6 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Dec 15 - Results & Review)

2. Knocking Off That Ring Rust

Friday night marked Randy's third match since returning at Survivor Series: WarGames, and only his third singles outing since February 2022. Most of his showings after that pre-injury came as part of a tag alongside now-released Matt Riddle, so shaking off ring rust before Royal Rumble is going to be important.

That's the beauty of Orton's SmackDown headliner vs. Jimmy Uso. It lasted almost 15 minutes, ran through many of Randy's most familiar spots, and let the legend get a feel for things again. Everyone, even men as experienced as Randy, can be forgiven some ring rust after so long in storage.

OK, so the match wasn't some must-see epic that'll earn 'Match Of The Year' nominations, but it was a good watch that eased Orton into the role of challenger for Roman by taking out one of his lieutenants. Anyone else get the feeling that this run to the Rumble is gonna be a hoot?

More Randy is a good thing.