Matt Riddle on ending his working relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling

Matt Riddle shared the reasons behind the end of his working relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), emphasizing scheduling conflicts and professional priorities. He reflected positively on his time with the promotion, stating:

“New Japan was great. I was supposed to go do a tour when I first started working with them, but I had a scheduling conflict. I had a match with RVD, and me being me, there is no way that I could miss a match with RVD. I told New Japan that I could come in the first week of the tour, but then I had to leave the second week and I’d be back before the weekend was over. They said that wasn’t going to work. I was like, ‘Okay.’”

Riddle recounted another instance where a prior booking with MLW (Major League Wrestling) took precedence, which further complicated his relationship with NJPW:

“I worked for them in Chicago and dropped the title to Zack Sabre, and then they wanted me to wrestle again. When they did the next one in California, I had a booking with MLW, and MLW comes first. They’ve been taking care of me, I’ve worked with them in the past, and ever since I said, ‘I have a booking that day with MLW,’ they have not reached out.”

Despite the lack of communication since, Riddle doesn’t believe there are hard feelings, attributing the situation to his packed schedule and the demands on both sides:

“I don’t think it’s anything personal. I fill up my schedule early and wrestle two or three times a weekend, usually. Their schedule, they didn’t pencil me in. They would a lot of times call me or ask me to do a date and I was already booked. I think that was it. They have a lot going on and a lot of moving pieces.”

Riddle also highlighted how being in demand as a wrestler often comes with such challenges:

“When you’re dealing with somebody like me, Mustafa Ali, or Donovan Dijak, we’re in demand. I wrestle all over the world all the time. You may not see me on TV, but I’m very busy.”

His comments reflect mutual respect for NJPW while underscoring the realities of managing a busy independent wrestling career.

Source: Shak Wrestling