Matt Riddle on his Criticism of Goldberg
Matt Riddle spoke with Sportskeeda for a new interview discussing his online spats with Goldberg and Chris Jericho, his thoughts on AEW going head to head against NXT and more. Audio and highlights are below:
On his first year in NXT: “Well, the past year was good. It’s been busy, and ah, I don’t know. It’s great. When you wrestle in the WWE and stuff like that, there’s so much going on. But it’s all one company, you know. When I was on the indies and stuff, I would wrestle every weekend, four times a weekend, but it was for four different companies every weekend, or at least three. So now just working for one company all the time, it’s just as awesome. And I think that was the biggest transition. And then, you know, TV and stuff like that. But it’s been a great year. I mean, I’ve gotten like, a bunch of raises. I’m making decent money. I spent a lot of time at the house, you know, during the week. I live in Florida, and I train in Florida and all of that. So yeah, you know. Trying not to get beat up by WCW legends, or maybe I’m trying to get beat up by him. But, you know, it’s been a good year, and NXT has been treating me pretty good. Not too bad.”
On NXT going to USA Network: “Well, I think I’m gonna keep doing what I’m gonna do. But I think you know, just because it’s gonna be more TV, more time, they’re gonna need more from us. So we’re gonna see who can deliver on live TV, and who can’t, and I’m stoked. I think it’s a good challenge, not just for me but for the rest of locker room. I like to be pushed, I like to be under pressure. I like to be in that situation, I like to sweat.”
On AEW: “I wish them all the best. I’m super-stoked, it’s the Wednesday night wars. And I hope they push the envelope, I hope they push it hard, and I hope they get a lot of fans. And I hope they’re very successful. Because the more successful they are, the more successful we’ll be. It really helps people out like me if there’s good competition. It helps the performers. The people who actually make the show go, it really helps them.
On a possible match with Goldberg: “Goldberg, I was never even really wanting a match. I mean, I would take it for sure, you know. He’s Bill Goldberg, you know? The guy is money. But at the same time, I never wanted a match. It was more so my opinion on his workrate and his wrestling. You know, not his ability to generate money or put butts in seats. It was his salary, his workrate, that stuff. So I mean, and I talked to Goldberg, we talked about it, he thought I was being disrespectful. My sentiment was ‘Okay, man, that’s my opinion. I’m just not a huge fan of your work, right? It’s not great pro wrestling.’ It’s like, ‘You’ve got a great jackhammer, great spear, you know. But the wrestling, eh.’ And I’m not lying. I feel like if I’m not lying, I’m not being disrespectful, you know. Especially as that’s how you make your money.”
On if he has a message for Chris Jericho: “No, no messages for him, no messages for him. I’m not gonna give him that. I already had my one video, he knows what I think. He told me to listen and learn, or whatever. Which wasn’t even directed properly towards me, you know, and like I said, I wasn’t trying to get him mad. It was just my opinion on somebody, in multiple interviews and whatever. And then I just watched that match and it was just too much. It was just too much. So, I think maybe he should listen and learn. If he wants to get his ass kicked, he can – but I doubt he wants that.”
