Matt Riddle has talked about the sequence of incidents that happened at an airport in New York.
Matt Riddle landed back in the US at JFK airport after making an appearance at the WWE Superstar Spectacle event in India. According to reports at the airport, the former WWE Superstar was among the rowdy passengers getting off the plane. Later, footage of Matt Riddle acting erratically at the airport and shouting into a microphone surfaced.
Speaking with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Riddle talked about the event and its cause:
Riddle landed back in the US at JFK airport after making an appearance at the WWE Superstar Spectacle event in India. According to reports at the airport, the former WWE Superstar was among the rowdy passengers getting off the plane. Later, footage of Matt Riddle acting erratically at the airport and shouting into a microphone surfaced.
Speaking with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Riddle talked about the event and its cause:
However, I believe that many individuals would berate themselves. Looking at it simultaneously, I believe it was a sign. I may have jumped back into things a little too quickly since I was overworking myself. It was taxing on me to do a four-day tour and spend a day traveling to and from India. Things like that wearied me out.
Matt Riddle claimed to have been sexually assaulted by an airport security officer, and shortly after arriving, he shared a photo of the officer on social media. The post was removed without delay. When discussing the circumstances, Riddle opted not to delve too deeply:
I won’t go into too much detail about that particular occurrence. The trip was the same. I spoke with the FBI and internal affairs. I promise you that I am not in any difficulties. They asked me not to discuss the specifics of the case, and I didn’t want to file charges, so I won’t go into that here. That’s how things were handled in that case.
At the same time, I wouldn’t have been there and I wouldn’t have put myself in that circumstance if I hadn’t had a few drinks. Finally, I recognized that by putting myself in that scenario, I might have ended up in danger. Though I don’t think it helped, especially with the UFC merging, I don’t think it was the reason I was fired.
My contract stated that I would earn a million dollars this next year, no matter what, which is a significant increase over what I made the year before and the previous year. I believe several factors contributed to my decision to leave. In addition, I had a few drug test failures. For me, at any rate, the writing was on the wall. I’m entertaining in the ring, but I don’t think I was a good fit at the moment, especially with WWE and how they want to be seen.”
Matt Riddle explains drug test failures
In September 2023, Riddle was one of several Superstars who were let go from their WWE contracts. In addition to the previously noted incident at the airport, Riddle has a history of failing drug tests while working for the corporation. In the same interview, Matt Riddle disclosed the drug that he took to fail the tests and the length of his rehab stay.
