Ex-WWE Star Matt Riddle On Working With TNA, Current Status With The Company

At TNA Turning Point, The Hardy Boyz and Ace Austin were initially penciled in to face KUSHIDA, Zachary Wentz, and Trey Miguel in six-man tag competition. Due to travel complications, however, Miguel was unable to make the event. As such, former WWE star Matt Riddle later emerged as Wentz and KUSHIDA's replacement tag team partner. During a recent interview with "SHAK Wrestling," Riddle explained how his appearance on the TNA show, which came as part of the 2024 WrestleCade convention, materialized.

"I was doing pretty well, making pretty good money, a lot of people lined up to take a picture with The Bro," Riddle said. "Then Tommy Dreamer came up and [executive producer] Ariel [Shnerer] ... they came up to me and they told me that Trey got into, not a horrible car accident, but not a great car accident, and he probably wasn't going to be able to make it to the show.

"Because of my past with KUSHIDA in NXT and my past with Zachary Wentz in NXT, as I was the Shaman. I was the Shaman that actually took the place of Jeff Hardy. Jeff Hardy was the original Shaman, but then he left and I replaced him. They asked if I would be willing to do it. I didn't have to. I'm not under contract with them or anything like that, but I saw a company that was kind of in need and I saw one of my friends, Zachary Wentz, was definitely in need. His boy was out. It just made sense."

Regarding his current relationship with TNA, Riddle noted that the company has spoken highly of him and to him directly. Right now, though, he doesn't have any working plans with them, as Major League Wrestling is his home promotion. Most recently, "The King of Bros" defeated Satoshi Kojima to claim the MLW World Heavyweight Championship at King of Colosseum.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "SHAK Wrestling" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.