Friday Night SmackDown was full of action and gave plenty of surprises in its first episode of 2026.
Matt Cardona made his presence felt, killing off the Zack Ryder character; Carmelo Hayes successfully defended his US title; and Damian Priest defeated Aleister Black in their Ambulance Match.
A continuing feud between Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre became more heated, with one of them bound to face a returning legend.
Speaking of which, a 14-time world champion finally came back and has already revealed his plans.
Last time we saw The Viper
Randy Orton had been out of action for three months after his tag team match with Rhodes ended with a loss against The Vision on SmackDown.
In his last three televised matches, ‘The Apex Predator’ has not triumphed as he struggled to pick up victories in 2025.
This includes the one-on-one loss to McIntyre on SmackDown, plus a tag-team match with singer Jelly Roll, which ended with a defeat against McIntyre and Logan Paul.
Arguably, Orton’s biggest win in 2025 came in his 20th WrestleMania match, where he defeated Joe Hendry in Paradise, Nevada.
Orton had two big opportunities in 2025, the first was against the recently retired 17-time world champion John Cena for the Undisputed WWE title at WWE Backlash.
The Tennessee-born wrestler put on a great show in his hometown, but controversially lost by pinfall.
The second big occasion came at Night of Champions as the 45-year-old faced Rhodes in the final of the King of the Ring tournament.
In another great match, ‘The American Nightmare’ pinned the fan-favourite to win the tournament after Orton’s strategy of removing the buckle pad and exposing the steel turnbuckle backfired.
Returns and eyes WWE gold
The Miz opened the first SmackDown episode of 2026, complaining about himself not being Cena’s final opponent at Saturday Night’s Main Event.
The former WWE champion continued to rant before mentioning that he was to be proclaimed the locker room leader.
Moments later, Orton returned and made his appearance, which clearly intimidated The Miz, given their history.
As no surprise, Miz proposed they could be called ‘MizKO’ after saying they were both locker room leaders, which at that point, Orton hit two RKOs.
After a satisfying moment in his return, Orton crossed paths with a friend backstage.
The two-time Royal Rumble winner stated that once Rhodes has faced McIntyre, assuming he beats the Scotsman, he would come straight for the Undisputed WWE title.
Rhodes is set to defend his championship against McIntyre next week in Berlin in a Three Stages of Hell Match.
While it is unclear when Orton will challenge for the prestigious title, he has been helping the WWE advertise the Royal Rumble in Riyadh, possibly involving The Viper in a significant part of the event.