Former WWE star Matt Riddle sparks backlash after missing a wrestling charity event.
Matt Riddle has been involved in some controversy towards the end of his WWE career. Towards the latter parts of his run in the Stamford-based promotion, he failed his drug tests and even got involved in an airport incident where he was said to be an unruly passenger. He departed from the company in September 2023, but the former superstar continues to get involved in controversy.
Most recently, Matt Riddle received backlash after he no-showed the inaugural show of Al Snow’s Global Wrestling Kingdom event, A New Kingdom Rises. This event was opened by the mayor of Barnsley to raise money for charities in support of survivors of domestic abuse and homeless veterans.
The wrestling show took place on Sunday, August 31, in Barnsley, England. Since May this year, the former WWE star has been advertised to appear and will be in action against Simon Miller. Due to his absence, Grado went against Miller instead in the main event.
According to a source from Cultatholic, Matt Riddle was already booked for the Global Wrestling Kingdom even months ago through his manager. However, it was only recently that he began experiencing concerns about his flights, which he stated were cheap, and expressed disdain about his hotel room in the area, which was booked for two days.
The MLW World Title reign of @SuperKingofBros has been legendary. At MLW FIGHTLAND, will it come to a sudden end at the hands of the Disruptor, @DijakFYE?
Watch live & free on Sept. 13 ▶️ https://t.co/xLsUDPoTK4pic.twitter.com/PGrcMrlShY
— MLW (@MLW) August 28, 2025
After the former WWE star expressed his concern, the promotion attempted to organize wrestling seminars so he could make extra money while in the UK, but was unable to finalize events on short notice. Although Matt didn’t cancel his booking, he never traveled to the country, and a driver was left waiting for several hours for him to arrive.
GWK received a reply from the superstar that he had accepted another booking, but would still potentially attend the show. Matt then didn’t open any of the promotion’s future messages regarding his status. As a result of Riddle missing the event, the promotion had to refund meet-and-greets, and sources indicated that Matt has yet to return his deposit.
Former WWE Star Matt Riddle Was Spotted At A Hulk Hogan-Related Event
From the same report, it was shared that on August 30, the day before the GWK event in the United Kingdom, he was spotted backstage at the Real American Freestyle’s inaugural event, and even expressed interest in competing for the wrestling league founded by Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff.
On the day of the GWK event on August 31, he teamed up with Stallion Rogers against Big Tito Lincoln and Lakay at the Boca Raton Championship Wrestling. The former WWE star wasn’t advertised for the original card, as the initial advertisement was a singles match between Rogers and Lincoln.