As previously noted, there is some backstage heat on Matt Riddle because he rubs some people the wrong way. Some people, such as Tommaso Ciampa and Goldberg, have been publicly negative on Riddle. However, there are others in the company who don’t see things the same way.
In the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, it was noted that the current view on Riddle is that some believe “he’s got magic” and others who don’t see it. Basically, what it comes down to with Riddle is the belief that he has a “lack of understanding of politics” in the wrestling business.
His lack of understanding of wrestling policies is probably the reason why he felt it wasn’t a big deal to call out Bill Goldberg and Brock Lesnar. It’s done all the time in UFC but that is frowned upon in pro wrestling unless it’s leading to a match and everything is cleared with the parties involved.
Dave Meltzer noted that one person compared Riddle to Randy Orton when he first became a big star and they don’t want someone like that stirring things up in the locker room. WWE doesn’t want someone who is going to get other wrestlers upset, such as when Dave Bautista would make strong negative comments about SmackDown when he was on the Raw roster.
The one thing that is fueling speculation that Riddle’s issues with Lesnar is part of a worked shoot is that WWE has put up Riddle’s comments about Lesnar on their YouTube channel and Riddle recently cut a promo on Lesnar at a Las Vegas live event. His comments were posted on WWE’s social media accounts.
People in WWE are adamant that the Lesnar/Riddle altercation backstage at the Royal Rumble was legitimate. Goldberg has told people that everything between himself and Riddle is legitimate. In fact, last year Goldberg blocked Riddle on Twitter and Instagram and their issues date back to before Riddle was signed by WWE.
Either way, it looks like there are some in the company who hope to turn a real-life issue into a storyline one day. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have posted about the Lesnar/Riddle issue on their official social media accounts.
