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WWE WrestleMania 36: Can Matt Riddle be the one to dethrone Brock Lesnar?

By Patches Chance

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 15: Matthew Riddle weighs in during the UFC weigh-in on February 15, 2013 at Wembley Arena in London, England. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 15: Matthew Riddle weighs in during the UFC weigh-in on February 15, 2013 at Wembley Arena in London, England. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) /
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Looking ahead to WWE WrestleMania 36 in April of 2020, this potential main event could see one of NXT’s brightest stars do the impossible and dethrone Brock Lesnar at The Grandest Stage of Them All.

It may only be June, but eyes are still trained on WWE WrestleMania 36. It’s the nature of WWE’s cycle that the build to WrestleMania begins as soon as the last WrestleMania is in the books.

With SummerSlam on the horizon and Brock Lesnar recently recapturing the WWE Universal Championship, there’s a question of who could dethrone him this time. Seth Rollins seems like the obvious choice.

The BeastSlayer has already proven himself capable. Just three months ago we saw him stomp Brock Lesnar’s head into the mat to and capture the Universal Championship right as WrestleMania 35 began.

Unfortunately, that’s exactly why Seth Rollins shouldn’t be the man to knock Brock Lesnar off the top of the mountain this time. WWE clearly is committed to keeping Brock Lesnar near the top of the card for the time being, and that means a truly star-making moment could be coming for the man to knock him off that mountain.

Enter Matt Riddle. One of NXT’s most beloved stars, known as The Original Bro, is the perfect man to violently shove Brock Lesnar from his pedestal, and he hasn’t exactly been shy about promising to do exactly that.

Despite having only made his wrestling debut in February of 2015, the 33-year-old brought an impressive mixed martial arts background, including tenure with UFC, with him to the world of wrestling.

Matt Riddle first became known to the world of UFC by competing on the seventh season of The Ultimate Fighter. After going 1-1 in exhibitions during the show, his first official UFC contest was on June 21, 2008 during the season finale of The Ultimate Fighter.

Riddle won a unanimous decision, something he repeated two more times before suffering his first loss in 2009 via TKO. Over his five years with UFC, Riddle ultimately finished with a record of 8-3.

However, that record should have been 10-3, but two wins by Riddle were overturned and Riddle released from his UFC contract after he tested positive for marijuana. Since then, Riddle has been open and upfront about his choice to use marijuana recreationally and for pain management as opposed to using potentially addictive painkillers.

After being ousted by UFC, Matt Riddle chose to turn to professional wrestling. After only four years on the independent circuit, The King of Bros had become a fan favorite people were buzzing about all over the industry.

He won the Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards for Most Improved and Rookie of the Year in 2016. Riddle has also been a PWG World Tag Team Champion, Progress Atlas Champion, and Evolve Champion.

After arriving in NXT, Matt Riddle went on an impressive winning streak including successive victories over veteran Kassius Ohno. That streak was ended after a hard-fought loss to Velveteen Dream at NXT TakeOver: New York.

This impressive history, from UFC all the way to NXT, brings us to the present. Matt Riddle has the potential to be one of WWE’s biggest stars, and the best way to solidify that would be his dethroning Brock Lesnar at WWE WrestleMania 36.

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I’m sure some are wondering how we get from today to that moment, but the path isn’t really all that complicated. Thanks to his UFC career and how much he’s impressed in his short wrestling career, Matt Riddle could move to the WWE main roster today and feel like an instantly credible threat.

The 2020 WWE Men’s Royal Rumble Match is the perfect way to set the stage. If Matt Riddle were to move up to the main roster and win the Royal Rumble, he could make an immediate challenge to Brock Lesnar.

From there, the story would basically write itself. Brock Lesnar is seen in WWE as this otherworldly being. His UFC tenure and skills as a “real fighter” (as some would say) mean that some opponents don’t feel like a real threat, but Matt Riddle comes with that same tenure and skill.

While Brock Lesnar outweighs Riddle by about 50 pounds, The Original Bro isn’t exactly a small man at 6 feet 2 inches tall and a chiseled 216 pounds of muscle. He’s small enough to look like an underdog but big enough to feel like he has a chance.

Next. Possible Triple Threat opponents for Brock Lesnar and Seth Rollins at SummerSlam. dark

There’s still plenty of time between now and the WWE Royal Rumble, much less now and WWE WrestleMania 36. It’s difficult to know what all could happen in that time, but the path is clear for WWE to create a star with this marquee moment.

It might feel like a longshot, but there is a real possibility that the end of WWE WrestleMania 36 could see Matt Riddle standing over a beaten Brock Lesnar holding the WWE Universal Championship. It could be the end of The Beast Incarnate, but more importantly, it could be the beginning of a legendary WWE career for The Original Bro.