NXT’s Matt Riddle has made it no secret that he’s not a fan of WWE Hall of Famer Bill Goldberg, so much so that the two wound up having an awkward backstage encounter at last year’s SummerSlam. In a new interview with Sportskeeda Riddle talked about how his statements on social media have gotten him heat with certain people backstage, but added that he has no issues with the higher-ups like Vince McMahon. Elsewhere in the interview he was asked about Goldberg’s recent reign as Universal Champion, which came seemingly out of nowhere when he quickly beat “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt at Super ShowDown only to drop the title to Braun Strowman just as quickly at WrestleMania 36.
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Needless to say, Riddle wasn’t impressed with how Goldberg won the title.
“To not only bring him back but then to almost destroy… if Bray Wyatt wasn’t as good as he is and so charismatic as he is and everything else, he wouldn’t be able to survive. Most characters would die after that and probably be released shortly after. He was billed undefeated then just to have him Speared a couple times, barely Jackhammered, one, two, three. The other thing, too, is you’re putting other athletes that are in their prime or trying of having their run, you’re putting them in jeopardy because somebody wants to come back. You know?”
He then talked about the WrestleMania 36 match being a disappointment.
“I don’t think it was a poor move bringing him back for a match, but to bring him back to win the title, to destroy the character like The Fiend being being so unstoppable and then just have Braun Strowman beat him… You know, it doesn’t really do much for Braun Strowman beating him. It’s not like it was a passing of the torch or a great match. It was a couple of Spears and a PowerslamAnd I don’t want to knock on Braun or anybody, I don’t want to knock on people’s work but at the same time, realise where you are, realise how hard people work to get where you are, realise how lucky you are and maybe you just want to put a little bit more effort into what you’re doing.
“As a fan, like yourself and myself, we all agree and every fan that watched that, even if they wanted Braun to win or whatever, was disappointed,” he added. “Even if you wanted Goldberg to win, you probably didn’t want him to win like that. It’s one of those things.”
Goldberg hasn’t appeared on WWE television since the Strowman loss, and Wyatt managed to bounce back from his loss to Goldberg by beating John Cena at WrestleMania. Strowman will defend the Universal Championship against Wyatt at Money in the Bank this Sunday.
