Bengaluru, July 8: The latest induction to the SmackDown roster from NXT appears to be Matt Riddle who has plenty of momentum by his side. He picked up back to back wins over the Intercontinental Champion AJ Styles and the 2019 King of the Ring winner, Baron Corbin. It indicates that the WWE creative team considers him to be a top player of the blue brand for years to follow.

An additional reason behind Riddle’s push is WWE Chairman Vince McMahon who sees shadows of the legendary Shawn Michaels in him. According to the reports of Wrestling News, The Original Bro has gotten along well with the backstage members of SmackDown, so far. There were some previous concerns about his outspoken attitude but that didn't create any hindrance, so far.

Matt Riddle is also “allowed to give more input for his promos than most.” Vince McMahon was really impressed by his promo work this week on SmackDown where he ran through all the struggles in life in the past. He also revealed a frost-bite story for not wearing shoes while wrestling or anywhere except for some formal occasions.

It was also noted McMahon has already compared Riddle to a “young Shawn Michaels.” A source within the company suggested that The Boss likes the rebel mentality that resembles HBK from the 90s locker room,

“Vince likes guys like Shawn who have that rebel mentality and he sees some of Shawn in Matt. Matt can rub some people the wrong way but he’s a good guy and he will do great when Vince calls him up. I think he’s a future world champion. Vince will try to tweak him but his personality will get him far.”

However, Vinnie Mac may not be impressed with Riddle’s name getting involved with the #SpeakingOut movement on the social media that is bringing out sexual exploitation stories of female pro-wrestlers at the hand of males. An indie name Candy Cartwright recently accused Riddle of the same and also provided proofs on social media.



Riddle has never acknowledged his actions as WWE already issued a statement of taking action if found guilty. Based on these incidents, there're some doubts about whether WWE could halt the push around the former NXT Tag Team Champion. But to date, no such fallout was noted on his SmackDown storyline.

As of now, the plan is to continue the angle with AJ Styles to produce a match at Extreme Rules. Matt Riddle already scored a pinfall win over the Phenomenal One which should hand him an opportunity to challenge him in a title match. The official announcement regarding this match should come on this upcoming episode of SmackDown.