Matt Riddle has discussed how he was able to overcome his very real backstage issues with his current on-screen rival, Seth Rollins.
The personal issues between Seth Rollins and Matt Riddle have been a matter of discussion for some time. The problems occurred when Riddle’s now ex-wife made very public comments about the bodies of some of WWE’s female stars including Rollins’ wife, Becky Lynch.
Speaking on the After The Bell podcast, Matt Riddle alluded to those issues and says ultimately he and Rollins were able to put personal issues to the side in order to do business together:
“[We] Didn’t get along too well, he wasn’t a fan of me, and I’ll say this. I wasn’t not a fan of his, but somebody close to me at the time made some comments, this, that, and the other thing, and Seth wouldn’t talk to me. He wouldn’t look at me, he wouldn’t talk to me, he wasn’t gonna have anything to do with me. And eventually, it’s kind of like Brock and everybody else, you don’t have a choice, I’m here, I’m gonna keep working hard.”
“Eventually, you’re gonna have to get in the ring with me and we’re gonna have to do business. And eventually, Seth came to that conclusion. But I think he also realises what I bring to the table, what I’m willing to do to get reactions from the crowd, just like, you know, when we go personal, we talk about things we probably shouldn’t be talking about. But I’m like, bro, I don’t care. I mean, I do pay child support. You know, things are rough for me. And for me, I kind of see it as more of a therapeutic thing.”
“Anybody that knows me knows what I’m going through. And like, I can’t believe he would have said that to me if I was going through that. Because everybody that’s been in that spot in that moment can relate. And I think that’s the big thing. I think it’s something Seth does and people don’t realise, I want people to relate. Everybody can relate about being like the smaller brother friend that just wants to be cool and has the other brother like him, that’s me and Randy, with Seth, it’s just two guys that don’t like each other and talk some crap that he shouldn’t be talking.”
“And we’re at that point where I want to hurt him physically, mentally, emotionally, he does, too. So and I think, you know, just trying to build that story and build certain things that for me, the more real it is, the easier it is, the better it is. And that’s what makes me working with Seth so good because he’s the same way he likes to go all in.”
Things may well get very real between Matt Riddle and Seth Rollins again when they do battle inside the Fight Pit at Extreme Rules.