WWE.com sat down with one of NXT‘s newest stars in Matt Riddle and the “King of Bros” talks his debut for the black and gold brand and his MMA background. Below are some quotes from the interview:
Matt Riddle on where he met William Regal for the first time:
I was on a show for EVOLVE. Regal was talking to one of the guys about a possible opportunity to work with WWE when I stepped into the ring and said, “Yo, Bro, why aren’t you talking to me?” Some guys thought I was being disrespectful, but that was the first time I met William Regal. It took a little bit of time and persuasion, but they finally let me in the door at NXT.
On choosing pro wrestling as a career path:
I always had watched pro wrestling. I happened to be watching the WWE Network one day and started watching differently. I wasn’t watching it as a fan, but instead I was watching it as something that I could possibly be a part of. I thought to myself, “I can do this,” and it was something I always wanted to do. In fact, pro wrestling was the reason I pursued amateur wrestling when I was 13 and eventually trained in Jiu-Jitsu. It was sort of like I came full circle, because I watched as a kid and then learned all these different styles and made it to UFC. But I almost felt like I was limited in MMA. In sports-entertainment, you can be larger than life. That was the day I decided to call my buddy who’s a lawyer and get his opinion on me leaving MMA and training full time to wrestle. He was all for it. I trusted him and I trusted my gut feeling, and as you can see, it all worked out.
On his favorite wrestlers:
I always enjoyed the intense wrestling style. My favorites were guys like Kurt Angle, Bret Hart, Rob Van Dam, Jerry Lynn, Eddie Guerrero and Dean Malenko. I liked guys that pushed the pace with so much conviction and intensity.
On his laid back personality:
That’s just exactly who I am. When I first started, I had a mullet and I was trying to play a hillbilly persona. While it was fun, it wasn’t me. I decided the best move was just to be me and turn it up a little bit. I’m 100-percent me when I’m out there. Sometimes I feel like I shouldn’t even be getting paid because I’m just being myself all the time.
You can read the entire interview from WWE by going here.
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