Matt Riddle has had a unique start to his WWE run, including a win over AJ Styles in his main roster debut…so what is Vince McMahon’s reaction to Riddle? Also, it turns out AEW doesn’t want everyone, as AEW rejects an ex-WWE Superstar.
Vince McMahon’s Reaction To Riddle
As far as WWE Superstars go, Matt Riddle has had an interesting 2020 thus far. So what has been Vince McMahon’s reaction to Riddle?
According to the Wrestling Observer, Vince McMahon finds Riddle to be entertaining. Specifically, the word used was “funny”.
Anyone watching Riddle’s present iteration may see him as a comical stoner type. The more nuanced perspective could see his character as channeling his inner Spicoli, an homage to a classic comedy several decades old already.
Whether Vince McMahon knows or cares about the background isn’t all that important. What matters is the boss finds Riddle’s character funny, and feels it’s gaining traction with fans.
At the end of the day, there’s a lot more to Riddle than just stoner bro humor. The performer is, of course, a legitimate former MMA fighter.
Looking at 2020 now, it may be a safe bet to say Matt Riddle is happy to be in the spot he’s in.
What a year he’s had…
He has had some legal issues, stemming from accusations against him which he has denied. He admitted to having an affair as well.
In the process, WWE quietly changed his name, dropping Matt and simply calling him Riddle.
Throughout, even with his goofy manner and humor, he remains a serious in ring performer. Currently, he is in the early stages of a partnership with Jeff Hardy.
No matter what, the one thing that matters the most is what Riddle currently has. The boss, Vince McMahon, is entertained by him, so he’s on the boss’s good side.
Whether he can leverage that into a bigger push remains to be seen.
AEW Rejects Ex WWE Superstar
It wasn’t that long ago that Vince McMahon feared that AEW would sign any former WWE Superstar. It turns out that AEW doesn’t want every former WWE Superstar.
Color me shocked. OK, not really.
Sure, AEW kicked things off by securing big names like Cody Rhodes and Chris Jericho. Bringing in Jon Moxley wasn’t a major surprise either, once the former Dean Ambrose stated he wasn’t coming back to WWE.
After WWE cut loose a lot of talent in the spring purge, AEW had a chance to sign up many names. The list included some former Superstars who were inexplicably given long and lucrative contracts, if for no other reason than to keep them away from the competition.
Well, after that purge, it should have been clear that AEW was not signing EVERY former WWE Superstar, because most of those released did not end up appearing in AEW.
In case you needed to confirm this, we have the former Darren Young telling his story.
But did he really want to be there?
Turns out the performer now known as Fred Rosser has tried to join AEW at least twice. And, thus far, he has been turned down each time.
I get asked a lot why not @AEW? Well, I tried and I was told NOPE…NOT ☝ but ✌ …besides AEW wasn’t my end goal it’s always been NJPW @njpw1972 No matter what, don’t ever get overwhelmed and decide to throw in the towel. I’ve still got a lot of work to do! #blockthehate pic.twitter.com/IiT6IDK7K5
— nodaysoff FRED ROSSER III (@realfredrosser) December 12, 2020
Regardless of the rejections, Rosser said his goal all along was NJPW, so there’s that.
So while AEW is bringing in talent who used to call WWE home (like recent addition Sting), they do not want to bring in every former WWE Superstar.
Which, you know, makes sense.