When Randy Orton made his first in-ring appearance on WWE programming in 18 months at Survivor Series, returning in spectacular form as the final member of Team Cody Rhodes in the WarGames main event, it felt like a big deal.

Sure, WWE chugged along just fine and well without the “Apex Predator” at the forefront of their programming, making record profits and elevating new stars like LA Knight and the returning Cody Rhodes, but throughout it all, fans clamored to see the return of Orton, as the legacy wrestler has been with the promotion for 24 years and still looks like one of the most physically imposing performers in the business at 43.

Discussing the return of the “Vipor” on his 83 Weeks podcast, Eric Bischoff described Orton as one of the “purest sports entertainers” in the business over the past 30 years, comparing his talents to none other than the “Heartbreak Kid” himself, Shawn Michaels.

“I think Randy Orton is the purest sports entertainer, professional wrestler, whatever you choose, in the business in the last 30 years. Other than Shawn Michaels, is there anybody smoother than Randy Orton? You go back and watch any of his matches, go back to 2003 or 2005, whenever it was that he debuted in WWE… watch him closely in his matches. His positioning is flawless. His timing is flawless. His execution is flawless,” Eric Bischoff said via Wrestling Headlines.

“Forget about everything else that's going on in the ring, and focus on nothing but his facials. What is doing with his face? What is he doing with his eyes? When he's selling? When he's on top, when he's aggressive? He is the purest form of [a] professional wrestler that I think I've seen in the last 30 years. He's flawless. He is the wrestling definition of smooth. I'm so happy to see him back. I hope Randy rides this out for as long as Randy chooses to ride it out. I don't think he needs the bread, he's doing it out of passion. I think he's doing it to end his career on a high note, the way he wants to end it. I have tons of respect for anybody that puts themself in a position to end their careers the way they want to end them. Admirable quality in my book. I'm just hoping for the best for Randy. I hope, however long this run is, whether it's a month, two months, six months, a year, five years, whatever it is, I hope it ends exactly the way Randy wants it to end, and I hope people recognize Randy for the amazing talent that he is.”

On paper, it's kind of hard to compare Orton and Michaels, as the former is far more muscular, the latter is far more flamboyant, and their in-ring styles has made for a better in-ring contrast more so than a one-for-one comparisons. Still, no one can frankly say with a straight face that the duo aren't two of the very best in-ring wrestlers the WWE has ever produced, and as a result, they deserve a special place in the WWE Universe all the same.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUPxot41CZM

Eric Bischoff doesn't think CM Punk overshadowed Randy Orton.

Continuing his conversation with Conrad Thompson on 83 Weeks, Eric Bischoff was asked if he thinks CM Punk's surprise comeback overshadowed the return of Randy Orton, who was expected to appear on the show after Cody Rhodes all but announced him by name ahead of the show.

While Bischoff did admit that WWE could have held things off just a tad, maybe until the Royal Rumble, in the end, Orton isn't the kind of guy who cares about when he returns, only what he actually accomplishes when he gets into the ring.

“We've been hearing about Randy making his comeback and perhaps making a comeback, we didn't know when, but we knew he was on his way. That could have been held off til Royal Rumble, couldn't it, and perhaps even built upon over the next few months? Not saying replicate the Triple H thing when he came back in 2002 and show him working out, getting ready. That's kind of old-school, been there, done that, not as effective. But there are other things that could have been done over the course of the next three months that could have helped build anticipation, since it wasn't going to be a surprise, let's build anticipation for it and whether or not it actually happens, and have it happen at Royal Rumble. I think it probably could have been better for Randy individually,” Eric Bischoff noted.

“But I don't think anybody's sad. I don't know Randy really well. I've gotten to know him a little bit over the years. I don't think he was sitting at home, going, ‘Wow, they were excited me about for 20 minutes, and then not so much.' That's not Randy at all. The Randy that I think I know is going, ‘Cool, talk about CM Punk all you want. Wait til you see what happens next week.' Because Randy will bring it into the ring. Not that CM Punk can't or won't. But there's something special about Randy, and I think at the end of it all, they'll be talking about Randy.”

Would it have been cool to see Orton return at the Royal Rumble instead of Survivor Series? Sure thing, but then again, when you consider he's borderline guaranteed to have a spot on that show and may even get his hands on Roman Reigns in the main event, it's safe to say Survivor Series was a good place to begin what could be a very interesting two month run up to Tampa Bay.