Riddle Addresses Comments That Got Him Backstage Heat
In an appearance on Out of Character with Ryan Satin, WWE star Riddle was asked what the biggest lesson he had learned in WWE since moving to the main roster. He gave two reasons, and then proceeded to describe certain behavior of his that might've gotten him on the wrong side of certain WWE stars.
"I'd say the biggest lessons are this is entertainment, and maybe don't talk too much trash," Riddle said. "I wouldn't say I got in trouble, but people aren't happy when I say certain things. And I'll say this; it's not old school, but there's this slight old school mentality on the main roster rather than many other companies or the indies, where it's like you've got to watch what you say and be super respectful all the time. I try to be 100% of the time." Randy (Orton) even said when he first met me, he didn't like me. And I was like, 'I'll be honest Randy. I heard that interview and I was sad. You never told me you didn't like me. I thought we were cool.' I guess he didn't like me. And then he saw me and Stallion Pete (Dunne) tag at TakeOver, and he actually tweeted 'I didn't like you or something. But I get it. Good luck.'
"Even when I came up to the main roster, I guess I didn't shake his hand. But it wasn't like I was trying to be disrespectful, I thought he was busy. He's Randy Orton. I don't want to bother him. But I guess he took that – some people take certain things as disrespect. Me, I'm trying to be the best Riddle I can be and that's all I can do. So I think it's more business. I've learned how to handle money better and do things better in that sense and fashion. These things have happened since my main roster debut, so I've learned a lot of lessons. I've matured a lot."
Riddle now finds himself as one half of the RAW Tag Team Champions with Orton, and the two have settled their differences. He called Orton his spirit guide in WWE, and compared the team they have to his team with Pete Dunne while working for WWE's NXT brand.
"I don't think it could be any better than having Randy Orton as my spirit guide in WWE," Riddle said. "He's awesome. He leads me down the right paths and he's a wealth of knowledge. And his knowledge is different mine. I fought in MMA, I wrestled on the indies and the style was very intense. While Randy is one of the greatest storytellers in professional wrestling history. Not that I can't tell a story, but I feel like Randy has helped me tell better stories. And I think with me and Randy together, it's awesome because Randy is such a serious character, so for him to drop his guard a little bit, give me some trust and some friendship, and I'm always there for him. I'm his right hand man, he's a 'bro for sho.' I'm there all the way. I think because of that, it's a dynamic we've never seen. Because usually when Randy's pair offed, it's almost like a standoff where 'we respect each other, but we don't know if we even like each other.' With me and Randy, it's like, 'you know I like Randy and I'll do anything for Randy.' And Randy, week by week, is coming along.
"So I really enjoy it. I enjoy the journey we're on, and like I said, teaming with Randy, being RKBro, which I remember when I said it originally, a lot of people laughed at me and said it would never happen. Then a couple weeks later, me and Randy are wrestling. The following week, RKBro. And it got such a reaction, they just kept it going, and now we're the WWE RAW Tag Team Champions.
"The same thing happened with Stallion Pete. We entered the Dusty Cup. They're like 'hey, cut a promo saying how you guys formed.' I said 'okay.' I went up to Stallion Pete and was like 'you're a Bruiserweight. I'm a bro. Let's do this. Dusty Cup.' That was the problem. The crowd went insane, and every time we wrestled, me and Stallion Pete, we're pretty good in the ring. It's going to be hard to have a bad match with us. And we became the NXT Tag Team Champions."
Later, Satin revealed to Riddle that he sees the former UFC fighter winning the WWE Royal Rumble this January in St. Louis. Always confident, it's something Riddle sees for himself next year too.
"I think I'm going to win the next Royal Rumble as well," Riddle said. "I feel like the first time I didn't really have a good experience. Second time, I had a very good experience. I got in there with some of my favorite workers and everybody else. And I think this time around, for me, I would love it. I think the fans would love it and I think it's something super fresh. It's something they haven't done in a long time is have one of the up and coming superstars win a Royal Rumble. Because usually, and I love Edge, usually it's a top guy that wins it and you know it's going to be a top guy. They've been doing that for awhile.
"And it's not that I'm not a top guy. But until you win something like that or get through that crack, you're not considered a top guy yet. I feel that the Royal Rumble would be the perfect opportunity for me to crack into that platform, that top tier guy. And I think it's the right time. Royal Rumble is in January, it's my birthday month and I always got that PPV as a kid, so it's my favorite PPV. So honestly, if that happened, I would be like, 'I don't know what I did to be so lucky and so happy.' If I told what I think is going to happen and what I want to happen, we're on the same page. I think that's going to happen, and I think somebody else that I'm close to might win the world championship, and I might have to call him out. And then we bring it back home."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Out of Character with Ryan Satin and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription