WWE RAW star Riddle revealed that Vince McMahon 'didn't get him' at first when he was called up to the main roster from NXT.
During his interaction with Corey Graves and Vic Joseph on After The Bell, the RAW Tag Team Champion said that many people in the company didn't understand him, including the WWE Chairman.
"And at first, they didn’t get it," said Riddle. "Nobody got it, Vince [McMahon] didn’t get it. He was like, ‘You’re a goof’ and I went, ‘Well I’m a goof that can kick your a** dude.’ I know I’m goofy but like, when I get in that ring, I turn it up and at first he didn’t see it but now I think they see the in-ring ability with the entertainment side of it."
New Champs in WWE! More RIGHT HERE
Once Vince McMahon became more familiar with Riddle, he understood him a whole lot better. The latter was paired with one of the biggest stars in WWE history, Randy Orton, to form a tag team called RK-Bro.
Riddle on upsetting some WWE talent with his trash talk
Before joining WWE, Riddle was a UFC fighter, and just like everyone else in the promotion, he did a lot of trash talking. When he brought the trash talk to professional wrestling, however, it wasn't a smooth transition.
Riddle explained that it's not his intention to upset anyone in WWE, but trash talking is something he's used to.
"You know, I think my biggest problem is I talk a little too much trash, you know?" said Riddle. "And it gets me — I wouldn’t say it gets me in trouble but it definitely gets me a stern look. Funny enough, the office doesn’t really have a problem with it. They think it’s funny and people are talking and it develops drama and this and that. I would say it’s — I hate the fact that I rub people the wrong way because that is not my intention. I just talk trash. It’s why I fought in the UFC. I talk too much trash, got in too many fights and that’s why I wrestle."
"So I gotta think about top guys when I start talking trash especially if I’m not in storylines with them or anything like that because it does rub them the wrong way and I can say that for a fact," he added. "People aren’t happy. But for the most part, when people get to know me — the same thing with Randy [Orton]. Randy, before he knew me, didn’t like me but once Randy got to know me, he likes me. I’m pretty sure Goldberg [does]. He gave me a hug the other day at SummerSlam. There was a time when that guy wanted to rip my head off and you earn a certain level of respect and I think that’s what I have to do with some of the other people I’ve talked some trash about and hopefully I can, you know, turn them into believers and I just, you know, I don’t wanna make anybody upset." (H/T POST Wrestling)
RK-Bro will remain on the red brand as they were drafted to RAW in the 2021 WWE Draft. Randy Orton, however, is currently not medically cleared to compete.