Another wrestler has corroborated reports that former WWE superstar Matt Riddle was inappropriately changing gear in a women’s locker room.
In 2020, various superstars were alleged to have been either sexually aggressive or inappropriate to women during the “#SpeakingOut” movement. Matt Riddle was one of those named at the time. Riddle was accused of multiple things, including an instance where he was changing clothes in a women’s locker room. It was said he got aggressive when asked to leave. This was originally mentioned by independent wrestler Thunderkitty.
“Remember that time one of my friends/well respected veteran lady wrestler told Matt Riddle to stop changing into his ‘gear’ in front of everyone in a WOMEN'[‘]S locker room & leave and he got shitty to the point they were in each other’s faces?” she wrote in a since-deleted Tweet dated June 19, 2020. “I remember.”
Wrestler Malia Hosaka was on hand for the event in 2016 when the incident allegedly took place. She recently corroborated the story in a recent interview with David Bixenspan. Hosaka says Riddle did enter the women’s locker room and begin changing. She says he also got aggressive when asked to leave or stop.
Malia Hosaka
“We were all in there, our show was going on,” Hosaka said. “I didn’t know who he was, but I was sitting with my feet propped up and eyes closed. When I opened them[,] he was on my right stripped down to his underwear and I got mad at the lack of respect from today’s generation.
“For him to come into the locker room to change while the women had the room[,] and to strip down and change was disrespectful. There was a bathroom down the hall that fans couldn’t get to that he could have used,” Hosaka added. “[In m]y generation[,] the men and women respected each other enough to at least ask if it was ok or to ask for privacy. It pissed me off[,] and then his attitude that he had underwear on and that it wasn’t a big deal pissed me off more[,] so I told him how I felt about the lack of respect.”
Hosaka went on to say that she recalled Riddle saying that Hosaka “didn’t need to be such a b—- about it” when confronted. According to Riddle, however, the incident boils down to there simply just being one locker room, and that he didn’t have nefarious intentions.
“The PWX thing wasn’t even an incident[,]” said Riddle via text in a statement to Bixenspan. “[T]here was only one locker room (which isn’t uncommon on the indies unfortunately) [and] the promoter told me to change in there[,] so I did. Malia confronted me on my way out, I explained that the promoter told me to go change in there and she talked to the promoter and that was the end of it.”
It is worth noting that sources familiar with these PWX shows in particular claimed this incident could not have happened the way Riddle explained. It was stated that PWX always has two locker rooms for women’s shows and plenty of spare rooms. Talent are also told to not enter the locker room, even if it’s repurposed as a men’s locker room, until all of the women left.
Additionally, it was noted that Riddle had no reason to change during the women’s show. Bixenspan pointed to an Eventbrite listing that advertised the Queens Of Combat women’s show starting at 4:00 p.m. ET while PWX had a 7:00 p.m. bell time.
Candy Cartwright Allegations
One other incident Riddle was involved in was the alleged sexual assault of former EVOLVE talent Candy Cartwright (Samantha Tavel). A friend of Riddle’s, nicknamed “Abby the Butcher”, claimed that he was driving the van that Tavel accused Riddle of assaulting her in. At the time, “Abby” said the story was false.
However, it’s since been proven via discovery in Tavel and Riddle’s lawsuit that he wasn’t the driver. Michigan indie promoter, photographer, and videographer Joe Ranta was. Riddle offered a text statement about Abby’s claim to Bixenspan, claiming that it was a misunderstanding on Abby’s part.
“In regards to my friend Abby driving the van, he’s driven me and others on multiple occasions/loops in the north east [sic] when I was on the indies [and] even in WWE,” Riddle wrote to Bixenspan when asked for comment. (“Abby” didn’t respond to tweets asking about it.) “[W]hen he realized she was talking about a different van ride/loop in the Midwest[,] he realized it and took his tweet down.”
Matt Riddle, via text statement to David Bixenspan
Tavel later dropped her lawsuit against Riddle in July 2021 and left the pro wrestling business.
Riddle continued to be a mainstay on WWE TV after the suit was dropped by Cartwright. Last month, Riddle claimed that he was sexually assaulted by a Port Authority police officer at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Port Of Authority of New York/New Jersey responded and said they opened an investigation into the claim. Riddle later deleted the post about the accusation from Instagram.
Riddle was kept off of television at this time. PWInsider.com reported that talent was told he missed RAW that week due to a “medical issue.” There was some later speculation that Riddle would be back on RAW the next week. He was ultimately released by WWE on September 22.
