Matt Riddle discusses his WWE release. He says he was set to make $1 million a year, as he was offered a raise.
Matt Riddle had a successful run in WWE, as he won the United States Championship and the RAW Tag Team Championship. His time with the company was also filled with controversy, and the company released him in September 2023.
Speaking on The Kurt Angle Show, the WWE/UFC merger came up in the conversation, and Matt Riddle agreed with the claim that it could have played a part in his release. He also noted that John Laurinaitis had offered him a raise which would have seen him make $1 million per year. (H/t Andrew Thompson of POST Wrestling for the transcription)
I think that definitely didn’t help things,” Matt Riddle said. “I know me and Dana White don’t have the greatest relationship and I know he’s definitely a big part of that. And yeah, it definitely played a part. Also, I know they were making budget cuts regardless and I was getting paid quite a pretty penny. I don’t know if it was right before RK-Bro or right after, (John) Laurinaitis pulled me into the office and I thought I was in trouble. I was like, ‘Aww.’ You know, I didn’t get my vaccine yet and I was like, ‘Oh man…’
“And [I] went in there, like, ‘Hey, we want to give you a raise’ and they gave me a substantial raise and it increased every year and this year, I was gonna get paid a million a year. I was at 750, and I mean last year, I cleared my bucket. I did extremely well. So I think that was a big contributing factor. I was gonna get paid a million dollars starting next year.”
Matt Riddle: I Ruffled Some Feathers With H.R.
Matt Riddle continued by stating that he didn’t think his behavior helped matters, either. He admitted that he “ruffled some feathers” with H.R. Ultimately, he noted that there were multiple reasons why the company released him.
“I also think the merger didn’t help and then also, my behavior didn’t help either and I ruffled some feathers with H.R. in the last couple of months,” Matt Riddle said. “I was asked a couple questions and this, that, plus other things. So I think there was multiple reasons why they got rid of me but, it is what it is. One door shuts, another door opens and you just learn from your mistakes and stuff. I don’t know.”
The video version of the interview can be seen below:
Matt Riddle recently claimed he was supposed to win the Royal Rumble match and the Money in the Bank match during his time in WWE. Check out his comments here.
Riddle won his NJPW debut at NJPW Battle in the Valley. He is set to face Hiroshi Tanahashi on February 23.
