Matt Riddle has done his best to angle for a match with Brock Lesnar, but as of now, it's unlikely to come to fruition. At least, that's what Lesnar reportedly told Riddle backstage at the Royal Rumble.
According to Alex McCarthy of talkSPORT in January, Lesnar allegedly told Riddle, “Kid, you might as well stop saying my name and tagging me in sh*t because you and I will never work together. Ever.”
Now, on the verge of his WWE SmackDown debut, Riddle has explained exactly what went down in January.
“Eventually, I find out I’m going to be in the Rumble. Now I’m stoked! I’m like ‘what if I get my chance!’ [with Brock Lesnar]. I don’t even know if I should say his name," joked Riddle in an interview with Alex McCarthy. “But what if I get my chance? Now I’m starting to play the scenarios in my head and, of course, ‘what if I do this’ but then also, this isn’t just about me, there’s 29 other people. So I was just like if I can get anything, I’ll be extremely happy. Then, of course, [Paul] Heyman and his security guard – I won’t mention his name [laughs] – him and his security guard come up to me and basically told me I had no chance in hell – it was very Vince McMahon like [laughs] – no chance in hell that I was going to get that match with him and I’d have better luck doing something else. I’ll be honest, at first, I was just like awww [disappointed], I got this far and you’re literally holding me like this [tightly]. Like, he’s holding me like we’re friends but we’re not. Then he [Lesnar] tells me 'it’s never going to happen.'"
Riddle continued, "So, I wasn’t mad, I wasn’t sad, I was more just heartbroken. But it’s like when a girl turns you down on a date; hey, it doesn’t mean give up completely. It’s like OK, let’s go back to the drawing board, maybe I came on a little too strong this time. Maybe I’ll try something different to convince him, ya know? So that’s how that scenario played out. Then I got to the Rumble, got to play with Edge, kick Corbin, kicked now, reigning heavyweight champion, Drew McIntyre. The pop was pretty beautiful too, but the pop if I had of gotten in the ring slightly earlier [when Brock was in] – ahhhh! I’m pretty sure the crowd would have been like ‘oh my god! He’s going to get his chance!’ But hey, still a pretty good pop.”
Despite Lesnar's statement, Riddle hasn't given up on the idea that he should retire "The Beast" at WrestleMania.
After the confrontation with Lesnar, Riddle reportedly had heat with those in power in WWE, but Riddle denied the report and revealed that meetings with Vince McMahon have gone well.
A vignette aired for Riddle last Friday on SmackDown and he is expected to make his debut on the brand shortly.
