WWE: NXT’s Matt Riddle Coming to SmackDown

This past Wednesday’s episode of NXT was packed full of crazy moments, but the match of the night was easily the first-ever Fight Pit match that featured Matt Riddle taking on Timothy Thatcher. The match was insanely brutal and even featured Thatcher losing some teeth, but Riddle ultimately lost the match, which came as a surprise to many. That said, it makes sense after hearing tonight’s announcement on WWE SmackDown, as Kurt Angle announced that Riddle will be joining the Blue Brand from here on out.

That’s right, the King of the Bros is coming to SmackDown, and Angle gave him quite the introduction for those who aren’t familiar with him, which you can see in the video below.

“.@RealKurtAngle announces the newest addition to #SmackDown: @SuperKingofBros! #SmackDown”

While it surprised many that Riddle lost the match, it makes sense if he was leaving for SmackDown. Now Thatcher looks incredibly strong, and while Riddle lost, he did not tap out, so he still looks strong in defeat and leaves NXT with a brand new villain for others to take on.

This move has been a long time coming, and now Riddle has a whole new roster of superstars to take on in the ring. Riddle has consistently put on great matches while on NXT, whether solo or as part of the Broserweights Tag Team, which was sort of a happy accident that ended up becoming incredibly popular. You could stick him in a Tag Team on SmackDown too, but odds are they will let him run solo for a bit, as his laid back demeanor and physical style makes for a perfect contrast to quite a bit of the SmackDown roster.

We can’t wait to see what Riddle can do on SmackDown, and hopefully, we’ll see the start of this new era next Friday night. In the meantime, you can find the official description for tonight’s SmackDown below.

“The Intercontinental Championship Tournament heads into the semifinal round as Jeff Hardy faces Daniel Bryan, and Elias battles AJ Styles.”

Here’s the card for tonight:

Jeff Hardy vs Daniel Bryan

Elias vs AJ Styles

Lacey Evans vs Sonya Deville

Moment of Bliss featuring The New Day

Are you excited for Riddle on SmackDown? Let us know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MattAguilarCB for all things WWE!