Former WWE Superstar Matt Riddle has fired back at the UK-based promotion Global Wrestling Kingdom, vehemently denying allegations that he “no-showed” a charity event. Riddle called the promotion “trashy,” claimed they engaged in false advertising, and revealed that he has received death threats from fans over the controversy.
The situation began when it was reported that Riddle had failed to appear for his scheduled main event match on August 31st against Simon Miller. The promotion claimed the event was a charity fundraiser and that Riddle had not returned his deposit. Riddle, who took other bookings in the United States on the same weekend, has now given his detailed and unfiltered side of the story.
Speaking with Branson Quirke and Roger Corral on TMZ Inside The Ring, Matt Riddle claimed the promotion was being dishonest about the nature of the event. He alleged that the charity aspect was a “last-second” addition and that the backlash has resulted in him receiving death threats.
“I’ll be honest, dude, I do my job. I’m good at my job, and I’ll say I’m still one of the most bookable person in the world of sports entertainment, professional wrestling, right?… And then I woke up this morning to a bunch of death threats… How dare you fucking scam a charity. I’m like, dog, four months ago, this wasn’t a charity event. Three months ago, it wasn’t a charity event. This thing, dude, this week was the first time I got a message saying, well, you’re gonna do this to a charity event.”
Riddle detailed the travel issues that were at the heart of the dispute, stating that the promotion booked him a flight to arrive on a Thursday for a Sunday show with no other work scheduled. When he arranged other bookings for the weekend and offered to fly to the UK on Saturday at the promoter’s expense, he says they refused. He then accused the promotion of continuing to advertise him even after knowing he would not be there.
“So I tell them, I go, ‘Dude, I can’t sit in a hotel room in London.’… And I told these guys, ‘Hey, I’ll fly out Saturday, Saturday night.’ Yeah, they go, ‘Well, book your ticket.’ I’m like, whoa, whoa, you guys booked the ticket. You guys are supposed to pay my rate and we take it out of that, whatever. ‘No, you book it.’ I go, ‘Bro, I got a flight to Miami where they’re gonna pay me handsomely to wrestle.’… So they knew this, you know what? They kept doing. They kept promoting me like I was still coming….it’s a scumbag move.”
You can hear the full interview on the TMZ Inside The Ring podcast.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit TMZ Inside The Ring with an h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
