At WWE Elimination Chamber Riddle overcame WWE United States Champion Bobby Lashley and John Morrison to claim his first title on WWE’s main roster.
After pinning John Morrison to win the championship, Riddle went on to defeat Morrison once again on RAW.
Appearing on WWE’s The Bump, Riddle reflected on his recent victory as well as looking forward to WrestleMania.
“So far, the rides going good. It’s almost been a whole week of me being champion,” Riddle said with a grin. “I don’t know who I would defend the championship against at WrestleMania – if I keep holding the championship till then. I mean, I’ve got some ideas on who I want to defend it against, especially after that Royal Rumble match. There were a few people I got to lock horns with that I could see myself going toe-to-toe against for this championship.”
One of the biggest success stories in WWE’s mid-card in recent years was the creation of the ‘US Open Challenge.’ At WrestleMania 31 John Cena reclaimed the United States Championship from Rusev, and over the course of the following weeks hosted an open challenge to any Superstar who wanted a chance to win the belt. This lead to a series of entertaining matches and the main roster debuts of Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens.
Responding to a question from Evan T. Mack, Riddle revealed that he was in favour of bringing back something similar to the open challenge during his reign.
“I love it! It’s what I want,” he answered. “I think this past Monday was a perfect example…granted, I didn’t defend the title, it was just a match, but I would have been more than happy to defend the title against Morrison. I would love to do something like that.
“It’s not to elevate this title; the title has already been elevated. Bobby Lashley had it [and] John Cena had it. It’s already a stacked title. This title is going to elevate me on matches that I need to be in so people can see me in a different light.”
Riddle recently came under fire from Jim Cornette, with the legendary manager labelling the former UFC star “disrespectful.”