8 months ago
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Matt Riddle says getting released by WWE was one of the biggest reliefs he had in years.
WWE released Riddle in September 2023, ending his turbulent run with the company. During his time in WWE, he held the United States Championship and the RAW Tag Team Championship.
Speaking with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Matt Riddle commented on his release.
“Honestly, for me, just from my experience with the UFC, I thought I was gonna get fired a long time ago, just because when I got fired from the UFC, I was on a four-fight win streak, and then I got fired,” Matt Riddle said. “After that, I just think I’m gonna get fired any day because you just never know. Some guys don’t, some guys do. That’s how I always played it.
“Then after I went to rehab and stuff like that and I got out, I didn’t even think they were gonna bring me back. It was ‘Mania season, I wasn’t on ‘Mania. A lot of times, they do the budget cuts right after that. So I was like I think it’s already chopping block time, and it didn’t happen, and the TKO merger, plus my shenanigans, acting a fool half the time, didn’t help things.”
Matt Riddle: I Didn’t Take A Vacation In Seven Years
Matt Riddle went on to share his belief that his release was best for everyone. He stated that getting fired was one of the biggest reliefs he had in a long time.
“But at the same time, I think it was best for everybody, and honestly I got fired, I remember, I don’t mean this in a bad way, it’s not a dig to WWE, but it was probably one of the biggest reliefs I’ve had in a long time,” Matt Riddle said. “Over the last seven years, I was under contract with them, working very hard, and before that, I was working really hard to get there. Seven years, I didn’t take one vacation.
“They give you vacation, but I always made sure I didn’t miss work, and I didn’t take a vacation in seven years. I think my vacation was my time in rehab. If you added up all my weeks over the even years, probably the amount of time I spent there was my vacation time that I earned over the course of seven years.”
The full interview can be seen here:
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