RK-Bro

RK-Bro is an American professional wrestling tag team composed of Randy Orton and Riddle. They are signed to WWE and perform on the Raw brand. The team's name is derived from Orton's initials and finisher "RKO" and combined with Riddle's catchphrase, "Bro". They are the current WWE Raw Tag Team Champions in their second reign.

History[]

On the April 19, 2021 episode of Raw, Riddle would interrupt a backstage interview by Orton where Riddle suggested a tag team formation, with Orton dismissing the idea by leaving. A match was made later on in the night between Orton and Riddle, which Riddle won with a roll-up.^[5] The following week on Raw, Orton was backstage with Riddle when he suggested the team be given a try. Later on, the newly labeled RK-Bro defeated Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin. In a backstage interview afterwards, Orton suggested to Riddle they take the team "a day at a time", thus turning Orton face for the first time since early 2020.^[4]

On the May 3 episode of Raw, Orton and Riddle defeated Elias and Jaxson Ryker; this brought RK-Bro's record to 2–0.^[6] On the May 10 episode of Raw, RK-Bro teamed up with The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) to defeat AJ Styles, Omos, Elias, and Ryker in an eight-man tag team match, increasing RK-Bro's record to 3–0.^[7] On the June 21 episode of Raw, Orton faced John Morrison in a Money in the Bank qualifying match, but was defeated.^[8] The following week, Orton was scheduled to face AJ Styles and Drew McIntyre in a last chance match, but for unknown reasons was pulled and replaced by Riddle who would go on to lose the match for Orton.^[9]

Raw Tag Team Champions (2021–present)[]

After a seven-week absence, Orton returned on the August 9 episode of Raw, where he initially discontinued his team with Riddle. Later that night, Orton defeated AJ Styles in a match following assistance from Riddle and afterwards pretended to hug him, however, Orton attacked Riddle with an RKO, which was not construed as a heel turn but rather as Orton's unique way of showing gratitude.^[10] The following week, Orton officially reunited the team after Riddle saved him from an attack at the hands of AJ Styles and Omos.^[11] At SummerSlam, RK-Bro defeated Styles and Omos to win their first WWE Raw Tag Team Championship, both individually and as a team, giving Omos his first WWE loss by pinning Styles.^[12] On August 30 edition of Raw they successfully defended their titles against Bobby Lashley and MVP of The Hurt Business.^[13] At Crown Jewel, RK-Bro would retain their titles against AJ Styles and Omos.^[14] At Survivor Series, RK-Bro would defeat SmackDown Tag Team Champions, The Usos in an interbrand match.^[15] RK-Bro would then go on the successfully defend the Raw Tag Team Championships against Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode on the November 29 episode of Raw and against The Street Profits at Day 1.^[16][17] On the January 10, 2022, episode of Raw, RK-Bro dropped the titles to Alpha Academy (Chad Gable and Otis), ending their reign at 142 days.^[18] However, on March 7 episode of Raw, RK-Bro regained their tag team championships with Riddle pinning Chad Gable in a triple threat match.^[19]

Championships and accomplishments[]

• WWE
  • WWE Raw Tag Team Championship (2 times, current)^[20]

References[]

External links[]

• RK-Bro Profiles at Cagematch.net
• Randy Orton on WWE.com
• Matt Riddle on WWE.com