When news broke that not only was Randy Orton going to be making his much-anticipated return to WWE television for the first time since May of 2022 but would be opening up the show with a very special promo, it got fans stoked.

What would Orton have to say? Who would come out to greet him, or better yet, challenge him to a match in the future? Well fortunately, fans didn't have to wait too long to find out, and since the show was commercial-free for the first hour, they didn't even have to worry about any awkward pauses breaking up the action.

“Well it seems like, or should I say it sounds like maybe a few of you missed me. Well I'm back, I'm back, I'm back for as long as I can stay here, now without any further adeu, let me just cut right to it ladies and gentlemen: Welcome to Monday Night RAW. I was gone a while, I was gone a while, wasn't I? But that whole time I was gone, it gave me time to think about all of my accolades, all of my accomplishments, you've heard them all before, I don't want to bore you because there are a lot of them, right? But the point was, I had never done one particular thing, and that one particular thing that I had never done was compete in WarGames. So when my good friend, the ‘American Nightmare' Cody Rhodes picked up the phone and gave me a call, of course I was in, of course I was in but there was another reason I wanted to be a part of WarGames, you see, is because WarGames was invented by Cody's father, the late but great ‘American Dream' Dusty Rhodes. To be a part of that match is to be a part of professional wrestling history. We talk about making moments, well two nights ago at Survivor Series, I got to make a moment and that's what it's all about” Randy Orton told the Nashville crowd.

“But I also came back because I've got a little bit of unfinished business to attend to, and that unfinished business is with The Bloodline. Now, if anybody kind of gets where they were coming from, it's me, I mean, look at me, I made a career out of putting people on the shelf, sometimes permanently, over 20 years, so maybe I can forgive, but I can't forget.

“The point of the matter is, I've got a bag full of receipts for The Bloodline, every single member of The Bloodline, and when I say every single member of The Bloodline, I mean Every. Single. Member. And Nashville, I think you know what form these receipts are going to come in, right? Those receipts are going to come in the form of the three most dangerous words in the WWE, no in the three most dangerous letters in all of sports entertainment: RKO.”

As fans cheered on Orton's signature maneuver, they were rapidly shut up by “Demon in your Dreams,” the official solo music of Rhea Ripley.

Rhea Ripley gave Randy Orton a very Judgment Day welcome.

Marching down to the ring with her usual cockiness, Rhea Ripley entered the ring all on her own to give Randy Orton a very Judgment Day welcome to Monday Night RAW.

“Randy, Randy, Randy, what a performance you had at Survivor Series. I didn't really take you as one to do favors for others or team with someone who tried to end your career. Or have your big return, a year and a half in the making, upstaged. But hey, hey, don't get me wrong, you are more dangerous than ever. And it would be a shame to have all of that wasted because you don't seem to understand that the landscape around here has changed,” Rhea Ripley told Randy Orton.

“The Bloodline, they have fallen, and the Judgment Day, we have risen as the most dominant force here within the WWE. When it comes to WarGames, that was just a bump in the road. Because the reality is, Randy, we're dripping in gold. I wiped the floor with Zoey Stark, my ‘Latin Heat,' my Dirty Dom is your NXT North American Champion and when it comes to Finn and Damian, they hold those Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships that you nearly lost everything trying to get. And if it wasn't for you, Randy, Damian Priest would be your World Heavyweight Champion.

“So you've come in here Randy and you've made all of these enemies, enemies that could make your life a living nightmare. So you need to stop focusing on The Bloodline because unlike The Bloodline, we get the job done and will put you out permanently.”

Clearly amused by Ripley's words, Orton fired back, letting Mami know that after 18 months away, Daddy's home.

“I stated how I kept in touch and I watched the product as I was out for a year and a half, and every week it's Rhea, Rhea this, Rhea that, Mami this, Mami that, Mami this, Mami that, well guess what, Rhea?” Orton asked “Daddy's back. She says a lot of things have changed, and it's true, a lot of things have changed since I've been out. Seriously, seriously, a lot of things have changed since I've been gone, Rhea, but the one thing that hasn't changed, the one thing that will never, ever, ever, ever, ever change as long as I am here is that nobody tells Randy Orton what to do.”

While this segment didn't technically end there, as Ripley had a few more words to say before her boys Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh attacked Orton, for all intents and purposes the stage has been set: If Orton wants revenge on The Bloodline, he'll have to go through the Judgment Day first.