WWE Didn’t Push Released Star Due To ‘Constant Negative Stuff’

WWE

Matt Riddle was released by WWE on September 22, 2023, with the now-former star breaking the news on social media himself.

His release came a day after other stars were released by the company, including the likes of Dolph Ziggler, Elias, Mustafa Ali, Dana Brooke and Shelton Benjamin among many others. For the full list of WWE releases, click here.

As was noted in our coverage of the release, issues did come up during Riddle’s WWE tenure, including sexual assault allegations (from before he joined the company), failed drug tests that led him to rehab, and the recent incident at LFK International airport where he accused a cop of sexual assault but had himself been reported as being “disorderly”.

Booker T has gone on to discuss Matt Riddle’s issues in WWE, noting “You know, you can get away with that kind of stuff only for so long. It catches up with you because then you become a liability.”

In the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer gave insight into the way WWE viewed Riddle, revealing:

“Several in the company noted that he probably would have been among the top stars in the company, but because of the constant negative stuff that had come out, they were not going to push him past mid-level at this point.”

During his time in WWE, alongside his two Raw Tag Team Championship reigns with Randy Orton, he was also a United States Champion and NXT Tag Team Champion with Butch (then Pete Dunne).

Riddle is one of three former WWE stars that PCO claims is being discussed internally by IMPACT Wrestling.

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