Matt Riddle has stayed busy amidst free agency. The King of Bros returned to the squared circle this past January, competing for the likes of MLW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, collecting the NJPW World Television Championship in the process. Riddle’s competing in the larger wrestling world comes as a result of his WWE release, as WWE cut ties with the former WWE United States Champion in Fall 2023 following a controversial incident at an airport. Riddle’s airport fiasco was largely seen as his last straw in WWE, as he had previously served suspensions for violating WWE’s wellness policy.
Matt Riddle Reveals Conversation With AEW’s Tony Khan
Even with 41 matches under his belt since leaving WWE, Matt Riddle’s permanent wrestling future is yet to be written.
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Speaking to SI’s The Takedown, Riddle revealed he had a conversation with AEW President Tony Khan at some point earlier this year.
“Maybe you’ll see me on an AEW channel or broadcast sooner rather than later. Maybe you won’t. I talked to Tony (Khan). I don’t know if he likes me,” Riddle said. “He seemed happy. He seemed cool about it. I don’t know. When you meet me, I’m very sarcastic. When I met him, I was like, ‘Oh, [did] you like that match [I had against Zack Sabre Jr.]?’ but I said it a different way, and he looked at me all confused. And I was like, ‘Never mind, dude.’ I just walked away. That was my experience with that.”
Riddle would bring significant experience to the All Elite Wrestling product. The former UFC fighter cemented himself as one of independent wrestling’s top prospects in the mid-2010s, impressing in promotions like Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and EVOLVE. He signed with WWE in late 2018 and surged on the WWE NXT brand before being called up to the main roster. There, he found his biggest successes in a tag team with Randy Orton and a bitter feud with Seth Rollins.
When he wasn’t occupied with high-profile storylines, Riddle’s baggage began to resurrect. Two months after his feud with Rollins ended, Riddle was suspended for violating WWE’s wellness policy for a second time. He was forced to attend mandatory rehab in order to remain with the company. Riddle’s in-ring return came in April 2023 and lasted just five months, as he was released from WWE that September.
“I think with me, and it’s one of the things I’ve noticed, I’ve been relieved after getting fired from WWE. I felt that because I was on TV, and I’m such a provocative character at times, everything was magnified so much because I was on TV,” Riddle continued. “The stress of working on TV two to three days a week was a lot. I like pressure. I like stress too, but it was a lot. The best answer would be to go to AEW, get more money, and work a decent schedule. I didn’t want to work on TV again. I didn’t want the attention for a while. I wanted to step away. I just wanted to do the indies.”
