Randy Orton On How His Relationship With Riddle Has Evolved, Going From Hating Him To Being Lucky To Have Him

In a recent interview with Ariel Helwani, Randy Orton discussed working with Riddle, how his relationship with Riddle has evolved, and much more. You can read his comments below.

Randy Orton on his current run in WWE and working with Riddle: “I’m finding myself laughing a lot out there and smiling. Finding the funny in whatever the situation may be. Each week, I kind of have to look at Riddle and roll my eyes. It was amazing at first when I tell him to shut up, but you can’t do that every week. So I’m trying to figure out different ways to show that I’ve just about had it with this guy. It’s so funny because I hated his guts at first and it comes back to that respect thing. He came across as a highly disrespectful…..he never came up and said hi. For two years I would run into this guy. Never went out of my way to say hi, but I’d see him. Guys come and say hi. His whole goal is to come up to WWE and be on the main roster and make a lot of money for him and the company. So I would think he would show up to work and introduce himself. There was none of that banter. It was headphones on, eyes are glazed over, and I walked by in Miami about two years into him being in NXT. I walked by and said screw this, I’m gonna introduce myself. I just came up and said, ‘There he is.’ Just whatever. He looks at my and [nods his head] and walks off. But that’s him.”

On how his relationship with Riddle has evolved: “If I text him now, he won’t respond. But, that’s just him. So, we started working together, I started seeing him interact with other people. ‘Oh, sh*t, he’s being smug over there with those guys. That’s just weird because they’re close. Oh, that’s just him.’ There are guys like that. Dean Ambrose was like that. ‘Who the hell is this guy?’ And then you just find out he’s just a super weird dude. Riddle, what you see is what you get. I don’t have a lot of friends in this business, but I consider him a friend. We have a lot in common, which is so funny because the whole thing on TV is that we don’t have anything in common. But in real life, we have a lot in common. When we’re out there in the ring and the red light is on, I’m feeling his energy, and the people are feeling it. He’s got something special. He’s a lot smarter than he lets on both on TV and in real life. He’s a smart dude. He’s lucky to have me there with him giving him the rub, and I think that I’m even more lucky to have Riddle with me. He’s always in a good mood, and that’s good for me. If I’m around negativity, you’re gonna suck me down with you. I kind of match energy. Riddle has the energy, and he gives it 110 percent. His facials are amazing. When he gets excited, you don’t have to tell him, ‘Hey, I need you to really be excited here. You really need to let those fans see this or that.’ He kind of just knows. He instinctively knows a lot of things. He has [those instincts]. I can’t say enough good things about Riddle. But I definitely was not a fan at first.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit Ariel Helwani with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.