Matt Riddle recently gave a great interview to the New York Post. In it, he discussed his feud with Brock Lesnar, the importance of All Elite Wrestling, and why the 24/7 Title doesn’t interest him as a competitor.
Check out highlights below:
Why he doesn’t want the 24/7 belt:
No, but if I could win it and then get put on the main roster then I’d be around. Then it would definitely be worth my time because than I could ruin Brock Lesnar’s cash-in deal. I’ll win that title just so I can get closer to him.
Why we’re entering the next great era of wrestling:
I felt like wrestling when I got into it, I felt like it was not dead and it was doing OK. And when I started, NXT started like blowing up and this started blowing up, the [WWE] Network started blowing up and before I knew it, I was in the indies making six figures a year and never wrestling on TV, only the internet and gymnasiums.
And WWE is everywhere, there are all these other brands and companies all around the word and now there’s another company. I’m not going to mention names, but they’re on that same network that other company was on back in the day. And you know what, for me, I don’t think the competition is like real, real, but at the same time [there is] the illusion of competition, that fact that, “Oh my God there might be another war” between two competitive brands.
And some people get scared, but me, I love competition. I want them to push the envelope, make us push the envelope. Let’s get it going because if we can do that, we are going to enter the next great era in professional wrestling.
I know I’m right if it’s pushed that way. And I know the competition. I know the athletes on both can probably do it. But you never know. But that’s why I think we might be there. I know the WWE fans also hope so because we want edge. I want edge. I want edgier stuff. I want my leash to be cut completely off. I want to be able to do what I want. I want to be able to run free.
So it’s not like I don’t get freedom. I do. But I would love like real, real freedom. I think the fans would love it. Just like they did in the Attitude Era. That’s why the Attitude Era is known as the greatest in wrestling. It wasn’t the wrestling, trust me, I’ve seen the matches. It was the promos. It was the characters. It was that. And why? Because they weren’t on leashes.
I’m telling you, I think that’s the key. And again, I’m not controlled. I get a lot of freedom and they give it to me and they give it to everybody. But at the same time, there could be another level of that and I think if we pushed far enough we could make happen.
Check out much more, including his thoughts on Brock Lesnar, at the original link.
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