Matthew Frederick Riddle (born January 14, 1986) is an American professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. He is signed to Major League Wrestling (MLW) and also makes appearances on the independent circuit. He is best known for his tenure in WWE.
As a professional mixed martial artist from 2008 to 2014, Riddle made a name for himself by appearing on SpikeTV's The Ultimate Fighter 7 and went on to hold a four-fight winning streak in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) before being released upon testing positive for marijuana in February 2013 (that being his second drug test failure). He also fought for Titan FC and compiled a career record of 8–3 (2).
In 2014, Riddle began training at the Monster Factory for a career in professional wrestling and made his debut in February 2015. Readers of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter recognized him as the Rookie of the Year and Most Improved wrestler of the year in 2016. Between 2015 and 2018, he worked on the independent circuit, wrestling for promotions such as Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, World Wrestling Network/Evolve, and others. He is a former Evolve Champion, WWN Champion, PWG World Tag Team Champion (with Jeff Cobb), and two-time Progress Atlas Champion.
Riddle signed with WWE in July 2018 and portrayed a stereotypical carefree, barefoot surfer valley boy. He was assigned to the NXT brand, where he was a one-time NXT Tag Team Champion with Pete Dunne as "The BroserWeights". He was promoted to the main roster in May 2020, where he won the United States Championship in February 2021. In April, Riddle began teaming with Randy Orton as RK-Bro, holding the Raw Tag Team Championship twice. After Orton incurred a back injury in May 2022, which eventually led to RK-Bro's disbandment, Riddle continued his run as a singles competitor until he was released from WWE in September 2023.
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Early life and education
Matthew Frederick Riddle was born on January 14, 1986, in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He later moved to Saratoga Springs, New York, where he attended Saratoga Springs High School and was a New York state wrestling champion in 2004. Riddle would face and beat future UFC champion Jon Jones twice in high school wrestling.
Riddle later attended East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania on an athletic scholarship, where he was a member of its wrestling team for two years and won many championships. After his head coach was fired, Riddle lost his wrestling scholarship and began his transition into mixed martial arts.
Mixed martial arts career
Early career
Riddle holds a perfect amateur record of 1–0. During this career, he worked as a roofer and trained in Brazilian jiu-jitsu in the evenings. Riddle credits B.J. Penn's book, Mixed Martial Arts: The Book of Knowledge, in helping him learn during his early years in MMA.
Riddle then fought Dan Simmler, an understudy of Matt Serra, to get into The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) house. Riddle knocked out Simmler in the opening seconds of the second round and struck him three times in the jaw after losing consciousness, breaking Simmler's jaw into two places. Riddle was picked second overall for Team Rampage. During his involvement on show, Riddle was given the nickname Chipper after Rampage noticed him always smiling.
Riddle's second match was against Tim Credeur. Credeur defeated Riddle in the second round, causing him to be knocked out of the tournament. After the fight, Credeur bought Riddle an Xbox 360 with his earnings.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (2008–2013)
At The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale, which was held on June 21, 2008, Riddle made his UFC and professional debut defeating fellow Ultimate Fighter castmate, Dante Rivera, via unanimous decision (29–28, 30–27, 30–27). During The Ultimate Fighter 7, Riddle was shown arguing with the older and more experienced Rivera multiple times. Dante, on more than one occasion, stated that he would retire if Riddle defeated him - a commitment which he didn't follow through with after his loss.
Riddle was then scheduled to fight Ryan Thomas at UFC 91, but a knee injury forced Riddle out of the fight and got pinned. The knee injury's recovery was scheduled to take about 6–8 weeks.
After his recovery, Riddle fought and defeated Steve Bruno in a unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) at UFC Fight Night: Lauzon vs. Stephens.
In his third bout, Riddle defeated another one of his former Ultimate Fighter 7 castmates, Dan Cramer, via a unanimous decision on the undercard of UFC 101.
He next faced The Ultimate Fighter 9 alumni Nick Osipczak on November 14, 2009, at UFC 105. The fight was held in Osipczak's home country of England. Riddle lost the fight by TKO in the third round.
After his loss to Osipczak, Riddle faced newcomer Greg Soto on March 27, 2010, at UFC 111. After a dominant first two rounds for Riddle, Soto landed an illegal upkick to Riddle's head in the third round which rendered him unable to continue, giving Riddle the victory by disqualification.
Following this victory, Riddle faced another TUF alumni in DaMarques Johnson on August 1, 2010, at UFC on Versus 2. The fight was a catchweight bout after Johnson weighed in at 172 lbs and Riddle would go on to win the fight via TKO due to punches near the end of the second round.
Riddle was expected to face TJ Waldburger on December 11, 2010, at UFC 124. However, Waldburger was forced from the card with an injury and replaced by newcomer Sean Pierson. Pierson defeated Riddle via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) and the bout was dubbed by president Dana White as the real Fight of the Night.
Bellator MMA (2013)
Shortly after being released from the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Riddle signed a multi-fight deal with Texas-based promotion, Legacy Fighting Championships. However, on May 18, 2013, it was announced that Riddle instead joined the Bellator MMA roster after his Legacy contract had been purchased by the promotion. Riddle was expected to compete in the Bellator's welterweight tournament during their ninth season which begins in the Fall of 2013. However Riddle cracked his rib and had to pull out of the tournament, and subsequently retired from MMA fighting due to financial reasons. A few weeks later Riddle came out of retirement and was expected to fight at Bellator 109. Once again Riddle pulled out of that fight and was subsequently released.
Titan FC (2014)
Riddle fought fellow former UFC fighter Michael Kuiper in the co-main event of Titan FC 27 on February 28, 2014. Riddle won by second round guillotine choke.
Riddle was expected to face MMA legend Jose Landi-Jons for the vacant Welterweight Championship at Titan FC 29 on August 22, 2014. However, Landi-Jons was forced out of the bout due to visa issues, and was replaced by UFC veteran Ben Saunders. However, Riddle was forced out of the bout due to injury and was replaced by the man he was originally scheduled to face, Jose Landi-Jons.
Professional wrestling career
Independent circuit (2014–2018)
On October 29, 2014, it was reported that Riddle was training for a career in professional wrestling. Riddle made his debut on February 7, 2015, at the Monster Factory in Paulsboro, New Jersey. In July, he won the Monster Factory Heavyweight Championship. On September 15, it was announced that Riddle had signed with the World Wrestling Network (WWN) to work the October Evolve events, which he later confirmed after taking part in a WWE tryout. On January 24, 2016, Riddle won Evolve's Style Battle tournament. On April 8, Riddle signed a contract with Evolve's parent company WWN. On September 3, Riddle made his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), entering the 2016 Battle of Los Angeles tournament, from which he was eliminated in his first round match by Kyle O'Reilly. In October, Riddle faced Cody Rhodes at New York promotion House of Glory's show titled Unbreakable in a losing effort.
On January 15, 2017, Riddle defeated Rampage Brown to win the Progress Atlas Championship. Riddle debuted for Revolution Pro Wrestling on January 21, challenging Katsuyori Shibata for the British Heavyweight Championship in a losing effort. On February 11, at CZW 18, Riddle faced David Starr in an inter-promotional champion vs champion match, with Riddle defending Progress Wrestling's Atlas Championship and Starr defending wXw's Shotgun Championship. The match ended in a double disqualification, and neither championship changed hands. On April 1, Riddle defeated five other men in an elimination match to become the inaugural WWN Champion. On October 20, Riddle and Jeff Cobb, known collectively as "The Chosen Bros", defeated the Lucha Brothers (Rey Fenix and Penta el Zero M) to win the PWG World Tag Team Championship. On April 20, 2018, they lost the titles to The Rascalz (Zachary Wentz and Dezmond Xavier).
On April 5, 2018, Riddle was the host of the first edition of Game Changer Wrestling's shoot-style event, Bloodsport, and also wrestled in the main event, losing to Minoru Suzuki. On the same day, Riddle defeated Zack Sabre Jr. at Evolve 102 to win the Evolve Championship. On August 4, Riddle lost the Evolve Championship to Shane Strickland at Evolve 108.
WWE (2018–2023)
On July 31, 2018, it was reported by Uproxx that Riddle had signed a contract with WWE. On August 18, Riddle appeared at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn IV and was identified by the event's commentators as WWE's newest signing.
Riddle made his in-ring debut on the October 31 episode of NXT, defeating Luke Menzies. At NXT TakeOver: WarGames II on November 17, Riddle began a feud with Kassius Ohno, who interrupted him during an interview on the pre-show. When the show started, Riddle challenged Ohno to an impromptu match and defeated him in 6 seconds, marking the fastest match in NXT history. He then defeated Ohno in a rematch on the January 2 episode of NXT. At NXT TakeOver: Phoenix on January 26, 2019, Riddle defeated Ohno for a third time after making him submit with a series of elbow strikes to the head, ending their feud. The following month, WWE Network released a documentary on his wrestling career and entry into NXT entitled Arrival: Matt Riddle. At NXT TakeOver: New York on April 5, Riddle challenged Velveteen Dream for the NXT North American Championship in a losing effort, ending his undefeated streak in NXT.
In July, Riddle started a feud with the returning Killian Dain. On the August 7 episode of NXT, Riddle was set to face Dain, but they brawled before the match happened. Three days later, the two brawled at NXT TakeOver: Toronto and faced each other on the August 21 episode of NXT, where Dain was victorious, but Riddle attacked Dain after the match. This set up a Street Fight between the two on NXT's debut on the USA Network, which ended in a no contest. On the September 25 episode of NXT, Riddle again fought Dain in a Street Fight where the winner would face Adam Cole for the NXT Championship the following week. Riddle defeated Dain to end their feud, but failed to win the title from Cole.
On the November 1 episode of SmackDown, Riddle and Keith Lee were one of the many NXT wrestlers to invade the show, confronting and attacking Sami Zayn. Later that night, Riddle joined Triple H and the rest of the NXT roster as they declared war on both Raw and SmackDown, and vowed to win the Survivor Series brand warfare. On the November 13 episode of NXT, Finn Bálor insulted the NXT roster as "all boys who can't take a beating", specifically mentioning Johnny Gargano and Riddle, who attacked Bálor before he retreated. Riddle was originally part of Team Ciampa for NXT TakeOver: WarGames, but was taken off the team due to having a match against Bálor at the event on November 23, which he lost. The following night, at Survivor Series, Riddle was part of Team NXT in a losing effort to Team SmackDown also involving Team Raw; during the match, Riddle eliminated Randy Orton with a roll-up pin before being laid out with an RKO, which caused him to be eliminated by King Corbin. On January 26, Riddle participated in the Royal Rumble match at the namesake pay-per-view and entered at #23, but was eliminated by Corbin in 41 seconds.
Major League Wrestling (2024–present)
Riddle returned to Major League Wrestling (MLW) at Kings of Colosseum on January 6, 2024, defeating Jacob Fatu. On February 24, at Intimidation Games, Riddle successfully defended his NJPW World Television Championship against Bad Dude Tito. On March 29, at War Chamber, he successfully defended the title against Kosei Fujita. On June 1, Riddle won the Battle Riot VI.
On January 11, 2025 at Kings of Colosseum, Riddle defeated Satoshi Kojima to win the MLW World Heavyweight Championship for the first time. On September 13 at Fightland, Riddle lost the title to Mads Krule Krügger, ending his reign at 245 days. On October 4 at Slaughterhouse, Riddle turned heel for the first time in his career after defeating Alex Hammerstone with a low blow and declaring himself as the "Rude Dude".
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2024)
On January 5, 2024, at New Year Dash!!, Riddle made his New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) debut in a pre-taped vignette, challenging NJPW World Television Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi. It was then announced that Riddle would be making his NJPW in-ring debut at Battle in the Valley, teaming with a mystery partner against Zack Sabre Jr. and Bad Dude Tito of TMDK. At Battle in the Valley on January 13, Riddle's mystery partner was revealed to be his former Chosen Bros partner Jeff Cobb, defeating TMDK. On February 23, Riddle defeated Tanahashi at The New Beginning in Sapporo to win the NJPW World Television Championship. At Windy City Riot on April 12, Riddle lost the title to Sabre Jr., ending his reign at 49 days.
Return to the independent circuit (2024–present)
On February 2, 2024, Riddle made his return to the independent circuit at Adrenaline Championship Wrestling's Bromance in Hagerstown, Maryland, defeating Chris Slade. He went on to win the Combat 1 World Championship in a 3 way match at Combat 1 Wrestling's WrestleRama: Bro-Down in Brighton, Michigan on February 8, 2024. However, he would be the last Combat 1 World Champion as the promotion would close its doors in October 2024. On March 9, Matt Riddle would face Rob Van Dam in a singles match ending in a no contest at World Classic Professional Big Time Wrestling's The Reunion 3: Calvacade Of Legends in Chillicothe, Ohio. The two would later team up in a tag team match, defeating America's Most Wanted (Chris Harris and James Storm). Riddle also took part in WrestleMania 40 weekend festivities during the WrestleCon Mark Hitchcock Memorial Supershow at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on April 4, where he teamed up with Mustafa Ali in a tag team match, defeating The Rascalz Trey Miguel & Zachary Wentz. Riddle would defeat PCO the next day at Battleground Championship Wrestling's Born to Die.
Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (2024)
Riddle made his debut for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) on August 17, 2024 at Triplemanía XXXII: Mexico City, where he defeated Komander and Laredo Kid in a three-way match for the AAA World Cruiserweight Championship. Riddle had his first successful title defense against El Fiscal on October 6 at Héroes Inmortales. Riddle lost the title to Laredo Kid on December 7 at Cierre De La Origenes.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2024)
Riddle made his debut for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) at Turning Point on November 29, 2024, where he teamed with Kushida and Zachary Wentz in a losing effort to The Hardys and Ace Austin.
Personal life
Riddle married Lisa Rennie in 2011. They have fraternal twin daughters and a son. The couple divorced in March 2022. Since November 2022, he has been dating adult film actress Misha Montana. On July 7, 2023, Riddle announced that they are expecting their first child, and Riddle's fourth. On December 1, 2023, they welcomed their son.
Riddle is an experienced practitioner of Brazilian jiu-jitsu and was promoted to black belt in the sport by Daniel Gracie, Rolles Gracie, and David Floridia on January 28, 2022.
Sexual assault allegation
In the summer of 2020, Riddle was accused of sexually assaulting female independent wrestler Candy Cartwright. Cartwright alleges that after an independent show in May 2018, Riddle asked her to have sex with him, and when Cartwright turned down Riddle's request, she claims that Riddle choked her and forced her to give him oral sex. WWE released a statement claiming they were looking into the incident; Riddle immediately denied the allegations in a video posted to his Twitter page. Riddle stated that he had an affair with Cartwright, but sexual relations between the two were completely consensual.
Riddle later filed for a restraining order against Cartwright, alleging that she harassed, stalked, and threatened his safety both in person and over the internet. In September 2020, Riddle withdrew his petition for a restraining order. On October 8, 2020, Cartwright filed a lawsuit against Riddle, WWE, and Evolve president Gabe Sapolsky over the incident. In March 2021, the court dismissed WWE and Sapolsky as defendants in the suit, stating that their connection to the allegations could not be proven. Cartwright dropped the lawsuit on July 13, 2021.
Other media
Riddle made his video game debut as a playable character in WWE 2K20 and subsequently in WWE 2K22 and WWE 2K23. On June 22, 2022 Riddle made an appearance on the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Championships and accomplishments
Amateur Wrestling
New York State Public High School Athletic Association
New York Division I 189 lb state champion out of Saratoga Springs High School (2004)
Mixed martial arts
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Fight of the Night (1 time) vs. Lance Benoist
Submission of the Night (1 time) vs. Chris Clements
Greatest Knockout in The Ultimate Fighter
Professional wrestling
5 Star Wrestling
5 Star Tap or Snap Championship (1 time, final)
AAW: Professional Wrestling Redefined
AAW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Boca Raton Championship Wrestling
BRCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time, current)
BRCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Stallion Rogers
Beyond Wrestling
Tournament for Today Men (2016)
Coastal Championship Wrestling
CCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Stallion Rogers
Combat 1 Wrestling
Combat 1 World Championship (1 time, final)
Evolve
Evolve Championship (1 time)
Style Battle (2016)
Hope Wrestling
Hope 24/7 Hardcore Championship (1 time)
IWA Mid-South
Revolution Strong Style Tournament (2018)
Keystone Pro Wrestling
KPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Punisher Martinez