Dave Meltzer Sees Parallel Between Jon Moxley & Matt Riddle On Latter's AEW Prospects

After being released by WWE last week, Matt Riddle is officially a free agent, with reported interest from both pro wrestling and MMA promotions. In the latest "Wrestling Observer Newsletter," journalist Dave Meltzer compared Riddle's situation to that of Jon Moxley, another former WWE star. Meltzer stated that, like Moxley, Riddle spent the last several months in WWE losing, but was able to make the move over to AEW and reinvent his career. Meltzer states that AEW could always use more names that they can push to the top, and he believes Riddle is one of those performers.

The primary difference between Moxley and Riddle, as acknowledged by Meltzer, is the fact that Riddle carries a great deal of baggage with him. Over the last several years, Riddle has been a lightning rod for controversy, though he has not been involved in any criminal or civil litigation. Most recently, Riddle was involved in an incident at JFK airport in New York City that allegedly saw the former WWE star confronted by police officers. Though the situation ended calmly according to the officers, Riddle later accused one of the officials of sexual assault on social media before deleting most of the posts.

Riddle was with WWE from 2018 up until last week. During that time, he became a two-time "WWE Raw" Tag Team Champion alongside Randy Orton, won the WWE United States Championship, and held the "WWE NXT" Tag Team Championship alongside Pete Dunne (AKA Butch).

Prior to joining WWE, Riddle was an MMA fighter before making the transition to independent wrestler. He was primarily associated with EVOLVE on the independent scene but also performed for promotions such as CZW and GCW until he signed with WWE.