More Details on Matt Riddle's Backstage Altercation With Brock Lesnar

News broke on Sunday night that WWE Champion Brock Lesnar and NXT star Matt Riddle had a verbal [...]

By Connor Casey

News broke on Sunday night that WWE Champion Brock Lesnar and NXT star Matt Riddle had a verbal altercation backstage at the Royal Rumble before either man entered the 30-man match. Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet originally put out the report, but little was known about what was said between the two at the time. But then Alex McCarthy of talkSPORT put out a new report on Tuesday morning that shed some light on the situation. According to one WWE official, Lesnar approached Riddle regarding the past comments "The Original Bro" had made about retiring Lesnar, something "The Beast" took offense to.

"Kid, you might as well stop saying my name and tagging me in s— because you and I will never work together. Ever," Lesnar said. Riddle's response was reportedly calm and the altercation never got physical.

The two never crossed paths in the actual Rumble match, as Riddle didn't come out until after Drew McIntyre had already eliminated Lesnar. According to McCarthy that was always part of the plan, and Riddle didn't face any sort of punishment from the interaction.

Back in May 2019 Paul Heyman discussed Riddle calling out Lesnar, something the former UFC fighter had been doing since before he signed with WWE, in an interview with ComicBook.com.

"I think Matt Riddle is a very smart man because he knows Brock Lesnar's the biggest box office attraction in WWE and Matt Riddle is looking to pick a fight and make a lot of money with Brock Lesnar," he said.

"... Brock Lesnar is the biggest box office attraction that could walk between these two universes, not only today, but in history," he continued. "I applaud Matt Riddle and everyone else for calling out Brock Lesnar's name because if you called out anybody else's you're automatically starting at second best."

Riddle posted a tweet on Tuesday regarding the Rumble, but didn't say anything specific about Lesnar.

Riddle's time in the Rumble was short-lived, as he was quickly eliminated by King Corbin. McIntyre went on to win the match, and announced at the beginning of Raw that he'd be challenging Lesnar for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 36. Lesnar responded with a surprise attack and flattened McIntyre with an F5.

This week's edition of NXT will see Riddle team up with Pete Dunne to face the Grizzled Young Veterans in the final round of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament. The winner will get a future shot at the Undisputed Era's NXT Tag Team Championships.

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