Is Matt Riddle a new member of the TNA roster?
TNA held their annual Turning Point pay-per-view on November 29th and the biggest news coming from the event was the former United States Champion making his debut in a six-man tag team match alongside Kushida and Zachary Wentz. The trio took on TNA World Tag Team Champions Matt and Jeff Hardy, and Ace Austin.
It was a solid debut that ultimately saw The Hardys and Ace Austin pick up the victory after Jeff hit the Swanton bomb onto Kushida. There wasn’t much build to Riddle’s debut and it’s because it wasn’t supposed to happen in the first place.
According to Fightful Select, Trey Miguel was originally set to team with Kushida and Zachary Wentz, but the former X-Division Champion was unable to make the live show due to travel conflicts.
TNA Officials had to scramble to find a replacement, but luckily, they were near the Wrestlecade convention so they had plenty of options on the table. Overall, officials were quite pleased with Matt Riddle and his performance, but there’s no plans to use the former WWE star going forward.
Since his departure from WWE in late 2023, Matt Riddle has been killing it on the independent scene. His main stay has been in Major League Wrestling where he got a huge victory over Jacob Fatu in January.
However, Riddle has been a huge part of New Japan Pro Wrestling as he made his debut at New Year Dash and won the NJPW World Television Championship a month later. Riddle successfully defended the belt for 49 days until he lost it to Zack Sabre Jr. at Windy City Riot. Riddle has also been making his name down in Mexico in AAA as the 38-year-old is currently the AAA World Cruiserweight Champion.
Matt Riddle would be a great addition to TNA and it’s a surprise that he didn’t make his debut for the promotion sooner. Understandably, Riddle didn’t leave WWE on good terms so officials were probably hesitant to reach out to the ‘King of Bros’, but it’s also possible that the former WWE star didn’t have much interest in going to TNA until now.
Given the positive reception to his debut, it would be a surprise if Riddle didn’t make a return in the future. Though it is disappointing that he won’t be able to mix it up with the current roster any time soon.