Matt Riddle Recalls Uncanny Timing Of 2018 WWE Offer

Former WWE star Matt Riddle has revealed how he was signed by WWE and noted that he could have also gone to NJPW.

Riddle said that he was close to join NJPW before his move to WWE, with the Japanese promotion pitching for him to be a part of the New Japan Cup and doing well in the tournament. He was interested in joining the promotion as he was a fan of the company and had wanted to wrestle for them, but a call from Triple H resulted in him eventually joining WWE.

"They [WWE] knew me dude. They called me, I didn't call them for a job," he said to "Rewind Recap Relive." "New Japan hit me up and I was like, 'Sick. Always wanted to wrestle for you guys. Awesome.' But then I hit up Gabe, Gabe who runs EVOLVE, Gabe Sapolsky, and that does like kind of talent scouting for WWE now. And I hit him up and go, 'Hey Gabe, I'm gonna ask you to release me in my contract. I just got a call from New Japan and they're making me a better offer than what you are giving me now and I'll get to wrestle in New Japan, and you know how much that means to me.' I go, 'Or, because I know you have Triple H's number, you could see what they think.' And I would say two minutes later, I got a call from Triple H, being like, 'Hey, we'd love to have you at NXT.' And I was like, 'Sick.' And then they were paying more. Also, I got to stay in America, be with my family and stuff like that. So, it's kind of a no-brainer, you know. I just went down, moved to Florida and wrestled there."

He added that he was keen to leave EVOLVE because the pay wasn't as good, while the promotion also didn't allow its stars to wrestle on television in other promotions, according to him. Riddle wrestled in EVOLVE and PWG after his transition from MMA, before making the switch to WWE.