Matt Riddle Gives His Side Of No-Show Story, Confirms Interest In Eric Bischoff's RAF

Former WWE wrestler Matt Riddle recently came under fire when it was claimed that he not only no-showed a wrestling booking for a Global Wrestling Kingdom charity event but still hadn't returned the money GWK paid him. Riddle delivered video responses to the accusations shortly after they were leveled, and he provided even more details from his perspective during an exclusive interview with "TMZ Sports."

"My girlfriend had an arrangement with this company," Riddle began. "I'll be honest, dude — I see companies like this in the UK all the time. These guys rented an arena, they didn't even sell 150 tickets ... And I'm not knocking them, they're trying to do their thing, but this is garbage, dude."

Riddle then said he hadn't received a request to return the money until after the story broke, at which point he started receiving death threats over the fact that he had "scam[med] a charity."

"Four months ago, this wasn't a charity event," Riddle said, "Three months ago, this wasn't a charity event!' This week was the first time I got a message saying 'What, you're gonna do this to a charity event? ... I'm doing Make-A-Wish in a couple weeks ... I do multiple charity events where I don't get paid a dime, but I'll tell you this: I'm not flying to London in a middle seat, with no meal, with no checked bag."

While Riddle certainly had issues with the airline, he went on to claim that was just a minor concern. The larger problem was that GWK was planning to fly him into London on Thursday for a show that didn't take place until Sunday. Riddle claims GWK promised months ago to set up things like meet-and-greets and seminars so he could get some work before the Sunday show, but that GWK later said nobody had gotten back to them.

"Dude, I could hit up some stranger from England and they would book me if they knew I was gonna be there regardless," Riddle said. "I already have the flight and the hotel. Just pay me to be there, that's all they had to do ... they just didn't try."

Riddle continued to express disdain for GWK operations while insisting he means them no ill will and hopes "this is a good learning lesson." He then returned to the timeline of events, starting when he checked in with GWK the Tuesday before the show learned they still hadn't been able to set up any extra events for Friday or Saturday. At that point, Riddle assumed the events weren't happening.

"I got idle hands," Riddle proclaimed. "If these things aren't doing something, I get into trouble ... I just do, it's what it is. I party, it's whatever, I have a problem. So I keep myself busy. I knew if I sat in a hotel in London for two days — damn, I might not even make the show Sunday. And maybe that's bad to say, but I think it's very responsible to say it, and it's true."

Riddle says he expressed his concerns to GWK, who didn't respond. Nonetheless, on Wednesday night, he says he was still planning to get on his flight to London the next day, middle seat and all ... until something better came along.

"You know what happened? [Indie promotion] Fourth Rope called, they go 'Dude! Thursday night booking, man, main event steel cage match," Riddle crowed. "The King of Bros literally steps up on literally less than ten hours' notice and does a steel cage match in the main event ... And then the next day, because damn, I still got Friday, you had RAF, Hulk Hogan's dream of amateur wrestling meeting the pros."

Riddle was rumored to have been backstage for the recent inaugural show for Real American Freestyle, though that event took place on Saturday, August 30, rather than Friday, August 29. Riddle told TMZ he's already had conversations with Eric Bischoff and will probably be on an RAF show in the near future.

He also said he was still trying to make the GWK show, and offered to get a different flight Saturday night. The last straw came when GWK asked him to book that flight himself, which he refused to do, thus effectively canceling the appearance (and freeing up Riddle's weekend for other shows).

"[GCK] knew this," Riddle said. "Do you know what they kept doing? They kept promoting me like I was still coming."

Riddle went on to call himself "a very gracious and nice guy" and addressed the question of his payment, which he says he's more than happy to return.

"I literally messaged them, 'Hey, I'll pay you. I got money today ... Monday was Labor Day, so even if I deposited a check Saturday, that ain't clear by Tuesday or Wednesday ... I didn't get any money," he explained, pointing out that the money they sent him hasn't even reached him yet. "I offered, then they said PayPal. I said 'Cool, what's the phone number or email?' They said something else. I go 'Bro, what's the number or email?' And honestly, by the time I'm done with this interview, hopefully they sent it to me and I will pay them in full."

Riddle closed by addressing the death threats he's been getting and called out British fans.

"I used to love the UK, the UK got really soft," Riddle said. "England, dude. I said it when I was in the UFC, and I'll say it again: they're a bunch of butter-tooth Brits, and they're b****es. They need to get some sunlight. I don't know what the deal is, but they've all gotten soft."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "TMZ Sports" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.