Randy Orton felt he destroyed 38-year-old star's massive WWE push by injuring him; apologized privately

WWE legend Randy Orton had a conversation with a wrestler back in 2021, with The Viper apologizing to him. Back in 2019, Orton gave Mustafa Ali a swollen eye during a match.

Mustafa Ali recently made an appearance on Insight with Chris Van Vliet. The former WWE Superstar discussed several topics, including a candid conversation he had with Orton a few years back.

Mustafa Ali stated that Randy Orton was apologetic for giving him the eye injury during a match in 2019. Check out Ali's comments below:

"He felt really bad about the concussion. Like, he obviously, he was apologetic at the time. But it's almost like, a year or two after it, like him and I were just talking. He's like, 'Hey man, I never meant to tell you but I really messed up things for you, man. You were here [raises hand].' I go, 'Randy, like stuff happens, bro. I know it wasn't intentional.' He goes, 'No, I just want to let you know, like it bugs me that I took that away from you.' I was like, 'You didn't. You didn't take anything away. It just happens.'" [56:48-57:14]

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Ali has previously clarified that Randy Orton didn't put him out of action

Back in 2019, Ali had a chat with TalkSPORT and made it clear that Randy Orton wasn't at fault for him being put on the shelf. Check out an excerpt from the interview:

“Unfortunately for Randy, a lot of people point the finger at him, thinking the black eye was the cause of me missing the Elimination Chamber – that wasn’t the case. I had a series of injuries that were just piling up and unfortunately, I had a pretty serious injury after that at a live event. That’s the injury that took me out." [H/T - TalkSPORT ]

Ali was scheduled to compete for Dominik Mysterio's NXT North American Title last year. However, WWE released him mere days before the scheduled match.

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Please credit Insight with Chris Van Vliet and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling if you use Ali's quotes!