"Pick your poison" - Former WCW Champion lashes out at WWE for Matt Riddle's booking (Exclusive)
Vince Russo recently spoke about how WWE boxed Matt Riddle into a certain character instead of letting him explore other facets of his personality.
The Original Bro's run in the global wrestling juggernaut was topsy-turvy, to say the least. From being a United States Champion to teaming with Randy Orton to defeating Seth Rollins in the main event of 2022 Extreme Rules, Riddle had many highs in the company. However, this was also accompanied by an equal number of lows.
While it was things outside the ring that led to Matt Riddle's WWE release, Vince Russo doesn't think the company itself did a good job of booking him.
On the latest episode of Sportskeeda's Writing with Russo, he mentioned how Riddle was typecast as a laidback character. Russo added that someone in WWE might have seen shades of the character Jeff Spicolli from the 1982 movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High in Riddle and decided to present him in the same vein.
"Bro, Riddle reminded one guy, I don't know if it is Prichard (Bruce), Hayes (Michael), Heyman (Paul), pick your poison. He reminded one guy of Spicolli from Fast Times at Ridgemont High. One guy and one person said, 'That's what we are going with.' And that's what you got," said Russo. [5:08 - 5:30]
Check out the full video below:
WWE veteran Vince Russo is hoping Matt Riddle becomes more professional
Elsewhere in the video, Russo also discussed how, despite having everything that it took to be a top star, Matt Riddle was held back due to behavioral issues.
The former WWE writer added that he hopes to see The Original Bro work on himself and become a well-rounded professional before he joins another company.
"There are some rumors that some UFC-type companies have reached out to him. I'm hoping, like, listen, Riddle's got a chequered past. He really does; it goes back; I don't even wanna get into that. I will say this much, bro. Very talented dude. Personality out the yin-yang, athletic like forget about it. So, I'm really, really, really going to hope... Hopefully, this was a wake-up call. Hopefully, he realizes, 'Okay, I'm a professional now, and there is a certain way I am going to have to conduct my business outside of work.' I really, really hope that's the case," said Vince Russo.
Considering he's immensely popular and has tons of untapped potential, Matt Riddle would surely become a big star in whichever company he joins.
What's your favorite moment from Matt Riddle's WWE career? Let us know your picks in the comments section below.
Please credit Sportskeeda Wrestling and embed the exclusive YouTube video if you use quotes from the first half of this article.