Matt Riddle has discussed the series of events that took place at a New York airport.
Following on from an appearance at the WWE Superstar Spectacle show in India, Riddle returned to the United States at JFK airport. Reports from the airport stated that an unruly passenger was disembarking the flight, who was alleged to be the former WWE Superstar. Footage would later emerge of Matt Riddle being disorderly at the airport, which saw him yelling into a microphone.
Appearing on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Riddle discussed the incident and what led to it:
“What happened there, we had a tour in India, it was a one day tour. We flew to India and then back from India. We got there, landed, had a couple hours at the hotel, went to the venue, did the show, flew back to the States. On the way back, you know when you fly you feel some pressure and stuff. I thought it was just air pressure. I had a really bad ear infection. Then, of course, you add a couple of cocktails on top of that. Then, you know, grab the mic, I’m talking some crap. Flights were delayed. It was a perfect storm.
At the same time, I feel a lot of people would beat themselves up. At the same time, I look at it, I think it was a sign. I was overworking myself, maybe I hopped back into things a little too quick. Doing a four day tour and going to India for a day and back, it took its toll on me. That kind of thing took a toll on me,”
Shortly after landing, Matt Riddle posted a picture of a member of airport security on social media, who Riddle alleged sexually assaulted him. The post was quickly deleted. Discussing the situation, Riddle chose to not go into great detail:
I’m not going to go too much into detail with that incident. It was the same trip. I talked to internal affairs, I talked to the FBI. I’m not in trouble, I can assure you of that. I’m not going to go into details with the situation because they asked me not to, unless I want to press charges, and I didn’t want to press charges. That’s how that situation was handled.
At the same time, if I wouldn’t have had a couple of drinks, I wouldn’t have put myself in that situation, and I wouldn’t have been there. At the end of the day, I put myself in the situation that I knew I could have possibly gotten into trouble. I don’t think that’s the reason I got fired, but I don’t think it helps, especially with the UFC merging.
It was written in my contract that I was going to make a million dollars this upcoming year, guaranteed, which is a lot more than I was making last year and a lot more than I was making the year before that. I think there was multiple variables that played into my departure. Plus, I failed a couple of drug tests. The writing, for me at least, the writing was on the wall. I’m good in the ring and entertaining, but especially with WWE and how they want to be perceived, I don’t think I was a good fit at the time.”
Matt Riddle Details Failed Drug Tests
Riddle was one of many Superstars released from their WWE contracts in September 2023. Along with the aforementioned airport incident, Riddle had also failed multiple drug tests during his time with the company. During the same interview, Matt Riddle revealed which substance caused him to fail the tests and his time in rehab.
H/t to Fightful.