Vince McMahon stepped down from WWE last year amid a series of sexual misconduct allegations. Triple H subsequently took his place as head of creative, but the Chairman's retirement didn't last long and he later returned to facilitate WWE's sale to UFC owner, Endeavor.
Since then, Vince has once again faded into the background and The Game has remained in his role as WWE Chief Content Officer. RAW, SmackDown, and NXT have all improved dramatically over the past year or so, but it's not just the storylines and matches which have gotten better.
Randy Orton recently returned at Survivor Series: WarGames and, in a recent interview with fellow WWE Superstar Logan Paul on his Impaulsive podcast, The Viper explained how Triple H's health scare (which resulted in him having a defibrillator pacemaker installed in his chest) has changed the company.
"I think recently for him because he had the health scare and everything, I think he realizes how important family time is," Orton explains. "That is one thing that has changed. I think back in the day you were missing birthdays, you were missing anniversaries, you were missing holidays, and there was no either way about it. Like, you wouldn't even ask for off."
"Now, there is leniency there. Now, he will make sure that you will get home for the birth of your baby, or make sure that you get home for that birthday," he continued. "Because he understands now how important that is. I think company-wide, that has been a change for the better."
Orton returned to SmackDown last Friday and was given a choice to either sign with that show or RAW. Paul Heyman made his way out to the ring to warn the former WWE Champion against becoming a regular fixture on Friday night and used Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa to prove his point.
They attacked Orton, though LA Knight soon hit the ring to lend his fellow babyface a helping hand. He fought Solo off, while Randy delivered a brutal RKO to Jimmy.
With that, Orton chose to sign with SmackDown and warned Heyman that he's coming for Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns. To cap off the show, he hit SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis with an RKO, proving he hasn't changed a bit since being taken out by The Bloodline eighteen months ago.
You can check out the full interview with Orton in the player below.