Randy Orton wasn’t thrilled that his Survivor Series return was announced ahead of time.
At Survivor Series on November 25th, Randy Orton returned to WWE for the first time since May of 2022. The star had been out with a severe back injury, and rumors about his return had been swirling for months.
However, instead of appearing as a surprise on the night, Orton’s participation in the WarGames match was announced by Cody Rhodes on the November 20th edition of Monday Night Raw. At the time, reports indicated that Orton’s return was announced to stop fans from thinking CM Punk may be on his way back – but as it turns out, Punk ended up returning at Survivor Series after all once the WarGames match was through.
Speaking on the latest edition of WWE’s The Bump, Orton opened up about how he was initially upset that he didn’t get the opportunity to surprise the Chicago crowd.
“Funny little side story to that day. For a month prior, there was all these rumors online that I was coming back, but there was also rumors that CM Punk was coming back.
“Instead of it being a surprise that it was me, instead of Punk, they let everyone know a week prior, Randy Orton is gonna be the one joining Cody’s team in War Games. Kinda let the wind out of my sails a little bit because I’ve been gone for a year and a half, there’s all this anticipation, people have been expecting me to return for the past six months because I’ve been out so long.”
“I Can Tell I’ve Matured A Lot” – Randy Orton
Continuing, Orton explained that he can tell he’s matured as he went through with the return without issue despite the circumstances and ended up having a really fun night.
“I can tell that I’ve matured a lot, because part of me wanted to be irate that this was taken from me, this reaction from the crowd that I’ve been looking forward to for 18 months. But after all was said and done, I came out, got a great reaction. Punk came out, got a great reaction, and I realised after the fact that nobody stepped on anyone’s toes, it was really just a really fun night for the fans. They got Randy Orton back and they were very happy about that. They weren’t even thinking about Punk, and then here comes Punk.
“So that reaction, there were two different reactions, two different people, everybody was excited to see us both. Personally, on a personal level, I was happy to have him back, he’s a hell of a worker, a hell of guy, but it was funny because here I am after 18 months, ready to go and their like, ‘oh no, we’re going to announce your return’, and then he comes back anyway!”
h/t WrestleTalk