Former WWE star Matt Riddle set to challenge 47-year-old legend for a major championship

Former WWE star Matt Riddle is set to challenge Hiroshi Tanahashi for the NJPW World Television Championship.

At Wrestle Kingdom 18, Tanahashi won the NJPW World TV Championship by defeating Zack Sabre Jr. In doing so, he ended ZSJ's 365-day reign.

New Japan Pro Wrestling has confirmed that at the upcoming New Beginning in Sapporo show, Riddle will challenge Tanahashi for his newly won title. The show will also feature former WWE star Nic Nemeth (Dolph Ziggler).

Check out NJPW's announcement:

Matt Riddle was seemingly in line to win the 2022 Royal Rumble Match

According to Matt Riddle, he was supposed to win the Men's Royal Rumble Match in 2022.

Speaking during a virtual signing session by Signed By Superstars, Riddle stated that he was in line to win the Royal Rumble Match before Brock Lesnar. Riddle said:

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"So I believe — you know, it’s sports-entertainment — that I was told at one point, yeah, I was gonna win the [Royal] Rumble and everything else and then what was it? Bobby Lashley beat Brock Lesnar because somebody came in and hit him with the belt or what have you. Then Brock came in, didn’t wanna do business with everybody, said he was winning, and then he won, and then none of the producers… nobody stood up to him and they let him do it. I didn’t either, I didn’t either."

Riddle is a former RAW Tag Team Champion. He won the titles with Randy Orton before the duo lost to The Usos in a title unification match. During his time in WWE, he also won the United States Championship.

Following Riddle's WWE release in 2023, the 37-year-old recently returned to in-ring action under MLW. He faced Jacob Fatu in his return match.

What are your thoughts on Riddle competing under New Japan Pro Wrestling? Sound off in the comments section.

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