"He was a great student" - WWE legend backs popular star to dethrone Roman Reigns (Exclusive)

Roman Reigns became the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion at WrestleMania

WWE Hall of Famer "Cowboy" Bob Orton wished Riddle well in his match against Roman Reigns this Friday on SmackDown.

The Original Bro was in a unique situation this past Friday as he went up against Sami Zayn in a high-stakes match. A loss would have prevented him from appearing on the blue brand forever. However, winning would have guaranteed him a title opportunity against the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion.

Riddle fought hard against the "Honorary Uce" and picked up the win after countering a Helluva Kick attempt with an RKO.

In an exclusive interview for Sportskeeda Wrestling with Bill Apter, Orton spoke about Riddle's chances against The Tribal Chief. He mentioned that the RK-Bro member was a brilliant student of the game. He wished the star luck in what will be the biggest match of his career this week on the blue brand.

Here's what the wrestling veteran had to say:

"He was a great student and he's learned well. I wish him luck, all the luck in the world." (From 1:12 - 1:18)

You can watch the full video here:

Roman Reigns has promised to smash Riddle

The Tribal Chief will square off with his challenger on SmackDown this week in his first title defense since WrestleMania. After the match was made official, The Head of the Table took to Twitter to warn Riddle of the beatdown that was coming his way.

Now I have to leave the private island 🏝
…jump on the private yacht🛥
….and then board the private jet 🛩 just to smash this idiot on #Smackdown
Tribal Chief problems. 😏☝🏽 twitter.com/WWE/status/153…

This week on RAW, Paul Heyman added another stipulation to the bout. If Riddle loses this week on SmackDown, he will never challenge for the biggest prize in the company as long as Reigns is champion. This could also play into the mind of the former RAW Tag Team Champion.

Roman Reigns has been a dominant champion, smashing challenger after challenger since winning the Universal Championship, a title he has held for over 650 days.

As fans gear up for this huge bout, it will be interesting to see if Riddle can indeed avenge the beatdown of his best friend Randy Orton and knock Reigns from the "Island of Relevancy."

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