Matt Riddle Makes Hasty Exit After Losing NJPW TV Championship At Windy City Riot
NJPW returned to the United States for the second-ever Windy City Riot event in Chicago, where Matt Riddle's reign as the NJPW World Television Champion came to an end. Riddle defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi at The New Beginning in Sapporo event in February to become the third man to hold NJPW's TV title, before successfully defending it twice in MLW against TMDK's Bad Dude Tito and Kosei Fujita. However, when it came to his meeting with TMDK front man Zack Sabre Jr., Riddle was defeated within the 15-minute time limit after Sabre secured a surprise roll-up.
While the match itself garnered a positive response from fans in the Wintrust Arena, and people watching around the world, it was what happened after the dust had settled that had people scratching their heads. Once Sabre won the match, rather than selling the defeat, Riddle quickly left the ring and walked back to the entrance stage, high-fiving fans along the way and no-selling the loss.
Matt Riddle no selling after his loss dropping the title back to Zack Sabre Jr this kinda remaims me of Austin Aries moment #NJPWRiot #njriot #njpw pic.twitter.com/JMD3DtLFXk
— Christopher (@Christo79744616) April 13, 2024
It is unclear at time of writing when Riddle will be in action in an NJPW ring again, but he has confirmed he has a work visa that allows him to travel to Japan throughout 2024. As for the champion, Sabre was the inaugural NJPW World Television Champion and held the title for a full year, losing to Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom 18 on January 4, but will look to top what he did in his first reign going forward. NJPW has a busy few weeks ahead of them, as they will build to the Wrestling Dontaku events on May 3 and 4 with the 'Road to Wrestling Dontaku' tour that begins on April 20, as well as the company's next event in the US, Resurgence, on May 11.