Push nixed for former champion despite pulling a 'monster number' during feud with Roman Reigns - Reports
Roman Reigns has become the benchmark of the WWE standards. The Undisputed WWE Universal Champion has sat at the top of the food chain for three years. He has defeated multiple superstars during his reign, including Matt Riddle. However, despite once being a threat to Reigns, The Original Bro is no longer booked to get a push.
Matt Riddle faced Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship in June 2022. It was soon after The Bloodline took out his best friend Randy Orton. The former US Champion was a tough challenge for The Tribal Chief, but in the end, he succumbed to Reings' dominance. The match between the two garnered a very high rating which made fans believe that Riddle will be in line for a main-event level push.
However, Riddle lost a lot of steam after that due to personal reasons. He was allegedly sent to rehab and stayed off television for a long time before returning on the RAW after WrestleMania 39. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer has stated that the former Tag Team Champion will no longer be pushed and is not seen as a top star. Riddle recently lost to Ludwig Kaiser on RAW last week.
''His losing clean to Kaiser is quite the comedown but his continually making news for out-of-the-ring things has taken him down from at times main event status, even when he drew what was a monster number for the time in a match on TV with Reigns and was getting over strong with the public,'' said Meltzer
Matt Riddle will never be able to challenge for the Universal Championship till Roman Reigns holds it
The stipulation of Reigns vs Riddle was that in the event of his defeat, Matt Riddle will be barred from challenging for the championship as long as Reigns remains the titleholder. The two were originally set to fight at Money in the Bank 2022, but plans were changed later.
According to Bryan Alvarez of the Wrestling Observer, WWE did not really care about featuring Roman Reigns at Money in the Bank 2022 since they had already profited from Peacock. So the company chose to have The Head of the Table defend his title on SmackDown, which resulted in a major rating boost for the blue brand.