Matt Riddle finds his stallion, but still wants Brock Lesnar

Ahead of his upcoming title defense, Matt Riddle chats with Daily DDT about the state of WWE NXT, whether his dream match with Brock Lesnar is off the table or not, and much more.

If it wasn’t already apparent enough, Matt Riddle has proven himself to be a one-of-a-kind competitor as a well as a recurring highlight on Wednesday nights during this empty arena era of WWE NXT.

The Original Bro signed with WWE in the summer of 2018 and has been electrifying audiences ever since. After unsuccessfully challenging for the NXT North American Championship and NXT Championship in 2019, he finally got his first taste of gold in the form of the NXT Tag Team Championship alongside Pete Dunne at the onset of 2020.

Unfortunately, current circumstances have prevented “Stallion Pete” from appearing on programming and defending his half of the twin titles with Riddle. The adversity, however, has presented NXT newcomer and world renowned wrestler Timothy Thatcher with an opportunity to serve as Dunne’s surrogate and help keep the gold in their possession.

This Wednesday night on NXT, the dynamic duo will meet their toughest opposition to date when they put the NXT Tag Team Championship on the line against Imperium’s Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner.

“They’re a pretty stacked tag team, they’ve been working together for a long time,” Riddle said of his upcoming opponents in a phone interview on Tuesday.

“There’s no arguing that, but at the same time, Stallion Timothy and Stallion Riddle… We’re kind of destined to win. You saw us on The Newly-Bros Show. It’s like we finished each other’s sentences. They’re a tough team, but if me and Stallion Pete can do it, I’m pretty sure me and Stallion Timothy can do it, too.”

The aforementioned debut of The Newly-Bros Show two weeks ago on NXT was met with critical acclaim online and gave viewers a chance to get to know Thatcher a bit better. Hosted by Byron Saxton, the segment was a complete train wreck yet an absolute blast at the same time.

Before Riddle and Thatcher could carry on with The Newly-Bros Show, they were rudely interrupted by Imperium, setting the stage for their championship clash tonight on USA Network. When asked about whether we’ll see another installment eventually, Riddle emphasized that its fate is ultimately in the fans’ hands.

“I thought Byron did a great job. He was a natural, he had some spin moves while holding the microphone. The guy’s got it,” Riddle said. “You never know with WWE. It could be a running thing or that might be it. That could be the last time we ever see it. If it were up to me, it would happen again and again. I think time will tell. The fans have to speak.”

Tag teams are emerging from every which way in NXT to make a statement at Riddle and Thatcher’s expense. In addition to Imperium, tandems such as Indus Sher, Ever-Rise, Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch, and of course Undisputed Era are also in the running for a future shot at the straps.

Leading the list of contenders has to be The Grizzled Young Veterans, who were seemingly primed to go for the gold before the pandemic forced them to stay put in England for the time being. Riddle made it clear that he hopes to step in the ring with Zack Gibson and James Drake before long.

“I would love to [face them again],” Riddle said. “They’re a tough team. It’s some tough times, it’s unfortunate that all these events have happened, but I think it’s going to make it that much sweeter when we eventually get our hands on the Grizzled Young Vets. They’re high-octane, they bring it, and yeah, I look forward to that match.”

As for teaming with Thatcher, Riddle sees it as a seamless transition. Not only do they have history from the independent scene, their in-ring styles mesh together perfectly.

The two teamed up for the first time on NXT last month and clicked immediately, knocking off Roderick Strong and Bobby Fish with relative ease. Riddle hardly sees it as a challenge despite all the time he and Dunne spent creating chemistry of their own.

“I think it’s pretty easy,” Riddle said. “Me and Tim, he likes to grapple and shoot. I also like to do that and throw some hard strikes in there. He likes to hit some European uppercuts. I think we fill in the gaps for each other, you know? We’re both extremely strong and technical, but I’m more of a striker, he’s more of a grappler. The combination translates pretty well.”

As for Dunne, Riddle claims to have kept in contact with him to the best of his ability. It’s safe to say the masses miss seeing The Broserweights on NXT TV, especially after the stellar start they had to 2020.

Their eventual reunion is undoubtedly going to be an event of epic proportions, but in the meantime, fans can rest easy knowing their friendship is still very much intact, or so says Riddle, anyway.

“I call Pete every single day,” Riddle said. “I FaceTime him, I Skype him, I do it all. I Zoom him, you know you can do different backgrounds. He doesn’t pick up usually, but I call him every day. I call him every day! But I think he’s just busy, he’s finally got some time to rest and hang out with his daughter and wife.”

“I’ve been hanging out with the kids, doing schoolwork, skateboarding, watching TV, so it’s been good. I’m counting down the days [until we can reunite]. I don’t know how many days it’s going to be, but I’m counting them down.”

NXT, arguably more than Raw and SmackDown, suffers the most from not having crowds at the moment due to how much of a factor fans’ enthusiasm plays is in the success of the show. It simply isn’t the same in an empty Performance Center, but those drastic differences haven’t seemed to phase Riddle in the slightest.

Rather, Riddle is just as content picturing fans being in the building in his head, chanting along with every “Bro!” and repaying every fist bump. It’s how he psychs himself up in big-match situations.

“For me, it’s funny because I don’t mind. I actually enjoy it,” Riddle said. “I enjoy wrestling in front of people no doubt, I love wrestling, I like entertaining people. It’s fun because you’ll go through a crazy sequence and you’re laying down and you’re thinking, ‘Is this awesome? Was this awesome?’ I don’t know! Are they on their couches right now?”

“But then again, there’s only so many people at a house, I don’t know, they’re doing the chants. In my head, I’m doing the chants, if people want to know that. They’re probably going, ‘This is awesome!’ Fight forever!'”

Along with Brock Lesnar and Shayna Baszler, Riddle is among an elite few to successfully cross over from the world of MMA over into pro wrestling. More stars may soon follow if recent reports regarding the wrestling futures of Colby Covington and Daniel Cormier are any indication.

As much as he wants them to do as well as he has, he warns any athlete aspiring to make it in WWE that it is much easier said than done.

“Honestly, I’d like to see all of them try and I’d like to see all of them succeed. I love wrestling, I grew up watching wrestling, I have my dream job. If they love professional wrestling or love sports-entertainment, then yeah, I recommend it. I’d tell them all to come over.

“If you’re a mixed martial artist or another athlete that thinks, ‘Hey, I can make money in pro wrestling,’ you’re going to find out it’s a lot harder than you think. When I started out, I thought, ‘Yeah, I’m pretty charismatic, I’ve got a decent following’ and stuff like that, and it wasn’t that easy.

“I remember being booed out of buildings and being told you can’t wrestle and ‘You suck’ when I first started wrestling. Granted, these guys have a little bit more star power than me, but at the same time, you have to earn the respect of wrestling fans. I think they all have potential, I think they can all do it.

“A lot of them are very charismatic and are great talkers, it’s just a matter of if they can get the concepts and be able to apply them and get the respect of the fans because you can’t just bring the MMA fans over because they’re not all going to come. You got to get the love and respect of the pro wrestling fans.”

On the subject of Brock Lesnar, Riddle elaborated on his desire to work a match with the former WWE and Universal champion. He made it a goal of his long ago to retire Lesnar from wrestling, and while that sounds far-fetched, it doesn’t change how it would be a money matchup if it were to be booked.

“I shook the 8-ball and it’s not looking good, it’s not looking good (laughs). I’ll be honest. Am I going to stop? No. I really want the match, even if he takes some of the things I said wrong or personal. I get it, I guess, I mean I don’t, but whatever. At the end of the day, I think I’m going to become valuable enough where he’ll want the match and when I do that and that day comes, I’ll get my dream match. But that’s a lot of work and I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me.

“Hey, I think [the Performance Center] would be the safest spot to go at it (laughs). I think it’d be good. It’s not a thing of disrespect. I just think I have a very good style and I think Brock has an amazing style and I think the two going against one another, big guy versus little guy but the little guy can hold up, I think there’s something there. I’m pretty legit. People might forget it, but I’m pretty good.”

Lesnar isn’t the only Superstar Riddle hopes to wage war with down the road, as he still has unfinished business with King Corbin from both Survivor Series and at the Royal Rumble. After being booted from Team NXT by Corbin in November, he was eliminated from the Rumble two months later again by the 2019 King of the Ring winner.

There are countless Superstars fans are excited to see Riddle collide with one day on either Raw or SmackDown, but Corbin might make for the perfect first opponent for The Original Bro when the time comes.

“To be honest, I love the Royal Rumble. I’m a big fan of the Rumble, so to be in that for my first singles pay-per-view, I was pretty ecstatic for that. I wish I would’ve lasted a little longer. I got to kick my flip-flops off, I got to kick the world champion Drew McIntyre a bunch of times in the chest, and then I hit Edge with the ripcord knee.

“I remember every moment, but then Baron Corbin again rained on my parade. He pinned me at Survivor Series and then he threw me over the top rope at the Royal Rumble and then he gave me some bro sign. It wasn’t cool. We’ll see. Maybe next year I’ll do better in the Rumble.

“I probably should teach [Corbin] some respect and put some beats on them. It’s not like he’s ever beaten me up. He’s just always taken advantage of an opportunity of a situation and hats off to him, but at the end of the day, The Bro can’t stand for that. I got to do something.”

NXT’s tag team division is merely the tip of the iceberg in terms of the talent in the tag team ranks across the company currently. Raw and SmackDown are loaded with top tandems as well and would make for interesting adversaries for Riddle and Thatcher if the opportunity were to present itself.

Riddle was quick to note how interesting SmackDown’s tag team division has lately, meaning that an appearance by The Newly-Bros on the blue brand may not be out of the question.

“I would really like to mix it up with other brands in WWE, like The New Day. Never worked against them, they seem like great guys and would be great competition. You got the Morrison and Miz connection. That’s a team from yesterday that was brought back, they’re doing great.

“You’ve got The Usos. There’s a long list of tag teams and you’ve got the put-together tag teams that are random but you have Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro on a team. That’s a pretty devastating team. I think there’s a lot of combinations and great teams to match up with. For me to pick one is hard. People always ask me to pick a team and I’m like ‘I can’t, it’s too hard.'”

Finally, for those wondering, Riddle revealed that the Stallion Cup (better known to fans as the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic trophy) is safe and sound at the Performance Center. While he wishes it was still in possession, he realizes that it might be safer where it is right now.

“You know, the Stallion Cup, after its 30-day suspension was up, I was hoping to get my hands back on it. But WWE said, ‘We’re going to keep him at the Performance Center. We’re going to keep him locked up where he belongs.’ The Dusty Cup, our bro, he’s safe,” Riddle clarified.

“He’s in quarantine at the Performance Center and he gets to watch great wrestling all the time. He’s fine, he’s been safe the whole time, he wore a mask.”

While Dunne and the Stallion Cup have had to abandon him for reasons out of everyone’s control, Riddle aims to continue defending the NXT Tag Team Championship on a regular basis and racking up victories, including against Imperium on NXT this Wednesday night.