Riddle: Randy Orton Thought I Didn’t Know What ‘Give Him The Rub’ Means, RK-Bro Works Because We’re Opposites
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Riddle and Randy Orton have become a fan-favorite odd couple on WWE RAW, though the future of their alliance is unclear after “The Viper” dropped “The Original Bro” with an RKO last Monday.
Still, assuming they stay together, the duo has showcased remarkable chemistry, both in matches and in non-wrestling segments, since the two men started working together.
In an interview with Riju Dasgupta of Sportskeeda Wrestling, Riddle explained how RK-Bro has been successful for the same reason as The Broserweights, a pairing between the goofy Riddle and the serious Pete Dunne. The former WWE United States Champion noted that both teams excelled because, in both cases, the members were practically polar opposites.
“I’ve noticed with my teams, my success usually relies on how different we are,” said Riddle. “Like my first tag team in WWE with Pete Dunne, the BroserWeights, Pete’s way different than me. And even with Randy right now, which we’re having great success with… but on-camera, we are complete opposite people, you know, because he’s very serious. He lights people on fire, you know. I ride a scooter and kick my flip-flops off. We’re two different on-camera but off-camera, in the locker room, we meet, we connect, we’re cool.
“I feel like so many teams are two people that are very alike but when you get a team where two people are opposites even though they’re working together, it’s refreshing for the audience.”
In some ways, it sounds like the differences between Riddle and Orton aren’t contained to their on-screen personalities. “The Original Bro” recalled how Randy Orton told John Cena “gave him the rub” when they worked together in a brief segment on WWE RAW. Riddle then shared his feeling that sometimes Orton treats him as if he doesn’t know what wrestling is, at least when it comes to common insider terms. Of course, Riddle also emphasized that he and Orton click and work well together.
“…After John did that little promo with me on the mic, we were bro-ing off to each other, Randy hit me up, and he goes, ‘I don’t know if you know this, kid, but John Cena just gave you the rub,'” said Riddle. “And I was like, ‘Yeah, I know what the rub is, Randy.’ You know, Randy talks to me like I don’t know what wrestling is sometimes. And I have to be like, ‘Randy, I’ve wrestled on the indies, I’ve been in WWE a couple years. Not at your level, for sure, but at the same time, I kinda know what I’m doing. I know that the rub is, I know what Cena did right there.’
“I was very excited about that. John doesn’t have to and didn’t have to do that, and he went out of his way to make it part of the show, and we did.”
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The full clip is available here: