After 18 months away, it officially happened: Randy Orton made his shocking return to the WWE Universe on Monday Night RAW to be the fifth member of Team Cody Rhodes at WarGames.

Contacted earlier in the show by the “American Nightmare,” Orton got on the phone with Rhodes, Jey Uso, and the management duo of Adam Pearce and Nick Aldis to make his return official, with his addition to the union heavily implying that the “Apex Predator” would be heading to Chicago for a very special appearance at Survivor Series. While it would have been cool to see Orton actually appear on the show, in the end, Rhodes did the job he needed to do, and in the end, it worked, as needless to say, fans online were excited, too, as his name was trending on social media as the WWE Universe celebrated the return of one of its favorite sons.

Now, unfortunately for Orton, the WWE Universe is a very different place than when he left it, as his RK-Bro, Matt Riddle, has since been released, as have a dozen plus other performers across the promotion from RAW, SmackDown, and NXT, but on this particular occasion, and in the lead-up to Survivor Series, where he will have his first match since May 20th, 2022, non of that really matters. No, after months and months of anticipation, Randy Orton is (almost) back and healthy enough to wrestle after some thought he would never be healthy enough to get back into the squared circle again, and that, wrestling fans, is a pretty cool pre-Thanksgiving surprise.