Matt Riddle has discussed his time in WWE and subsequent exit.
The former United States Champion was one of many releases in the latest round of WWE cuts back in September 2023. Riddle’s release was amidst controversy as he was seen inebriated at JFK Airport upon returning from an overseas tour. Additionally, Matt Riddle alleged that he was sexually assaulted by an officer in a deleted social media post, which did not happen. Many believe that his behaviour in New York was the final straw among previous issues while he was with the company.
Riddle was recently interviewed by FOX News ahead of his return to the ring on January 6th, where he will be competing for the MLW promotion. When asked if there were any hard feelings towards WWE given what had happened, the former Tag Team Champion stated that he really enjoyed his time with the company:
“For me, at the WWE, not at all,” he said. “I loved every second of it. I was a multiple-time tag-team champion with Randy [Orton], I was an NXT tag-team champion, I won the Dusty Cup Classic, I beat Bobby Lashley for the United States Championship, I wrestled multiple WrestleManias, Royal Rumbles.”
Discussing his release and the events that led up to it, Riddle stated that the promotion monitors their talents closely and makes the decisions accordingly. Riddle continued, stating that he was just a wrestler there and didn’t think there were any hard feelings from his previous employer either:
“With WWE, they run a ship, they run it a certain way, and when you work for WWE, everything you do is under a magnifying glass. It doesn’t matter if you did anything wrong, if you did something right, if it was in between, it’s perception. And the WWE, unfortunately, if a situation happens, and they don’t like the perception, they make their decision. But I’m not going to argue with them. That’s their company. I don’t run it. I just worked there. I’m thankful that they gave me the time that they did and that’s all I can say.”
“I have zero hard feelings. I don’t know if I can say that for them. They might have some hard feelings, but I feel like they’re pretty professional. They’re more about that paper, that money. So, I don’t think there’s any hard feelings. I mean, they did have to pay me for three months when I didn’t work. That was on them. They fired me.”
Matt Riddle Makes Shock Announcement With New Video
While appearances in other promotions in the United States are not that surprising for the former United States Champion, many were not expecting Riddle to show up on their screens during a recent New Japan pay-per-view. As seen at New Year Dash, the former WWE star issued a big challenge to one of the promotion’s champions.