Matt Riddle’s departure from WWE came as a significant move, especially considering it occurred a day after a series of roster cuts. This decision by WWE carried a message, and recent revelations shed light on the issues that may have contributed to Riddle’s exit.
One of the controversies that surrounded Riddle involved an incident at JFK Airport. However, that was just the tip of the iceberg. Another high-profile incident was the leaked sex tape, which created a media frenzy. Notably, this occurred after Riddle’s rehab stint, which had already kept him out of the ring for a substantial part of 2022.
One particular incident that reportedly ruffled feathers within WWE was Riddle’s deviation from the script during a live promo. During this promo, he veered into discussing Randy Orton’s injury, which was not part of the planned narrative. This decision to go off-script garnered negative attention backstage.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, this wasn’t the only instance of Riddle causing friction with WWE management. After the off-script promo discussing Orton’s injury, Riddle continued to put over Orton in a live television interview, emphasizing the pain Orton had been in during their team’s later stages. While this promo was appreciated for its authenticity behind the scenes, it deviated from the planned script. Subsequently, Riddle’s role seemed to shift towards being a popular babyface who had good matches and played his “naive stoner” gimmick but primarily existed to elevate the heels WWE was pushing, such as his repeated losses to Gunther.
“Riddle also had heat with management at one point right after that for going off the script and putting over Orton on a live television interview when talking about how much pain Orton was in during the latter stages of their team and before the injury angle was shot. While praised for the promo going behind the scenes and being real, it was not what was scripted for him. His role after that point was being a popular babyface who had good matches, played his naive stoner gimmick, but was mostly there to put over the pushed heels such as a program where he continually lost to Gunther.”
Some within the company believed that Riddle had the potential to be among the top stars, but due to a series of negative incidents, including those outside the ring, WWE seemed reluctant to push him beyond a mid-level position. This suggests that, despite his in-ring abilities and popularity, a combination of controversies and off-script actions ultimately impacted his standing within the company and may have contributed to his release.
