22Diaries #1 - Randy Orton Returns After 18 Months!

24/11/2023 - Gift Enyadike

WWE’s 37th annual Survivor Series pay-per-view is airing this weekend and it's one of the most anticipated in recent memory. Seriously, people are hyped for this. Part of this is due to the event taking place in Chicago, where native son, CM Punk is rumoured to make a return. Punk hasn’t been seen on WWE television since the beginning of 2014 after a massive fallout. He recently returned to wrestling in 2021 when he joined the upstart company All Elite Wrestling (AEW).

Punk left AEW in August of this year shortly after they held their first UK pay-per-view, All In in front of almost 80,000 people at Wembley. Both WWE and Punk have been dropping hints, teases and troll references at his possible return but nothing is confirmed. I choose to remain sceptical about that one.

The other, more concrete reason people are hyped for Survivor Series is the return of the Viper, Randy Orton, who hasn’t been seen on WWE TV since May of 2022. Orton suffered a severe, and legitimate back injury in a tag team championship unification match against Jimmy and Jey Uso, which he and his partner, Matt Riddle, lost.

The injury was so bad that a lot of people were worried he’d never come back. For perspective, Shawn Michaels suffered this exact same injury in 1998 and didn’t come back until 2002. The difference is, Michaels was 33 at the time and Orton is currently 43, so his coming back at all is, by athletic standards, a miracle.?

The reason I’ll be up at 2 am on Sunday to watch this pay-per-view is because Randy is one of my favourite wrestlers and one of the last of a bygone era. Don’t get me wrong, I love the current product. Bianca Belair, Gunther, Rhea Ripley, Roman Reigns and Dominik Mysterio (Rey Mysterio’s son) are my favourites from today’s crop of talent, but the Legend Killer turned legend himself is part of my WWE Mt. Rushmore alongside The Undertaker (MY GOAT), John Cena (THE GOAT), the biggest little man, Rey Mysterio and the Rated R Superstar, Edge. Yeah, that’s right. I have a 5-person Rushmore, sue me!?

Undertaker (the reason I became a fan in the first place) retired in 2020, because that year was determined to take everything from us. Cena’s barely around because of his Hollywood commitments and every time he comes back I fear it might be the last.

I don’t have an opinion on the WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes, but one thing I am grateful for is getting to see John Cena on possibly one last full-time run as a result. Seeing the Rock again was cool too. Edge is 50 and just left for AEW, likely to close out his career with longtime friend, Christian.

Rey-Rey is 48 and currently out with a legitimate knee injury, which have plagued him his whole career and he says he’s got at least a year left before he hangs up the mask.?

Randy Orton is one of a handful of full-time WWE wrestlers from my childhood who, hopefully, still has a good number of years in him. He’s also the last full-time member of the famed Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) Class of 2002 which includes the likes of John Cena, Brock Lesnar, Batista, Shelton Benjamin and Victoria.?

You know what’s been happening since Randy’s been gone? Triple H became head of WWE Creative and began writing the weekly shows. Bianca Belair became the longest reigning women’s champ of the modern era. Roman Reigns became the fourth longest male world champion in history, with only Hulk Hogan, Bob Backlund and Bruno Sammartino having longer reigns. Gunther became the longest reigning Intercontinental, yes there’s a difference, champion ever! Vince McMahon was forced to retire following a sex scandal only to come back and sell the company to the Endeavor Group, who merged WWE with UFC to create TKO. Cody Rhodes, Orton’s longtime friend and protege has become the de facto face of the company, effectively replacing John Cena, who held that position for 15 years.?

So, yeah, I, like many in the WWE Universe, am hyped for the return of Randy Orton and I’m going to pop like a 10-year-old when he hits that RKO!?