Solving the Riddle: Nearly 2 years after WWE release, Matt Riddle is 'having the best time of my life'

Yahoo

4 days ago

In five-plus years with WWE, Matt Riddle became one of the most popular superstars on the roster. Despite having a legitimate combat sports pedigree, his laid-back, surfer/stoner persona came to be what defined him as a professional wrestler, allowing him to reach remarkable heights, particularly during his time in the 'RKBro' tag team with Randy Orton. Yet there was never a moment from 2018-23 where he truly broke through to become a 'top guy.'
Now, nearly two years since being released by WWE after a series of failed drug tests and an incident at JFK airport, Riddle has managed to capture that elusive spot at the top of the card with a major wrestling company, ascending to become MLW's World Heavyweight Champion in his return to the promotion.
Advertisement
'It's been fun,' Riddle told Uncrowned ahead of his latest title defense this Thursday at MLW's Summer of the Beasts event. 'I know I can run with the ball, but it's nice to actually be passed the ball to be able to fulfill dreams and aspirations I've had my whole life. You give me the ball, I'm going to run with it and not stop. I've been loving this run. I can't speak more highly of MLW because they have had my back before and now after WWE. They've always had a vision.'
Riddle is far from the first athlete to enter the world of professional wrestling with a combat sports background. Brock Lesnar, Ronda Rousey, Bobby Lashley and Ken Shamrock are just a handful of the big names who have competed in both pro wrestling and the cage. Yet there's a major difference between them and Riddle, who sports an 8-3 record with two no contests as a professional MMA fighter.
Advertisement
When they broke into — or returned to — pro wrestling, and during their most successful runs, those aforementioned fighters were presented in a more serious (read: dangerous) light for their on-screen personas. It's a tried and true formula that the best gimmicks in wrestling have more than a smidge of truth to them — they're the star's natural disposition, cranked up to 100. In WWE, Riddle was more comedic relief than killer, which worked particularly well in tag-teams with Orton or Pete Dunne.
But MLW unlocking the proper balance for Riddle has been key to his success as a singles performer.
'The big thing, and this happened when I worked with WWE, is they really dumbed my character down,' Riddle said. 'Maybe they did it so I am more relatable to kids or it's what they thought would work with their audience. Even when I was in NXT, I was more of a killer with the UFC background and a top guy while also being entertaining. While they did a good job, I think MLW does the best job because they let me be goofy, [let me have] fun with the Filthy Bros and my opponents, but they also respect me, know my legit background and understand I'm a threat in and out of the ring. With that, I love it because I still get to be a goofball while also being a killer, which is basically what I am in real life.'
Matt Riddle's MMA background is being put to good use in the ring. (Photo courtesy of MLW)
Naturally, there's a win-win to having Riddle at the top of the MLW card, and it goes beyond his character work or skillset inside the ring. There's the added marketing buzz or social media sizzle that comes with Riddle having worked in WWE for half a decade, raising his profile and, in turn, creating opportunities for himself as he returned to the independent wrestling scene following his release.
Advertisement
'The biggest twist or change for me was before, I was just an independent wrestler or a superstar,' Riddle said. 'Once I had the machine behind me with WWE and I came back, the way I'm handled is a lot different and that's because people have seen me on TV and wrestling big shows like WrestleMania. The pay has been way different, that's been a huge change. I used to get paid $50 a match — I don't get paid that any more, so that's good. The hardest thing is trying to keep the schedule full and every place you work may have different intentions with you. I know with MLW, they hold me in high regard.'
Considering his elevated name coming from WWE, it would have been easy for MLW to capitalize immediately by putting the championship around Riddle's waist. Instead, promotion founder Court Bauer and MLW waited a year before crowning Riddle. It's a move that ran counter to what Riddle says he's seen more and more on the independent wrestling scene, with fans clamoring for instant gratification in a Netflix generation.
'When you're running a show, you can listen to the fans, give them what they want, but you can't let the fans hold your company hostage and make decisions for you," he said. "Once you start doing that, you start to lose control. I feel like on the independent scene, I've seen that more often than I would like. Unfortunately, those fans aren't the ones buying tickets. Sometimes it's good to make fans wait. I think the bigger wrestling companies, like MLW, do an excellent job of making fans wait. I didn't come in on my very first day and win the world title. It took me a year to win it, and that's even after wrestling for them years prior to WWE. The chase and then the payoff mean something.'
Riddle is one of the latest examples of former WWE talent finding sustained success after leaving the wrestling giant. Cody Rhodes and Matt Cardona returned to the independent circuit after departing WWE and rose to immense and unprecedented success, with the former going as far to become a founding member of AEW — WWE's primary competitor — before returning as arguably the biggest draw in the business.
Advertisement
After Riddle was released in September 2023, the decision to stay active and involved in wrestling was an obvious one. Despite the aforementioned success of Rhodes, Cardona and many others who found new life outside of WWE, Riddle knew his path needed to be different.
Matt Riddle recently captured the MLW World Heavyweight Championship for the first time in his career. (Photo courtesy of MLW)
'I really enjoy and love wrestling. I love making people happy. For me, it was a no-brainer to continue,' Riddle said. 'When we talk about asking for peoples' advice, I do and I don't like to. I ask for everybody's input, but a lot like learning techniques in fighting or jiu-jitsu, I like to absorb everything and take bits and pieces of it. I'd recommend that for anybody looking to make it in pro wrestling. No one's journey in pro wrestling is the same. I wouldn't recommend anybody do what I do. It works for me, but it's also the MMA pedigree I bring to the table and my personality and how I carry myself that makes it attractive in some light. When anybody ever asks me for advice, I just say be yourself because nobody is you.'
As much as Riddle's authenticity can be an asset, it has gotten him some high-profile heat in the wrestling world. A quick internet search will unearth squabbles with Roman Reigns, Lesnar and Bill Goldberg in the past, all of which have been squashed to varying degrees. Even recently, Riddle made waves in the wrestling world by calling CM Punk, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens 'hard to work with.'
Advertisement
'I will say this, I come from a world of mixed martial arts, I've wrestled in college, I've been in plenty of fights,' Riddle explained. 'My thing is, I am now in the world of sports entertainment, and if I say something that ruffles your feathers or upsets you, you should probably take it with a grain of salt. If I talk trash and it's on the internet or something like that, it's usually because I am just trying to ruffle feathers. There's nothing wrong with that, especially in a world where I'm trying to make people believe things. Maybe they're true, maybe they're not. Maybe it's my real opinion, maybe it's not.'
Riddle will make his next MLW World Heavyweight Championship defense on Thursday in New York City, where he'll go up against Japanese wrestling legend KENTA for the first time. It's an exciting proposition for Riddle to put on a Japanese shoot-style match, considering how much emphasis he has put on his MMA background.
'I personally love it. It doesn't get much better than this,' Riddle said. 'I get a chance to defend my championship against him. On multiple levels it's awesome and outstanding. All of the Japanese guys I train with, wrestled with, know what I have done in the past and how legitimate I am. We do professional wrestling, but Japanese style and my style is what I like to call 'sport wrestling.' I think it's going to bring fireworks, we're going to hit each other hard and bring it.'
In a never-say-never business like professional wrestling, a WWE return is never something that can truly be ruled out for anyone, including Riddle. Regardless of the outcome of his match against KENTA, this recent run with MLW has shown that Riddle has finally figured out how to unlock his best in the squared circle.
'For me, I don't know if [the goal is] as much trying to make it back as it is getting to be the authentic character that I am and have fun,' Riddle said. 'Right now, I'm probably having the best time of my life, and it's amazing.'