Matt Riddle recently debuted on SmackDown amid some pretty serious allegations of sexual assault, and although the former NXT Superstar denied these claims at the time, he has now shared a more detailed statement via social media.
In the video, The King of Bros denies forcing his accuser, Samantha Tavel, to give him oral sex during a van trip while the driver was asleep. He does admit to having an affair with Tavel, however, and maintains that she's making up the story because she's still "mad" about Riddle ending their relationship and telling his wife about his indiscretions.
Transcript via PW Mania:
"We had an affair. You have plenty of evidence of that. And you know what? I never denied it. Because it happened. Do I want to talk about it? Do I want really want to share about it? No. It’s embarrassing. Because I feel like a real piece of crap cheating on my wife and doing that. And now having to talk about it publicly. But, I have to. We had a relationship. We had a fling. I started to get sad and depressed because I was lying to my wife so much to hide what I was doing. I was lying to all my friends because I didn’t want anybody to know.
Because it’s not something cool. I didn’t want to brag about it. I tried to end it. I told my wife about you and us. I tried to end it. I blocked you. I blocked your social media. You then started using messaging apps and you kept coming. I blocked those. I got a new number. You got my new number and kept messaging me.”
“At this point you have to realize, if you don’t think you’re stalking me, or harassing me, you’re crazy,” he adds. “And if you’re at home and you don’t think that’s harassment, you’re crazy. At the end of the day, I’m not perfect. We did have an affair. And I’m not happy about that. But, I never sexually abused anybody. I never sexually assaulted anybody. And when I wanted to get out of this relationship, out of this situation, she said no and she kept pursuing me and harassing me and stalking me. And then, when she didn’t get her way, she used the #SpeakingOut movement to try and ruin my career.”
What do you guys make of Riddle's comments? Do you believe him? Let us know in the usual place.