Matt Riddle clarifies backstage heat rumors, confirms recent meeting with Vince McMahon [Exclusive]
Matt Riddle has had one incredible year and we're not even halfway through. From competing at the Royal Rumble to winning the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament, and becoming one half - or one third - of the NXT Tag Team Champions, The Original Bro has had a stellar five months in WWE.
However, rumors of backstage heat have followed Riddle for almost the entirety of his WWE career, and they'd explode following Matt Riddle's short stint at the Royal Rumble. Despite being one of the few NXT stars to compete in the match, many outlets would speculate that the former UFC star was only in the match for a cup of coffee because he had "heat" with authority figures in WWE.
Well, while following up on our chat from right before NXT went live on the USA Network last September, I had the chance to ask the King of Bros about those rumors, and he confirmed a recent meeting with Mr. McMahon himself!
You can watch the entire interview below, or read the entire interview here.
"Do I have heat with WWE or NXT, or the people that run the show? No. Do I have heat with some people who think I'm disrespectful at times because they don't understand how business works? Yes. Do people take things too seriously? Yes."
Matt Riddle would go on to say he's told certain people not to be offended if he tweets or says certain things because he's just putting out an image or a facade.
"If I talk a certain amount of trash, people are like, "Oh, man, that guy's uncontrollable, he does what he wants". You know what I'm saying? I'm doing the job, I'm in the business I'm in. I'm a tag champ, I was in the Rumble, so how does this guy have so much nuclear heat?"
The Original Bro would go one step further, and say he's even spoken with Vince McMahon himself about the "heat" he has - before revealing why it doesn't really matter if people don't like him.
"I was in Vince McMahon's office just three weeks ago, before this thing broke out. I was in headquarters talking to him - and, yeah, we mentioned the heat I have with certain people but, at the end of the day, he signs the cheques, he makes it happen for me and they're in control, not the talent."
Matt Riddle concluded that he does have some heat, but that the reason he does is because some people can't take a joke or do their part in working the WWE Universe - and stated that there's no problem with him having heat because he's making the company money.
"If employer's happy and I can make them money and make them a profit, and I'm worth my weight and I'm pulling my weight, I don't see a problem. To answer your question, yes, some people I have heat with. But most of it's just high school, catty, "He said this", people who just can't take a joke or a work."
You can read the rest of the interview here.
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Thanks to Matt Riddle for chatting with us and to Bro Sports Marketing for facilitating the interview. You can follow Matt on Twitter here and check out Bro Sports Marketing here.
Catch WWE NXT Tag Team Champion Matt Riddle on BT Sport, the new home of WWE. Watch WWE NXT on BT Sport 1 every Wednesday night at 1 am or catch up on the BT Sport App.