Ex-WWE Superstar pays homage to Randy Orton at Valley Wrestling Connection

Randy Orton's name is buzzing in the WWE Universe as they have picked up subtle hints at a possible showdown with Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. The talk in wrestling town is that the potential high-profile clash could happen as early as SummerSlam on August 3.

Meanwhile, since parting ways with World Wrestling Entertainment in September 2023, The Viper's former tag team partner Matt Riddle has been giving dates for independent shows and promotions, irrespective of whether big or small.

At Valley Wrestling Connection recently, Riddle wrestled a match in which he hit an RKO on his opponent into a pool. The clip is making rounds on social media now. You can check out the Instagram post below:

The caption reads, "@riddlebro pays tribute to @randyorton and kills off the vegan Superman with a vicious RKO in to the deep end at @valleywrestlingconnection IN YOUR HOUSE! 🔥🔥🔥"

Orton has openly spoken about his struggle to keep up with wrestling prior to his lengthy hiatus to recuperate between May 2022 to November 2023. He was dealing with injuries while continuing his difficult schedule.

In an appearance for Logan Paul's Impaulsive in December 2023, the 14-time World Champion admitted that it was The Original Bro who saved his career at that time. Their run as RK-Bro helped ease the burden of competing for more time in the ring and taking bumps.

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Matt Riddle looks back at the endgame for RK-Bro before his WWE release

Randy Orton's injury forced WWE to hold off the inevitable implosion of RK-Bro. It is usually what the creative team goes for in the end with a tag team. In their case, Matt Riddle was so sure that there was no way Orton would get booed even if he turned on The King of Bros.

So Riddle proposed that he turn heel, something he had not done in World Wrestling Entertainment. The former United States Champion has always been a fan favorite. Speaking on The MMA Hour in February 2024, Matt Riddle touched upon the match that would have been:

"This was my suggestion, and talking to everybody in the office, and even Randy agreed, was the smarter idea would be if I turned on him," said Matt Riddle. "Because Randy being the legend that he is, and me just being a babyface, even if Randy turned on me and is a bad guy, he is a legend. He is Randy. He has done more PPVs, more RAWs, more than like everybody. Even if you boo him, you'd love to boo him."

On-screen, Randy Orton agreed to team up with Riddle after the latter came to his aid against AJ Styles and Omos in the Summer of 2021. The duo continued their successful run until the May 20 episode of WWE SmackDown the following year.

RK-Bro dropped their championship belts to The Usos in a Title Unification Match, and The Viper subsequently took time off.