WWE Rumors: Superstar Could Be Moved To ‘Friday Night SmackDown’ Due To Backstage Beef With Brock Lesnar
As The Inquisitr reported on Monday, Matt Riddle is reportedly set to be called up to the main roster. While his destination remains unknown at the time of this writing, the Wrestling Observer Radio‘s Dave Meltzer thinks the outspoken NXT star will be a member of the Friday Night SmackDown brand, given that Brock Lesnar competes on Monday Night Raw.
As quoted by Sportskeeda, Meltzer thinks that Lesnar and Riddle’s tumultuous backstage relationship will force WWE officials to keep them apart. Lesnar legitimately dislikes Riddle, according to reports, and being on the same brand could result in both superstars having more confrontations with each other. However, Meltzer also noted that Riddle may have fans among Friday Night SmackDown‘s top officials.
“That’s a weird one. There’s a couple of things. Number one, Lesnar does dislike him and there’s that political situation there. So, that’s the only thing I can think of, maybe other than [Bruce] Prichard maybe wanting him. He got AJ and he got Matt Riddle. I mean that’s like a pretty good 1-2 punch. We’ll see how it works.”
Riddle has repeatedly stated that he wants a match with Lesnar, but “The Beast Incarnate” isn’t open to the idea. At this year’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view, Lesnar even approached Riddle in the locker room and informed him that they’ll never work together and told the NXT star to stop mentioning his name. Riddle has continued to mention Lesnar ever since.
Lesnar might not be a fan of Riddle, but WWE management is reportedly high on the superstar. As The Inquisitr report states, Vince McMahon supposedly sees him as a rebel in the same vein as Shawn Michaels, and he’s a fan of performers like that.
Triple H also described his confrontation with Lesnar as entertaining and dismissed the rumors that Riddle was disliked by management for not respecting the veterans. Triple H is responsible for bringing Riddle to the company, however, so it’s unsurprising to know that he’s a fan of the superstar’s antics.
In addition to calling out Lesnar, Riddle has also been very critical of Bill Goldberg over the past year or so. He hasn’t held back when it comes to bashing the Hall of Famer’s wrestling skills when given the opportunity, and he was especially appalled with his performance during his ill-fated match against The Undertaker in Saudi Arabia.
Riddle will face Timothy Thatcher in a Cage Fight on the upcoming episode of NXT, which could be his final appearance on the black-and-gold brand.