Matt Riddle was released from WWE in September last year, and he is already filling up his 2024 with dates. He will not have a match against Brock Lesnar, but that also wasn’t going to happen while he was with WWE, either.
Matt Riddle & Brock Lesnar’s Story
The history between Matt Riddle and Brock Lesnar has been a popular narrative for pro wrestling fans, but the match never took place. The two had a backstage confrontation during the 2020 Royal Rumble, which garnered notable attention.
In that Royal Rumble backstage encounter, Brock Lesnar let Matt Riddle know that he had no interest in facing him. Although they eventually briefly worked together, Riddle didn’t get the marquee match he wanted. Now, The King of Bros has alleged that Lesnar intentionally sandbagged his chances of winning the Royal Rumble match.
During an interview on Signed by Superstars, Matt Riddle alleged that he was initially told he would win the 2022 Royal Rumble, but then he claimed that Brock Lesnar refused to cooperate and insisted on winning the match himself.
“I believe — you know, it’s sports-entertainment — that I was told at one point, yeah, I was gonna win the (Royal) Rumble and everything else, and then what was it? Bobby Lashley beat Brock Lesnar because somebody came in and hit him with the belt or what have you. Then Brock came in, didn’t wanna do business with everybody, said he was winning, and then he won, and then none of the producers… nobody stood up to him, and they let him do it. I didn’t either, I didn’t either. I’m like, f*ck man, I’m just here.”
Matt Riddle is very firm on the idea that Brock Lesnar harbored animosity towards him. This belief has spurred discussions among fans, especially considering the Royal Rumble incident.
The anticipation leading up to the 2022 Royal Rumble suggested that Matt Riddle had significant momentum, leading many fans to believe it could be his moment to finally break into the main event picture with a WrestleMania main event match. That was not in the cards for the Original Bro.
Matt Riddle’s WWE Release
Matt Riddle’s release from WWE was marked by a series of internal issues, culminating in an incident at JFK Airport while returning from WWE’s final live event in India. He had a lot of internal infractions before that.
Despite prior support from management, Matt Riddle exhausted his chances as they found themselves unable to stand behind him any longer. The Original Bro had recently rejoined the company after an extended hiatus for rehab.
After jumping back into the indies, Matt Riddle is already securing numerous dates. His upcoming first-time-ever match against RVD in March and his anticipated return to MLW are all promising prospects. Matt Riddle won’t be hard to find after his WWE tenure is over, even if Brock Lesnar wants to track him down.
