Subhojeet Mukherjee on January 30, 2024
Matt Riddle and Randy Orton had an unbreakable bond as Team RKBro, going on to win tag team gold and becoming one of the highlights of WWE television at one point. However, Riddlle and Orton also struggled for a long time to get a controversial t-shirt approved by WWE.
Prior to Randy Orton’s injury hiatus, he and Matt Riddle were teaming up, as they were known as Team RKBro. They won tag team gold together and were viewed as highlights on WWE television.
While speaking to Chris Van Vliet, Matt Riddle shared that he and Randy Orton had been trying to persuade WWE for months to get 4:20 merchandise approved. On April 19th, 2022, WWE contacted them for a one-day, limited release.
”Dude, it took a lot of convincing (for WWE to create 4:20 merchandise). But, I’ll tell you this, they’re not mad about it. They made quite a pretty penny on it and so did I and so did Randy (Orton) I would imagine. But, yeah, we were trying for months and months and then 4:20 came up, and now if you know Randy, Randy doesn’t like to advertise anything. Randy does his job and that’s his job. Unless he wants to do something, he’s not gonna do it, which, that’s why Randy’s so cool.”
”So, we want this 4:20 shirt. WWE hits us up on 4/19, they go, ‘Randy, Riddle, we’re gonna do an RK-Bro 4:20 shirt. We’re only going to do a limited release, one day only.’ Alright, they could’ve told us any other shirt, whatever. I probably would have shared it. Randy wouldn’t have shared it. Me and Randy texted each other separately from then and we go, ‘We’re sharing the hell out of this shirt. We are getting this over. We need this to sell.’
The merchandise performed exceptionally well, prompting the company to continue its availability. Despite initial reservations, the success of the 4:20 merchandise turned it into a profitable venture for both Riddle and Orton. They actively promoted the release, and after positive results, WWE decided to extend the availability of the merchandise beyond the initially planned one-day release.
”We wanted it, we needed it, we finally got what we wanted. We needed to make this happen. We got to let them know how much money there is, and literally, not even 16 hours into 4:20, we got a call. They’re like, ‘Oh, we’re going to keep the shirt going. We’re just gonna keep it going’ and even after Randy left because of his injury, they had the Bro 4:20 shirt which sold like hotcakes and the Bro 4:20 hats and everything else.”
Matt Riddle also thinks that a reunion with Randy Orton is guaranteed. Riddle might not be part of WWE anymore, but he will always have a lot of respect for his time with The Apex Predator and that’s what matters to him the most.
What do you think of what Matt Riddle had to say? Do you feel he might return to WWE one day and reunite with Randy Orton? Let us know in the comments section below!
January 30, 2024 8:43 am
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