It’s no secret that the crossover between video games and professional wrestling, be it through the hilarious signs fans bring to events or the intricate wardrobes stars wear into the ring, is a strong one. As such, it’s hardly surprising to learn that WWE’s Randy Orton is an avid gamer who plays Elden Ring on his tour bus between events, and once paid someone beaucoup bucks to help him level up his character.
In a recent broadcast from The Insiderz, a behind-the-scenes wrestling livestream Twitch channel hosted by the former WWE tag team duo Brennan Williams (aka ma.çé) and Mansoor Al-Shehail (aka mån.sôör), the pair revealed that Orton once approached them before an episode of Monday Night Raw to tell them how much he enjoys playing FromSoftware’s brutal yet beautiful action role-playing game.
However, Orton’s affinity for the hellish open-world Soulsborne game didn’t necessarily derive from the grind its early act demand out of players to survive its punishing early boss fights. In fact, Orton disliked having to level up so much that he opted to avoid it entirely by paying someone $1,000 to give him a bunch of runes, which act as the game’s currency and experience points, so that he could level up his character immediately.
“Yeah, it’s fucking hard. I paid a guy $1,000 bucks to give me infinite runes so I could level up to 100 right away,” Orton said, according to Al-Shehail. Williams chimed in, adding that Orton told them “I love that game though. It’s awesome. But no, I couldn’t deal with that bullshit so I just paid a guy to give me a bunch of runes.”
Here’s a dramatic reinterpretation of that conversation from the Insiderz official TikTok.
Read More: Elden Ring: The Kotaku Review
Orton’s “pay to win” playstyle of getting through Elden Ring’s tough opening moments, while a baller move in some respects, isn’t new to gaming or Elden Ring. In fact, it reminds me of how back in the day I would pay highly skilled arcade players in quarters to help me get past a really tough boss. The Elden Ring equivalent of this phenomenon was Klein Tsuboi, better known as Let Me Solo Her, the Elden Ring player who quickly became a legend for helping numerous players defeat Malenia, a tough-as-nails optional boss who bedeviled countless players. Let Me Solo Her’s notoriety became so undeniable that publisher Bandai Namco sent him a thank-you note and a real-life sword for his services to other players.
Mr. Randal Keith Orton—who’s often referred to as the “Legend Killer” and the “Apex Predator” in WWE—paying someone to avoid a game’s grind is equal parts in character with his in-ring persona and humbling to hear for me, a player who’s often told to “git good” in Soulsborne games.