News

Randy Orton Pays Massive WWE Fine

By John Canton • Published 9th December 2023
Randy Orton WWE SmackDown contract

Randy Orton had to pay for his actions on WWE SmackDown.

In the main event of WWE Friday Night Smackdown on December 1st, Randy Orton had to decide if he wanted to be part of Raw or SmackDown. The Viper ended up choosing SmackDown because he made it clear he was coming after The Bloodline since they were the ones that put him out of action in May 2022.

After Orton got an assist from LA Knight while taking care of The Bloodline’s Jimmy Uso & Solo Sikoa, Orton signed the SmackDown contract. That wasn’t all because after signing the contract, Orton also hit SmackDown’s General Manager Nick Aldis with an RKO as well. Orton simply offered up a shrug as if to say “sorry” and Orton celebrated to end the show.

On WWE SmackDown’s Tribute to the Troops episode from Providence, Randy Orton was featured in a backstage vignette with the SmackDown GM Nick Aldis. Orton handed Aldis a check that was a fine for hitting Aldis with the RKO. Orton would go on to say he wasn’t sure about teaming up with LA Knight. Aldis said that Knight has issues with The Bloodline too, so Aldis wanted to see Orton & Knight team up against Jimmy & Solo. Orton was okay with it.

When looking at the check, Aldis said that the fine was $50,000 and this check was for $100,000. Orton said, “Oh that’s for next time.” Orton left.

The actual fine is just a storyline to put over the idea that wrestlers can’t be hitting moves on General Managers even though Aldis is a wrestler himself.

How Did Randy Orton & LA Knight Do As A Tag Team?

Randy Orton and LA Knight teamed up for the first time in the SmackDown main event against Jimmy Uso & Solo Sikoa. There were some issues between Orton & Knight in terms of guys tagging themselves in, but then they got on the same page. The finish saw Knight going for the BFT on Jimmy, but the legal man Orton grabbed Jimmy instead and Orton hit an RKO for the pinfall win.

The Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns will return to SmackDown on the December 15th episode, which happens to be a double taping, so he’ll likely be on the December 22nd episode as well. It’s expected that the Reigns-Orton rivalry will heat up so much that it could lead to an announcement of a match at the Royal Rumble on January 27th, 2024.