There's a "big opportunity" now to dethrone Roman Reigns, says 37-year-old WWE Superstar
Since Roman Reigns became WWE Universal Champion, he formed The Bloodline slowly and steadily. Cut to 2023, The Tribal Chief has lost The Usos from his "gang," in the words of RAW Superstar Matt Riddle.
Both Reigns and Riddle faced each other once on the June 17, 2022, episode of WWE SmackDown. While separated by the brand split today, The King of Bros flirted with the idea of chasing the Undisputed Universal Champion.
Speaking on WWE's The Bump, Matt Riddle touched on a variety of topics. Coming to The Bloodline and dethroning the champ, The Original Bro claimed that while Solo Sikoa is a "handful," facing Roman Reigns would be different in 2023 with the departure of The Usos from The Bloodline:
"I came really close to beating Roman before, but ofcourse, he had The Bloodline. He had his whole gang. A year ago. But now, he has no gang. He has no [backup]. He has Solo, and he's a handful, for sure, and Heyman. But compared to having 4-on-1, now it's 2-on-1. So there's a lot of instability, and I feel like, big opportunity," Riddle said. [34:44-35:14]
The Usos ended RK-Bro's reign as the RAW Tag Team Champions before Randy Orton's untimely injury. Riddle's most notable rivalry since then was against Seth Rollins in the fall of 2022.
Matt Riddle reminds WWE fans he tapped out the World Heavyweight Champion before
After Seth Rollins stomped Matt Riddle at Nissan Stadium in late July 2022, at SummerSlam, the duo faced each other in Cardiff, Wales, at Clash at the Castle, in a barnburner that saw The Visionary pick up the victory.
Riddle bounced back with a massive victory over Seth Rollins inside the Fight Pit at Extreme Rules in October 2022. The Original Bro commented on challenging the World Heavyweight Champion for gold:
"With Seth, I feel like everybody is going after him, because it's a new title, and everybody wants to put their name on it. So I think, him just being worn out from challenger after challenger, and that's gonna be his downfall. Seth, you're a good guy, I love you, but if I get that chance, I'm coming for that title, bro. No disrespect." [35:14-35:38]
#ExtremeRules Matt Riddle made Seth Rollins Tap Out! pic.twitter.com/0Wcq2GD4sX
Check out Seth Rollins' recent comments on real-life beef with Matt Riddle during their feud in 2022 here.
If you use the quotes, please credit the original source and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.