Roman Reigns has long been viewed as the unquestioned leader of WWE’s locker room, a role he embraced well before becoming the face of the company. His influence was felt as far back as 2016, when reports surfaced of former WWE star Enzo Amore causing tension during a tour. Reigns reportedly stepped in to take charge of the situation, setting the tone for his no-nonsense approach to maintaining order behind the scenes.

Years later, his presence would once again be felt in the ring. In 2021, Matt Riddle formed an unlikely alliance with Randy Orton, creating the fan-favorite team RK-Bro. The pair enjoyed two reigns as RAW Tag Team Champions before clashing with The Bloodline in a high-stakes tag team title unification match in May 2022. The night ended in chaos when Roman Reigns and his family launched a brutal attack, including a steel steps assault that sidelined Orton for nearly two years. Riddle, left to fend for himself, pursued revenge against The Bloodline’s allies.

Speaking to TMZ Sports, Riddle looked back on moments where his outspoken personality may have created friction with top names in WWE. One example he gave was his blunt comments about Reigns.

“Even Roman Reigns at one point I rubbed the wrong way. They get really angry when you spit facts. So if I say you’re hard to work with and you can’t fight, CM Punk gets really mad, right? If I said Goldberg, you’re a terrible wrestler and you injured people, he gets mad. You know, Roman, they asked me to talk crap about Roman. I told everybody, ‘Hey, he might beat me in the ring, but if we were in a cage or in the street, I’d beat the hell out of him.’ And he knows that, and I know that, and everybody else knows that. And Roman got upset about that.”

Riddle also revealed an interesting creative twist that was discussed during his RK-Bro run. The 39-year-old star argued that he was relatively new to the wrestling scene compared to The Viper and suggested that he should be the one to turn on Orton rather than the other way around.

“So, I was like, so if anything, I would like to turn on Randy. And Randy agreed. The office agreed. Now, granted, Randy got hurt and ended up leaving. And then I had my feud with Roman. I had my feud with Seth Rollins, etc. But yeah, I think the plan was originally him turn on me, but then when I explained what I thought would happen, they all agreed, and then they were probably going to have me turn on Randy turn heel. And I was very much so looking forward to that not just because of the matches but being able to dive into a different version of my character.”

Riddle was released from WWE in 2023 and has since been making his mark in MLW, where his outspoken confidence remains very much intact.