Watch: Former WWE Star Matt Riddle Makes NJPW Debut

Riddle called out Hiroshi Tanahashi at NJPW New Year Dash.

By Liam Crowley

Matt Riddle has been a free agent for a couple of weeks now. The King of Bros was released by WWE this past September around the time that his former employer was doing company-wide layoffs following its merger with UFC. Riddle's release was not strictly tied to budget cuts though, as he had been involved in a series of controversial incidents in the months leading up to his exit, with a situation at an airport ultimately being the straw that broke the camel's back. With his no-compete clause now expired, Riddle is free to test himself in any promotion across the world, and one of those in the Far East's top company.

Matt Riddle Makes NJPW Debut

MATT-RIDDLE-NJPW-TANAHASHI
(Photo: NJPW)

The King of Bros has landed in the land of the rising sun.

During NJPW New Year Dash, former WWE star Matt Riddle appeared in a pre-taped vignette to challenge new NJPW WORLD Television Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi. Riddle was shown in a training montage before his signature flip flops stepped out of a car and he laid down the challenge to New Japan's ace.

After the vignette concluded, Tanahashi got on the microphone to cut a promo in Japanese, which commentary translated.

"Anytime I'll do it, but I have no idea who that guy is," Tanahashi responded. "I will have to go back and do some research first."

Commentary then speculated that Tanahashi is actually well aware of Riddle and is just trying to get under his skin. After all, Tanahashi currently serves as NJPW President, meaning he himself was likely instrumental in bringing him into the company.

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Riddle is not the only former WWE star that got involved in NJPW this week. During NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18, Nic Nemeth (formerly known as Dolph Ziggler) sat ringside to take in the action. New NJPW Global Champion David Finlay eventually got in Nemeth's face and shoved him, leading to a brawl between the two.

It is currently unclear as to when either Riddle vs. Tanahashi or Nemeth vs. Finlay will take place. NJPW's next big show, NJPW Battle in the Valley, goes down next Saturday, January 13th and is already set to be headlined by Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay. Considering that show takes place in California, it's possible that NJPW would want to load up the card with former WWE stars that a San Jose audience would be especially familiar with.

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