Last night WWE officially announced that they had signed Matt Riddle to a contract.
He appeared at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 4 and was announced as NXT’s latest addition. Triple H participated in a post-TakeOver media conference call to answer some questions. “The Game” touched on WWE’s signing of Riddle. Initially WWE backed off signing Riddle due to his history of marijuana use.
It appears as though WWE has gotten past those concerns. Here’s what Triple H had to say:
“I think he’s ready to come in and get brought the rest of the way,” Triple H said. “I also think he’s matured as a person which, we’ll find out.
“But I think he’s matured as a person and he’s realized where he wants to get to in the business as opposed to just having fun being in the business, there’s a difference. So we think now’s the right time, but time will tell.”
Triple H then praised Riddle’s ability inside the ring and said he believes the former UFC fighter is going to make it in the WWE:
“He’s a very, very talented guy, the sky is the limit and you know, we’ll see what he can do. It’s an interesting thing because I think sometimes people think that we just bring them in and just go with it, it’s not that simple. Not everybody makes it, not everything works. There are a lot of factors that go into it, so we’ll see.
“I believe in him and I believe he has a lot of potential and talent, but again just like everybody else as they walk in the door, we’ll see.”
Riddle’s wife, Lisa Riddle, detailed the signing process between her husband and WWE. In a now-deleted video from her YouTube channel, Lisa Riddle said the signing process began back in June. New Japan Pro Wrestling’s president emailed her husband and expressed interest in signing him.
Riddle then contacted EVOLVE‘s Gabe Sapolsky, who is also a creative consultant for NXT, and informed him of NJPW’s interest in him. Soon after, Triple H called Riddle and offered him a contract after a 30-minute conversation. The deal was offered in mid-July and was finalized a few weeks later after Riddle passed his physical.
Lisa then claimed Matt will report to the WWE’s Performance Center on September 4th. She explained NXT as being the “minor leagues” of WWE but also said Matt was told he won’t be there very long.
H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions
