Former WWE Star Matt Riddle Details Awkward Tony Khan Interaction

WWE, AEW

Former WWE star Matt Riddle has detailed an awkward interaction with AEW President Tony Khan at a NJPW event in April.

In the time since his WWE exit in September 2023, Matt Riddle has competed for the likes of MLW, AAA and perhaps most notably NJPW – of which he captured the company’s TV Championship by defeating Hiroshi Tanahashi.

Following his final title defence at NJPW’s Windy City Riot event in Chicago, IL against Zack Sabre Jr, Riddle ran into Tony Khan and had an interesting interaction with the AEW President.

Speaking to Sports Illustrated’s Steven Muelhausen on The Takedown, Riddle detailed the encounter:

“I talked to Tony, I don’t know if he likes me. He seemed happy. I wrestled Zack Sabre Jr. in Chicago. He seemed cool about it. I don’t know. When you meet me, I’m very sarcastic. But when I met him, I was like, ‘Oh, you like that match’?

“But I said it a different way, and he looked at me all confused. And I was like, ‘Never mind, dude’. I just walked away. So that was my experience with that.”

Elsewhere in the interview Riddle would reveal why he hasn’t been interested in pursuing a move to AEW following his WWE exit last year.

“With AEW, I think AEW is a fantastic product, I know a lot of the people that work there. I like the company. I like the way they work. I like the people that work there. I think with me, and it’s one of the things I’ve noticed, I’ve been relieved after getting fired from WWE. I felt that because I was on TV, and I’m such a provocative character at times, everything was magnified so much because I was on TV. The stress of working on TV two to three days a week was a lot. I like pressure. I like stress too, but it was a lot. 

“The best answer would be to go to AEW, get more money, and work a decent schedule. I didn’t want to work on TV again. I didn’t want the attention for a while. I wanted to step away. I just wanted to do indies.

“I know MLW works with New Japan. New Japan works a lot with AEW. Maybe you’ll see me on an AEW channel or broadcast sooner rather than later. Maybe you won’t.”

Riddle recently spoke of a potential future return to WWE, stating that the chances of that happening were “extremely high” – click here for full details.

For more WWE news check this link here.

To make sure you stay up to date with all the biggest wrestling and WrestleTalk news, join our exclusive WhatsApp channel by clicking this link!

• Matt Riddle
• tony khan
• AEW
• wwe

Share this article with friends