After weeks of hype, Matt Riddle has made his in-ring debut on the main roster.
The former NXT star did so during Friday’s episode of SmackDown on FOX when he interrupted AJ Styles’ Intercontinental Title celebration in the opening segment.
He faced Styles in a non-title match that was taped earlier this week from Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center. Riddle went over with his finisher.
The former UFC star wrapped up his successful run under the NXT banner when he competed in a Fight Pit match against Timothy Thatcher with special guest referee Kurt Angle during the May 27th episode of NXT. He lost the bout.
Just two nights later on SmackDown, WWE had the Hall of Famer Angle announce the main roster call up of the Riddle. the company had been promoting his arrival ever since with vignettes.
It turns out that WWE officials had a manager in mind for the new SmackDown star. WWE offered Angle to manage Riddle on the main roster, but Angle turned down the opportunity due to him being committed to an outside business.
Riddle has also stated that he thought the real money would have been in him attacking the Angle instead of being introduced by him.
