Matt Riddle has never been shy about his confidence – especially when it comes to his MMA background – but one bold comment he made about Roman Reigns nearly caused real-life tension with The Tribal Chief.
During his interview on TMZ’s Inside The Ring podcast, Riddle revisited the time he publicly claimed he could “beat Roman Reigns in a real fight.”
The statement, which circulated widely online during his WWE run, didn’t sit well with Reigns, and the two briefly found themselves in an uncomfortable situation backstage.
Riddle explained that after his remark spread, Roman reached out directly. According to Riddle, Reigns sent him a short but pointed text message that simply read: “Not cool, dude.”
That message was enough to make Riddle realize he may have taken his “bro” energy too far. He immediately tried to smooth things over, writing out a long apology and even showing it to Randy Orton – his RK-BRO tag team partner at the time – for advice before sending it.
Randy apparently told him to tone it down and reword it, since the two were on different brands and hadn’t seen each other face-to-face yet. The exchange took place just before WWE resumed live touring after the pandemic.
Riddle said the situation eventually cooled off, and that once they began appearing at the same events again, any tension between him and Reigns disappeared.
Despite the awkward start, Riddle described their working relationship as respectful, noting that he always admired Roman’s professionalism and leadership in WWE.
Still, he didn’t completely walk back his original opinion. Riddle said he respects Reigns as the Face of WWE, but he still believes that in a legitimate MMA-style fight, his experience would give him the edge. It was less about ego and more about confidence in his own skill set.
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