A WWE streak held by Randy Orton for the past 20 years is set to continue at Survivor Series tonight.
After more than a year and a half away from the ring, The Viper will compete tonight at WWE Survivor Series: WarGames. Randy Orton was revealed as the fifth member of Cody Rhodes‘ team in WarGames on this past Monday’s Raw, marking his first match back in the company since suffering a major back injury in May 2022.
On top of making his triumphant in-ring return, however, Orton is also set to continue one of the longest ongoing streaks in WWE history into its 21st year.
As his return tonight marks his first WWE match in 2023, Orton will maintain his streak of having wrestled in at least one WWE match every year since 2002. This also ensures Orton will keep his record of being the longest-tenured full-time talent currently on the WWE roster.
The only other star to achieve this immense feat is John Cena, who maintained his version of the streak when he faced Austin Theory during the first night of WrestleMania 39 earlier this year.
When Did Randy Orton Last Wrestle In WWE?
Randy Orton competed in his last WWE match 554 days ago on the May 20th, 2022 edition of SmackDown. There, he and Matt Riddle lost their Raw Tag Team Championship to then-SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos in a Winner Take All Title Unification match.
The landscape of both WWE and the professional wrestling industry as a whole has vastly changed since Orton last stepped inside the ropes. One of the biggest examples of this is Vince McMahon retiring, subsequently returning to the company, WWE being sold to Endeavor, and McMahon losing WWE creative control as a result all occurred whilst Orton was out of action.