Posts Tagged ‘Matt Riddle’

Matt Riddle Out of DEFIANT Ringmaster Tournament, Replacement Announced

UK based promotion DEFIANT Wrestling will be holding their ‘Ringmaster’ tournament over two nights starting today (16th/17th) from the O2 Academy in Newcastle, England.

The company has described the ‘Ringmaster’ as follows: “featuring 16 competitors, the tournament will feature stars we have never seen before in Defiant, stars we haven’t seen for a while, and stars we see often!”

Unfortunately Matt Riddle is no longer scheduled to compete due to a flight delay, a replacement has however been announced and it is highly rated UK scene performer El Phantasmo. Phantasmo will be taking on Aussie Open’s Mark Davis in the opening round this evening.

The full lineup for the tournament is as follows:

  • Adam Brooks
  • Bad Bones
  • BT Gunn
  • David Starr
  • Kay Lee Ray
  • Curtis Chapman
  • Kyle Fletcher (of Aussie Open)
  • Mark Davis (of Aussie Open)
  • Martin Kirby
  • El Phantasmo
  • Millie McKenzie
  • Nathan Cruz
  • Omari
  • Simon Miller
  • Stevie Boy
  • TK Cooper

With the recent announcement of the NXT UK brand and the news that WWE contacted talent cannot be featured on streaming services across the UK it is testament to the depth of talent that the United Kingdom scene has when looking at this stacked tournament.

The event will be available to purchase either on the FITE app or on DEFIANT’s Access On Demand service which available for $8.99 per month.

Posted July 16th, 2018 in News. Tagged: .

Main Events Announced For Upcoming EVOLVE Shows

Some big matches have been revealed for two upcoming EVOLVE events.

EVOLVe 108 is slated to go down in Philadelphia, PA on August 4th while EVOLVE 109 will go down on August 5th in Melrose, MA.

The promotion recently announced some matches for these events in their latest newsletter that was sent out to subscribers.

Matt Riddle will defend the EVOLVE Title against Shane Strickland in a Hardcore Rules Match at EVOLVE 108 while Riddle will defend the title against FIP Champion Austin Theory with Priscilla Kelly at EVOLVE 109 with a stipulation to be added a later date.

Also booked for EVOLVE 109 is Tracy Williams & Josh Briggs taking on Catch Point. The promotion will be announcing more matches for these events in the coming weeks but until then, here is a list of talent that is advertised to appear:

-WWN Champion Joey Janela with Penelope Ford
-EVOLVE Tag Team Champions Chris Dickinson & Jaka with Stokely Hathaway & Dom Garrini
-FIP World Heavyweight Champion Austin Theory with Priscilla Kelly
-AR Fox with Ayla & The Skulk
-Darby Allin
-JD Drake
-Anthony Henry
-Tracy Williams
-Josh Briggs
-The End
-Saieve Al Sabah
-Jon Davis
-Plus more to be added!

Do you plan on watching this upcoming event? Sound off in the comment section.

Posted July 3rd, 2018 in News. Tagged: .

Kenny Omega Praises Matt Riddle, The King Of Bros Responds Accordingly

Yesterday, Kenny Omega took part in an AXS TV media conference call to promote the G1 Special in San Francisco. During the press conference, Omega mentioned Matt Riddle as someone who he feels should do well in NJPW.

“I’m looking forward to seeing how Jeff Cobb and Matt Riddle do in Japan,” Omega said. “Matt Riddle should have a very successful career in Japan. It’d be cool if he became the foreign Shibata.”

Word reached Riddle about comments made by Omega and he responded in a way consistent with his moniker as “the King of Bros”.

The former UFC fighter is no stranger to receiving praise. After winning “Rookie of the Year” and “Most Improved” in the 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards, Riddle turned in a solid 2017 which saw him ranked at 116th in the PWI 500.

Riddle is the current Evolve champion, former WWN Live champion, and also held the PWG tag titles along with Jeff Cobb. In May, Riddle made it down to the final 2 competitors in Smash Wrestling’s Northern Tournament. The Northern runs a similar format to BOLA and was eventually won by Tyson Dux. Other competitors in the tournament included Joey Janela, Joey Mercury, Mia Yim, Kimber Lee, and Andrew Everett.

Kenny Omega Interview Notes

During the press conference, Omega also noted that he is proud of the Golden Lovers storyline.

“I’m proud of it. I’m not going to lie, that story was created for us,” Omega said. For myself and Ibushi…we built to it for years and years and years. For it to finally culminate and to hear the positive feedback, it was overwhelming.”

Omega also took some shots at Los InGobernables and most notably, their leader Tetsuya Naito.

“Naito is a pseudo-Steve Austin. I really don’t appreciate his message,” Omega said. “It only works in Japan. They live rough lives, it’s easier to fit in than rock the boat. Naito’s message is to calm down and not care. I think that message only has life in Japan.”

Posted June 22nd, 2018 in News, NJPW. Tagged: , .

Final Cards For This Weekend’s EVOLVE Events

EVOLVE returns this weekend with two new shows. EVOLVE 106 is scheduled to take place on Saturday in Brooklyn, NY at the Youth Center and EVOLVE 107 on Sunday in Melrose, MA  at the Melrose Memorial Hall.

The promotion has stacked the lineups for these upcoming events. The main event for Saturday’s show will see Matt Riddle defend the EVOLVE Title against Shane Strickland while Sunday’s event will have Matt Riddle defending the EVOLVE Title against AR Fox.

EVOLVE 106

EVOLVE Championship Match: Matt Riddle defends vs. Shane Strickland

WWN Championship Match: Austin Theory with Priscilla Kelly defends vs. Joey Janela with Penelope Ford

WALTER vs. Darby Allin

Chris Dickinson, Jaka & Dom Garrini with Stokely Hathaway vs. Tracy Williams, Timothy Thatcher & Anthony Henry

AR Fox with Ayla & The Skulk vs. DJZ

Bad Bones vs. Josh Briggs

The Skulk vs. The Skulk

EVOLVE 107

NXT North American Championship Match: Adam Cole defends vs. WALTER 

EVOLVE Championship Match (If Riddle Retains At EVOLVE 106): Matt Riddle defends vs. AR Fox with Ayla & The Skulk

FIP World Heavyweight Championship Match: Austin Theory with Priscilla Kelly defends vs. DJZ

Tracy Williams vs. Chris Dickinson with Stokely Hathaway

Darby Allin vs. Jarek 1:20 with Candy Cartwright

Dominic Garrini with Stokely Hathaway vs. Josh Briggs

What are your thoughts on this lineup? Do you plan on watching? Sound off in the comment section

Posted June 20th, 2018 in News. Tagged: , .

Free Match: Riddle vs. Strickland (MLW World Championship Finals)

Ahead of tonight’s MLW FUSION premiere on beIN SPORTS, beIN has uploaded the finals of the recent MLW World Heavyweight Championship tournament.

Below, watch “King of Bros” Matt Riddle and Shane “Swerve” Strickland battle it out to crown a new MLW World Heavyweight Champion.

It was the culmination of a months-long tournament, which saw Strickland defeat Brody King & Jimmy Havoc and Riddle best Jeff Cobb and ACH en route to the finals.

MLW FUSION is a new weekly 1-hour broadcast featuring Tony Schiavone and Rich Bocchini on commentary. As the name suggests, FUSION will feature a hybrid of pro wrestling styles bringing together some of the top talent from across the world.

In addition to Strickland and Riddle, MLW’s growing roster includes Jake Hager, MVP, Low Ki, “Filthy” Tom Lawlor, Jimmy Havoc, Barrington Hughes, Maxwell Jacob Friedman and many more.

FUSION will air each Friday night at 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT on beIN SPORTS.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=824a3k4asyM&feature=youtu.be

Posted April 20th, 2018 in News, MLW. Tagged: , .

Matt Riddle vs Will Ospreay Announced for OTT ScrapperMania

Over The Top Wrestling (OTT) has announced the latest match for their upcoming Scrappermania show on May 12th. The already announced card features some absolute world beater matches in the form of IWGP Intercontinental Champion Minoru Suzuki taking on WWN World Champion Keith Lee and Tomohiro Ishii going one-on-one with Jeff Cobb…but this bout may well top even those.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay will be taking on the ‘King of Bros’ Matt Riddle. Both men are still extremely young but have to be considered veterans of the independent scene at this point, Ospreay especially has been stealing shows across the world with his performances in PROGRESS & Rev Pro, in Australia and New Zealand and of course his recent NJPW matches alongside the likes of Kazuchika Okada. This could easily make MOTY lists come December and can be found on OTT’s On Demand service soon after the fact.

The following talents have also been confirmed for the mega show on May 12th:

  • OTT No Limits Champion Jordan Devlin
  • Zack Sabre Jr
  • The Kings Of The North (Damien Corvin & Bonesaw)

Posted March 12th, 2018 in News. Tagged: , , .

Mega WWE UK vs Lucha Underground/NJPW Match Announced for Dream Tag Team Invitational

UK promotion Fight Club: Pro has announced an absolutely huge match for Night 1 of their upcoming Dream Tag Team Invitational starting Friday March 20th.

WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne will be flanked by his British Strong Style compatriots Tyler Bate and Trent Seven to take on the team of Matt Riddle, Lucha Underground’s Angelico and NJPW’s Jeff Cobb.

Last year’s iteration of the DTTI saw British Strong Style take on The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega (then known as The Elite) and Fight Club will be hoping that this bout matches up to the precedent set on that night.

Tickets for the event are available to purchase via the official Fight Club: Pro site.

Posted March 8th, 2018 in News. Tagged: , , , .

DEFY Announces Spring Tour ’18 feat. Riddle, Cage, Sydal & More

DEFY Wrestling has announced that they will be heading out on Spring Tour ’18 starting April 28th in Tacoma, Washington.

The company will be making 5 stops on the tour and debuting in some smaller towns alongside headline shows in Portland and Seattle in May and June respectively.

The full lineup of shows is as follows:

  • April 28th – PCC in Tacoma, WA
  • May 4th – Masc Studios in Missoula, MT
  • May 5th – Hub Sports Center in Spokane. WA
  • May 26th – Hawthorne Theatre in Portland, OR
  • June 9th – Washington Hall in Seattle, WA

Already announced for the tour are EVOLVE/PROGRESS star Matt Riddle, Lucha Underground’s Brian Cage, Ring of Honor’s Flip Gordon, Shane Strickland, Joey Ryan and Matt Sydal.

Tickets for these massive shows will be on sale this Friday from 10am through DEFY’s Official Website.

Posted March 6th, 2018 in News. Tagged: .

More Big Names Announced for PROGRESS in New Orleans

PROGRESS will be making their return to the United States on April 7th/8th and will be hosting shows in New Orleans to coincide with Wrestlemania weekend. This will be the second time that the UK company has ventured over to the states following last year’s extremely successful Wrestlemania weekend shows. The Pontchartrain Convention Center will be hosting these two massive events will will feature the first ever non-UK ‘Thunderb*stard’ match as well as seeing the first ever ‘Chapter’ event outside of the United Kingdom.

Two more names have been announced for the WrestleMania weekend event and they are former UFC competitor Matt Riddle and #CCK member Chris Brookes. They join these already announced stars:

  • Travis Banks
  • Will Ospreay
  • Toni Storm
  • Mark Haskins
  • Jimmy Havoc
  • ‘Flash’ Morgan Webster
  • WALTER
  • Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson and James Drake)
  • Jinny

Tickets for the two days are still available to purchase via TicketFly and are priced from $25.

Posted February 28th, 2018 in News. Tagged: .

PWG Announces Card For Time Is A Flat Circle (3/23)

PWG has announced the full card for their next event, which is titled Time is a Flat Circle.

The show will be headlined by Chuck Taylor defending his PWG World title against Keith Lee. In the co-main event, Matt Riddle will take on Zack Sabre Jr.

The event is slated to take place on Friday, March 23rd. Here is the full card:

Chuck Taylor vs. Keith Lee for the PWG World title

Matt Riddle vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Will Ospreay vs. Adam Brooks

Desmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz vs. Flamita & Bandido

Jeff Cobb vs. Jonah Rock

Brody King vs. Jake Atlas vs. Eli Everfly vs. Douglas James

Rey Horus vs. Joey Janela

 

Posted February 21st, 2018 in News. Tagged: , .

Matt Riddle and Jeff Cobb Announced for Rev Pro ‘Epic Encounter,’ Could This Lead to a NJPW Run?

The ‘Chosen Bros’ tag team of Lucha Underground’s Jeff Cobb and EVOLVE/PROGRESS’ Matt Riddle will be making their way to Rev Pro’s ‘Epic Encounter’ event on May 11th from the world famous York Hall in Bethnal Green, London. The team were expected to be part of New Japan’s World Tag League event last year but plans were allegedly nixed once NJPW officials became aware of Riddle’s previous drug history. Jeff Cobb still made an appearance in the tournament alongside Michael Elgin.

With Rev Pro’s strong working relationship alongside New Japan there is always the chance that Riddle could be brought into the fold, he is regarded as one of the top independent stars on the planet and could be a huge asset to New Japan, especially considering their US expansion plans.

Riddle and Cobb will be taking on one of the best up and coming teams on the UK circuit right now, Aussie Open. Comprised of Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis, Aussie Open have been tearing through the United Kingdom’s tag ranks ever since they joined forces in 2017. Incredible bouts through PROGRESS against the likes of Mark Haskins & Jimmy Havoc, CCK and Moustache Mountain/British Strong Style have garnered the Australian stars a huge following on UK shores. This bout will surely be Aussie Open’s biggest test yet and a massive opportunity to test themselves against two of the world’s best.

The two main event bouts for the card have also been announced and they are as follows:

  • Revolution Pro British Tag Team Championship Match – Suzuki-gun (RPW British Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr & IWGP Intercontinental Champion, Minoru Suzuki) vs CCK (Chris Brookes & Travis Banks)
  • WWN World Champion Keith Lee Vs Tomohiro Ishii

Posted February 8th, 2018 in News. Tagged: , , , .

WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne vs Matt Riddle Announced by Fight Club Pro

UK promotion Fight Club: Pro has announced that WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne will be taking on former UFC fighter and now world renowned independent star Matt Riddle as part of their Tribute to Francois Trebec show on Friday February 23rd.

Contrary to FCP’s original announcement this will be the second time that the two have faced, the ‘Bruiserweight’ and ‘King of Bros’ had a match as part of IPW:UK’s Extreme Measures event back in 2017.

Tickets for the show are available to purchase now and if you are in the UK then you do not want to miss this.

Posted February 5th, 2018 in News. Tagged: , .

Star on WWE’s Radar Crowned wXw Women’s Champion, plus Matt Riddle Confirmed for AMBITION Tournament

Mae Young Classic competitor and PROGRESS Women’s Champion Toni Storm has been crowned the wXw Women’s Champion. Storm has been heavily rumored with a move to WWE over the past few months yet she appears to be capturing independent titles across the globe, whether she will be making her way over to the United States in the near future remains to be seen.

wXw has also confirmed that international standout WALTER will be facing EVOLVE star Matt Riddle at their upcoming AMBITION tournament on March 10th, AMBITION is a unique tournament with a fight based rule set, WWE superstar and Smackdown Live General Manager Daniel Bryan actually won the first ever iteration of the event.

https://twitter.com/wXwGermany/status/954780991675097089

https://twitter.com/wXwGermany/status/954428256480124928

Posted January 21st, 2018 in News. Tagged: , .

Matt Riddle and Jeff Cobb Announced for Fight Club: Pro ‘Dream Tag Team Invitational 2018’

The ‘Chosen Bros’ have been announced for their tag team debut in the United Kingdom. The enigmatic duo are the first team announced for Fight Club: Pro’s ‘Dream Tag Team Invitational’ that takes place March 30th – April 1st from Wolverhampton, Manchester and a yet to be named location for Night Three.

Last year’s tournament featured:

  • FSU (Eddie Dennis & Mark Andrews)
  • Angelico & Jack Evans
  • Marty Scurll & Zack Sabre Jr
  • CCK (Chris Brookes & Kid Lykos)
  • Trent Seven & Tyler Bate
  • Penta El Zero M & Rey Fenix
  • Pete Dunne & Sami Callihan

Tickets for the three days are available to purchase now via Fight Club’s official site.

Posted December 26th, 2017 in News. Tagged: , .

PROGRESS Chapter 58 ‘Live Your Best Life’ Results

PROGRESS Wrestling’s 58th Chapter event took place this past Sunday from the fabled Electric Ballroom in Camden, London. Here are the full results from the show:

PROGRESS World Championship Match – Travis Banks b. “Super King Of Bros” Matt Riddle – Banks won the opening match of the night to retain his PROGRESS World Championship and avenge his previous loss to the ‘Bro’

Mark Haskins & Jimmy Havoc (w/ Vicky Haskins) b. Maverick Mayhew & Connor Mills – The veterans took the win after DECIMATING the newcomers in Mayhew/Mills…brutal

Eddie Dennis b. Jack Sexsmith – This match ended via ref stoppage, after the bell Dennis continued to attack Sexsmith until Travis Banks appeared for the save, Dennis then issued a challenge for the PROGRESS World Title

PROGRESS Women’s Championship No.1 Contender Match – Jinny defeated Dahlia Black by pinfall to become the number one contender to the PROGRESS Women’s Championship, this was an extremely tense No DQ bout

Timothy Thatcher b. Strangler Davis – Thatcher defeated Davis to become the Number 1 contender to the ATLAS title, the VALHALLA vignette played during the match and it was revealed that Rob Lynch had returned to the company

Timothy Thatcher b. Chris Ridgeway – Thatcher demanded another bout after defeating Davis and debutant Ridgeway was happy to oblige

Joseph Conners b. Flash Morgan Webster – WWE UK star Conners won via pinfall

PROGRESS Women’s Championship Match: Toni Storm b. Alex Windsor – Storm won via pinfall to retain the PROGRESS Women’s Championship

PROGRESS Tag Team Championship Match: Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake & Zack Gibson) b. CCK (Chris Brookes & Kid Lykos) – Gibson won the match via submission to capture the tag titles for the Vets

Posted November 27th, 2017 in News. Tagged: .

Main Event Set for PROGRESS Chapter 58

PROGRESS Wrestling has unveiled the main event for their upcoming return to the Electric Ballroom in Camden, London.

PROGRESS World Champion Travis Banks will be defending his coveting title against the man that beat him a few months ago…Matt Riddle.

Former UFC star Riddle has been carving a path for himself on the independent scene across the world and his exploits in PROGRESS have been nothing short of spectacular, especially considering the length of time he has been a full time professional wrestler.

Banks won the PROGRESS title back at Chapter 55 when he beat current WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne, just weeks before he captured the belt he was forced to fight Riddle by Dunne as a way to ‘soften him up’ heading into their championship bout. Banks now has the opportunity to avenge his loss to an extremely credible challenger in Matt Riddle and there’s more an a good chance that PROGRESS throw a curve ball and make their top title a bit more ‘Bro.’

Posted November 17th, 2017 in News. Tagged: .

PROGRESS Chapter 57 ‘Enter Smiling’ Results feat. Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate and More WWE UK Stars

PROGRESS’ Chapter 57 event ‘Enter Smiling’ took place this past Sunday from the O2 Ritz in Manchester, England. Here are the full results from the sold out show:

Mark Haskins & Jimmy Havoc b. Jack Sexsmith & Matt Riddle – Haskins and Havoc took the win following a Superkick/Acid Rainmaker combo move on Jack Sexsmith

Joe Coffey b. Doug Williams – Coffey took the win following a Discus Lariat. Following the match Williams took the microphone and proclaimed “I don’t think I can do this anymore.”

Alex Windsor b. Dahlia Black, Jinny and Candyfloss – Windsor took the win when she put away Chapter debutant Candyfloss with the Libertine Driver

British Strong Style (Trent Seven, Tyler Bate & Pete Dunne) b. Zack Gibson, James Drake & Joe Conners – BSS took the DQ win after Conners attacked Pete Dunne with a Steel Chair. After the bout Dunne demanded that he get a singles match down the line with Conners, which was granted

PROGRESS Tag Team Championship Match – #CCK (Chris Brookes & Kid Lykos) b. RingKampf  (Walter & Timothy Thatcher) – Brookes and Lykos took the win after hitting a facebreaker/back senton combo on Timothy Thatcher

Keith Lee b. ‘Flash’ Morgan Webster – Lee took the win after hitting the Ground Zero in around 15 minutes, this was a squash match but the crowd were fully behind ‘Flash’

PROGRESS Championship Match – Travis Banks b. Mark Andrews – Banks took the win after applying an over the shoulder crossface to retain his championship

Posted November 13th, 2017 in News. Tagged: , , .

Matt Riddle No Longer Heading to New Japan?

Former UFC star Matt Riddle had been rumored for a potential debut in New Japan’s annual World Tag League event later this year. The company had planned on unveiling both Riddle and EVOLVE/Lucha Underground star Jeff Cobb as a way of pushing the often under hyped series.

The deal confirming Riddle’s part on the tour was all but sealed according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, however it is believed that NJPW’s parent company Bushiroad had discovered Riddle’s UFC test failures for marijuana.

Japanese culture takes a strong stance against marijuana, a case in point being Matt Sydal’s expulsion from New Japan following his arrest by Japanese officials back in 2016. It is not clear at this time if Riddle and New Japan are still in talks or if this deal is indeed completely off the table, Cobb is still slated to debut as part of the World Tag League tour.

 

Posted October 30th, 2017 in NJPW, News. Tagged: , .

Vice Working On MLW Feature, Never Say Never Tickets Now On Sale

Following the success of MLW: One-Shot earlier this month, SEScoops has learned that several high-ranking employees from Vice News (executives and producers) were in attendance for the show. Vice had a film crew there as well, so expect to see coverage of MLW: One-Shot at Vice.com in the coming weeks.

Speaking of MLW, tickets are now on sale for the upcoming Never Say Never live event, which takes place Thursday, December 7th from Orlando, Florida at Gilt Nightclub. Already confirmed for the show is Matt Riddle vs. “Filthy” Tom Lawlor.

Tony Schiavone and Rich Bocchini will be calling the action once again for the MLW.TV broadcast, which is posted for streaming that weekend.

For tickets, visit MLW.Eventbrite.com.

Posted October 20th, 2017 in News, MLW. Tagged: , .

Matt Riddle Accepts “Filthy” Tom Lawlor’s Challenge

It looks like we’ve got the first confirmed match for the upcoming MLW: Never Say Never live event.

Earlier this month at MLW: One-Shot, “Filthy” Tom Lawlor defeated Olympian Jeff Cobb in a very physical and hard fought contest. Afterwards, Lawlor called out another popular grappler with UFC experience: Matt Riddle.

MLW confirmed that the “King of Bros” was in talks about signing the match for Never Say Never. On Thursday, they released a video of Riddle formally accepting Lawlor’s challenge.

The news of this money match comes just days after the Orlando Sentinel reported that MLW is seriously considering running monthly shows in Florida.

MLW: Never Say Never is scheduled for December 7th from Orlando, FL at Gilt Nightclub. Tickets for the big event go on sale Friday morning at 10am Eastern at MLW.Eventbrite.com.

https://twitter.com/courtbauer/status/921047076489883655

Posted October 19th, 2017 in MLW, News. Tagged: , .

Suzuki vs Riddle and Ospreay vs Sabre Jr Announced for Rev Pro Global Wars

Revolution Pro Wrestling has just announced two huge matches for their upcoming Global Wars shows on November 9th and 10th.

The two matches announced for Night 2 are Minoru Suzuki vs Matt Riddle and Will Ospreay vs Zack Sabre Jr.

Suzuki vs Riddle is an absolute dream match for fans of the NEVER/Strong Style of pro wrestling. Riddle is scheduled to take part in the World Tag League tournament for NJPW later this year and could this match be the precursor for a NEVER Openweight title match down the line?

Ospreay vs Sabre Jr is also a match to definitely not sleep on. Both men have fully established themselves as mainstays in New Japan and now these two icons of British wrestling collide once again in their homeland.

Posted October 13th, 2017 in News. Tagged: , .

Matt Riddle In Talks With MLW, WWE Superstars Backstage At One-Shot

– WWE Cruiserweights Rich Swann Kalisto were backstage at last week’s MLW: One-Shot event from Orlando, FL. From what we saw, Swann and Kalisto really seemed to enjoy MVP vs. Sami Callihan and the main event featuring Shane Strickland vs. Ricochet. The ‘Living Legend’ Larry Zbysko and a few Impact Wrestling Knockouts were also in attendance.

– MLW.com has confirmed that former UFC welterweight Matt Riddle is in talks with the promotion about appearing at an upcoming show. Following his big win at over Olympian Jeff Cobb at One-Shot last week, “Filthy” Tom Lawlor was interviewed in the ring and called Riddle out. The “King of Bros” caught wind of the challenge and responded:

MLW CEO Court Bauer was quoted, “Matt is a phenomenal fighter and Lawlor is coming up fast and strong. Fans want this match and so do I. Hell, so do Matt and Tom. All I can say right this moment is… stay tuned.”

With MLW returning on December 7th with Never Say Never from Orlando, Florida – Riddle vs. Lawlor would make one hell of an addition to the card.

Posted October 10th, 2017 in News, MLW. Tagged: , .

OTT Third Anniversary Show Announced feat Matt Riddle, Colt Cabana, Rene Dupree and more

Over The Top (OTT) Wrestling has announced a show on October 7th to celebrate their 3rd Anniversary. The aptly named ‘Third Year Anniversary’ takes place at the Tivoli Theatre in Dublin, Ireland and will feature the following matches:

  • Mark Haskins vs ACH
  • Matt Riddle vs ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey
  • Session Moth Martina vs Veda Scott
  • Zack Gibson vs Colt Cabana
  • Jordan Devlin vs El Ligero vs Bubblegum
  • Bobby George Jr vs Rene Dupree

OTT has an on demand service available for only $8 per month and you can check out a free match from their recent WrestlePops show here.

Posted September 14th, 2017 in News. Tagged: , .

Matt Riddle Throws Shade at WWE For Signing James Ellsworth

Former UFC welterweight and middleweight contender turned independent wrestling star Matt Riddle is not a fan of the WWE signing James Ellsworth.

Riddle, who has done work for promotions such as Evolve and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, recently did an interview with Metro to talk about his background in mixed martial arts (MMA), making the transition to wrestling, and his opinion on talents the WWE shouldn’t have signed. Check out what he had to say here below:

Making quite a successful transition from MMA to professional wrestling:

“The difference is that I’ve always been a huge fan and always wanted to get into professional wrestling. I just never thought I was big enough or that the opportunity was there. A lot of fighters think it’s going to be easier than MMA and I can tell you this right now, it’s not that the training is harder or you that have to cut weight in pro wrestling, but you have to connect with an audience.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re the best wrestler in the world and can do every move perfectly, if you don’t connect with the crowd or sell well or have good promos, nobody cares. People can see through bulls—. When people watch WWE and they hear a guy like Roman Reigns quoting Jack and the Beanstalk, they know he is not speaking from the heart. That’s why I like the indies, because I like being who I am. I get to be who I am in the ring, on the microphone, everywhere, it’s great. I never have to get out of character because I am Matthew Riddle.”

 

Who the WWE shouldn’t have signed:

“With wrestling, everybody always asks what they can do to get signed or how can they get over. There’s no right or wrong answers, that’s why I think the best thing you can do is be yourself. Decide which of your traits and characteristics are going to stand out to people, and take advantage of that. It’s the same with WWE because they have John Cena who is a legitimate Superman and a machine. And then they have James Ellsworth on the same payroll. So you have James Ellsworth and John Cena.

“If you look at them side by side and look at everything, one guy shouldn’t be collecting a check but he is. Nothing against Ellsworth, but if you’re looking at picture-perfect that’s what everybody should be like, everybody should be like John Cena. Jacked, a machine, get up at 5am go to bed at 2am, but that’s not how it works. And the fans can’t all connect with Superman. Some people are James Ellsworth, nothing wrong with that.”

You can check out Riddle’s full interview with Metro at this link.

Posted July 6th, 2017 in News, WWE. Tagged: , .

Matt Riddle Talks About His Goal Of Wrestling For WWE

Former UFC fighter turned pro wrestler Matt Riddle recently spoke with Martin Hines of of Metro.co.uk about the possibility of wrestling for WWE one day. Riddle has become a cult favorite on the independent scene and is widely considered one of the top free agents in the world. Riddle says he’d really like to work for WWE one day, but he’s got some concerns about how that would actually play out.

Riddle said that once you work for WWE, you’re somewhat limited. He used an example of the movie business. If you make an independent movie, you hire the actors, the crew, it’s lower budget but you’re in control. When you go to a big studio, they give you more money but they have creative input and there’s a lot of strings attached.

“Something I love about indies is that I get to tell my story,” Riddle said. “There might be a different outcome, but before, during and after the match I tell the story my way.”

He cited AJ Styles and Kevin Owens as wrestlers who did such great work on the independent scene that WWE would have been crazy to not feature them.

“I’d really like to go to WWE and be one of the main guys, get right to the main roster and have a push right away,” he added.

Does this mean he’s not interested in wrestling for NXT? “I wouldn’t even mind having to go to NXT but it’d have to be that I’m fighting for the title right away. And it makes sense. I’m a former UFC fighter killing it on the indies and I’m a stud.”

Other topics discussed include his popularity in the UK, being part of Team SPLX, his UFC departure and UFC President Dana White being “extremely” disrespectful to him. Head over to Metro.co.uk to check out the full interview.

Posted July 5th, 2017 in WWE, News. Tagged: .

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