It's a big time in the career of Matthew Riddle. The current EVOLVE Champion is still one of the hottest products on the independent circuit -- although his dates are quickly evaporating.
Riddle has pulled out of dates for Summerslam weekend, as well as Pro Wrestling Guerrilla's Battle of Los Angeles, prompting heavy speculation about his future. Riddle, a sought out commodity in the wrestling world, even gained the praise of IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega recently.
Fightful.com spoke to Matt this week for a filming of "Bro Spot," an off-shoot of the BroCast that ran on the site from 2016-2017, and asked about Omega's complimentary comments
"I'm a fan of his work. I think he's one of the greatest things in the business of wrestling today. Hearing that from him, that's awesome. That's a stallion move. You don't even expect someone of that level to know who you are. The fact that he knew who I was and spoke highly of me was awesome," Riddle told me.
As far as interacting with "The Cleaner" Omega, Riddle said that they've been around each other surprisingly little, and didn't really even speak.
"I shared a locker room with him at PWG, I think last year at BOLA. It was him teaming with the Young Bucks. That's the only time. I didn't talk to him, I don't even know if we shook hands! He's a busy guy. I think we at least nodded," said Riddle. "I'm not a real kiss ass, so I don't wanna be like 'OMG IT'S KENNY OMEGA, LET ME GO SHAKE HIS HAND.' If we talk by each other, I'll shake a hand. I feel like a lot of times in wrestling it's like 'I get it, we've shook hands six times already,' but at the same time you are showing mutual respect. When I first started wrestling, I tried the bow. You don't know where MY hands have been, maybe I like to keep a messy hand! People always try to touch it, I feel bad. I hit bows every weekend.
As it turns out, for Riddle, the 'bow' and the 'nod' are eerily similar. When asked to clarify if the runs around backstage bowing to his contemporaries, "The King of Bros" was quick to clear the air about that.
"Oh! You thought I meant traditional Japanese bow. This is a modified bro bow. Sometimes I do a half-semi-traditional bow after matches to the crowd. I won't say I haven't bowed. I'll bow to the Suzuki, Ishii," said Riddle. When I asked about possibly "bowing" to WWE NXT head honcho Triple H, Riddle laughed it off saying "I dunno! I dunno if I'll bow down to 'The Game.'"
You can see clips from this filming of "The Bro Spot" on episodes of The List and Ya Boy over the next several weeks, and check them out early by subscribing to our premium service, Fightful Select.
