Even WWE can’t bury Matt Riddle
Matt Riddle is headed straight for the top in WWE.
In his first TakeOver match, Matt Riddle shocked WWE fans by defeating Kassius Ohno in mere seconds. Everything about Riddle screams “superstar”, and NXT immediately planted a seed that the King of Bros could be one of their greatest stars ever by having him win in such rapid fashion at his first TakeOver.
Riddle hasn’t quite reached those heights with the Black and Gold brand, but he’s already headed for the next chapter in his career.
With an introduction from the Hall of Famer Kurt Angle himself, Riddle made his anticipated debut on Friday Night SmackDown, where he will undoubtedly impress the FOX executives with his charisma, lack of footwear, and scary-good wrestling skills.
Of course, there have always been quiet worries from fans about how Riddle would be booked by WWE, and those concerns will be more interesting to track on the “main roster” when the pressure is higher and the margin for error is basically at the whims of Vince McMahon.
In a recent interview with the Daily Star, via 411Mania.com, Riddle spoke a little bit more about some of these concerns from wrestling fans:
"“I hear people say ‘Oh, he’s just gonna get buried!’, but I’ll tell you this, nobody has been able to bury me yet, and that includes Dana White – so I doubt WWE is going to bury me. They’ve given me everything I could ask for, so right now if anyone is going to bury me it’ll be me burying myself and that’s not going to happen – I won’t do that. So, I honestly love the transition – this is going to be amazing, and it’s just going to be the beginning of a very bright future.”"
The point Riddle makes about Dana White is an excellent one. White, to this day, has nothing but negative things to say about Riddle and did basically whatever he could to undermine the “Stallion” from succeeding in UFC.
But Riddle moved on to pro wrestling, blew everyone’s minds with how quickly he picked up the artform, and went on to light up the independent scene. By the time he was the WrestleMania Week MVP a couple of years ago, his star was set in stone.
Now in WWE, Riddle has yet to hold a singles title, but he had an excellent run as an NXT Tag Team Champion with Pete Dunne, producing great matches in the ring and arguably better segments outside of it. His combination of bad-ass wrestling skills and goofiness outside the ring will serve him well, just as they benefited Angle.
Next. Sooner or later, Bobby Lashley will be WWE Champion. dark
Riddle can’t be buried. Even Vince and the WWE machine, which churns out talent like gumballs and makes “Flavor the Week” look like a compliment, can’t bury Riddle. He’ll always find a way to either stick around or shine. Riddle’s persistence is admirable, and SmackDown is about to change with the King of Bros already on board.