Randy Orton felt disrespected by 4-time WWE champion after backstage meeting - "Wasn’t a huge fan of me"

A former WWE star has revealed that Randy Orton wasn't pleased after he didn't come over and shake hands with him. Matt Riddle, who later went on to have a fruitful association with Orton, discussed his earlier interactions with The Viper.

The biggest highlight of Riddle's WWE career was his RK-Bro tag team with Randy Orton, which proved to be a massive hit with the viewers. Their chemistry won over the fans in no time, and they also went on to capture the tag team gold in the company. However, Orton's injury in 2022 ended their partnership prematurely. By the time The Viper returned to the company, Riddle had already exited WWE.

In a recent chat with Barstool Rasslin,' the four-time WWE champion opened up about his initial tussle with Randy Orton over a backstage issue. Riddle revealed that once in the locker room when everybody went up to Orton to shake hands with him, he chose to stay back and wait until everyone had finished. The former United States Champion believes that The Viper perceived this to be disrespectful towards him.

“Before we actually wrestled a full match, Randy wasn’t a huge fan of me. I guess he thought I was disrespectful because I had my headphones on. He came to the locker room, everybody was shaking everybody’s hand.I didn’t want to be like a nerd and go over. Didn’t wanna do that. So I gave him a nod. I was waiting for my chance to shake his hand, but I guess he took that as disrespect. I wasn’t [blowing him off].” [H/T: SeScoops]

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Bully Ray doesn't see Randy Orton returning in time for WWE Survivor Series 2024

On a recent edition of the Busted Open Radio podcast, Bully Ray discussed the angle on last week's SmackDown that saw Kevin Owens brutalize Randy Orton, so much so that he had to be stretched out. The WWE legend feels the promotion would be wise to keep The Viper off action for a few weeks to sell the injury.

"I would love to see Randy [Orton] stay out for a little bit of time to really sell that piledriver. The last thing I wanna see is Randy back on TV quickly. The WWE did a great job of making that piledriver seem like a big deal as they should as that move deserves that credibility and that respect. So, I would love to see Randy on the shelf for a while. For a month to really sell that injury. Maybe Randy [is] in a neck brace, I don't know if that's too much," Ray said.

Though it remains to be seen when Orton returns, it's safe to say he will come back with vengeance on his mind, leading to a match with Owens at a major premium live event.