never really saw myself leaving WWE. To me, it was about getting to a point where I’m happy and what I’m doing in my body, the amount of time that I’m gone from my family. In the end, it’s all going to be worth it, and that’s where I’m at right now, so I’m definitely happy being a WWE Superstar.”

With at least five years ahead of him as a WWE Superstar, Orton is the only current in-ring performer who could realistically equal or surpass Ric Flair and John Cena’s record tally of 16 World Championships.