WWE is not wasting any time with capitalizing on the buzz around Randy Orton and his return to the company after being away for over a year.
The return
Orton had been sidelined since last May due to a back injury that resulted in him and Matt Riddle dropping the Raw Tag Team Titles to The Usos, where they unified the championships. He later underwent back fusion surgery.
Orton, Seth Rollins, Sami Zayn, Jey Uso, and Cody Rhodes beat The Judgment Day (Finn Balor, Damian Priest, Dominik Mysterio), Drew McIntyre & JD McDonagh in the Men’s WarGames match on Saturday night at Survivor Series. On Monday’s WWE Raw, Orton worked his first singles match back in a contest against Mysterio.
SmackDown appearance
Orton is now being locally advertised for Friday’s episode of SmackDown from the Barclays Center in New York. It’s unclear whether he will be appearing on the show or just working a dark match.
WWE has already confirmed United States Champion Logan Paul will make his WWE TV return on this show, his first appearance since beating Rey Mysterio for the title at Crown Jewel.
Cody Rhodes vs. Mysterio and Rollins vs. Shinsuke Nakamura are the locally advertised dark matches.
🚨| Randy Orton has been announced for this Friday’s episode of #SmackDown live from the Barclays Center in New York. pic.twitter.com/oAeRQiu4dt
— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) November 28, 2023
