Matthew Frederick Riddle (born January 14, 1986) is an American professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. He is signed to Major League Wrestling (MLW) and also makes appearances on the independent circuit. He is best known for his tenure in WWE.
As a professional mixed martial artist from 2008 to 2014, Riddle made a name for himself by appearing on SpikeTV's The Ultimate Fighter 7 and went on to hold a four-fight winning streak in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) before being released upon testing positive for marijuana in February 2013 (that being his second drug test failure). He also fought for Titan FC and compiled a career record of 8–3 (2).
In 2014, Riddle began training at the Monster Factory for a career in professional wrestling and made his debut in February 2015. Readers of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter recognized him as the Rookie of the Year and Most Improved wrestler of the year in 2016. Between 2015 and 2018, he worked on the independent circuit, wrestling for promotions such as Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, World Wrestling Network/Evolve, and others. He is a former Evolve Champion, WWN Champion, PWG World Tag Team Champion (with Jeff Cobb), and two-time Progress Atlas Champion.
Riddle signed with WWE in July 2018 and portrayed a stereotypical carefree, barefoot surfer valley boy. He was assigned to the NXT brand, where he was a one-time NXT Tag Team Champion with Pete Dunne as "The BroserWeights". He was promoted to the main roster in May 2020, where he won the United States Championship in February 2021. In April, Riddle began teaming with Randy Orton as RK-Bro, holding the Raw Tag Team Championship twice. After Orton incurred a back injury in May 2022, which eventually led to RK-Bro's disbandment, Riddle continued his run as a singles competitor until he was released from WWE in September 2023.
Early life and education Matthew Frederick Riddle was born on January 14, 1986, in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He later moved to Saratoga Springs, New York, where he attended Saratoga Springs High School and was a New York state wrestling champion in 2004. Riddle would face and beat future UFC champion Jon Jones twice in high school wrestling.
Riddle later attended East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania on an athletic scholarship, where he was a member of its wrestling team for two years and won many championships. After his head coach was fired, Riddle lost his wrestling scholarship and began his transition into mixed martial arts.
Mixed martial arts career Early career The Ultimate Fighter Riddle holds a perfect amateur record of 1–0. During this career, he worked as a roofer and trained in Brazilian jiu-jitsu in the evenings. Riddle credits B.J. Penn's book, Mixed Martial Arts: The Book of Knowledge, in helping him learn during his early years in MMA.
Riddle then fought Dan Simmler, an understudy of Matt Serra, to get into The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) house. Riddle knocked out Simmler in the opening seconds of the second round and struck him three times in the jaw after losing consciousness, breaking Simmler's jaw into two places. Riddle was picked second overall for Team Rampage. During his involvement on show, Riddle was given the nickname Chipper after Rampage noticed him always smiling.https://fromthehedgestothekorakuen.blogspot.com/2008/04/ultimate-fighter-7-show-four-re-cap.html
Riddle's second match was against Tim Credeur. Credeur defeated Riddle in the second round, causing him to be knocked out of the tournament. After the fight, Credeur bought Riddle an Xbox 360 with his earnings.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (2008–2013) At The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale, which was held on June 21, 2008, Riddle made his UFC and professional debut defeating fellow Ultimate Fighter castmate, Dante Rivera, via unanimous decision (29–28, 30–27, 30–27). During The Ultimate Fighter 7, Riddle was shown arguing with the older and more experienced Rivera multiple times. Dante, on more than one occasion, stated that he would retire if Riddle defeated him - a commitment which he didn't follow through with after his loss.
Riddle was then scheduled to fight Ryan Thomas at UFC 91, but a knee injury forced Riddle out of the fight and got pinned. The knee injury's recovery was scheduled to take about 6–8 weeks.
After his recovery, Riddle fought and defeated Steve Bruno in a unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) at UFC Fight Night: Lauzon vs. Stephens.
In his third bout, Riddle defeated another one of his former Ultimate Fighter 7 castmates, Dan Cramer, via a unanimous decision on the undercard of UFC 101.
He next faced The Ultimate Fighter 9 alumni Nick Osipczak on November 14, 2009, at UFC 105. The fight was held in Osipczak's home country of England. Riddle lost the fight by TKO in the third round.
After his loss to Osipczak, Riddle faced newcomer Greg Soto on March 27, 2010, at UFC 111. After a dominant first two rounds for Riddle, Soto landed an illegal upkick to Riddle's head in the third round which rendered him unable to continue, giving Riddle the victory by disqualification.
Following this victory, Riddle faced another TUF alumni in DaMarques Johnson on August 1, 2010, at UFC on Versus 2. The fight was a catchweight bout after Johnson weighed in at 172 lbs and Riddle would go on to win the fight via TKO due to punches near the end of the second round.
Riddle was expected to face TJ Waldburger on December 11, 2010, at UFC 124. However, Waldburger was forced from the card with an injury and replaced by newcomer Sean Pierson. Pierson defeated Riddle via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) and the bout was dubbed by president Dana White as the real Fight of the Night.
Riddle was expected to face Ultimate Fighter castmate, Matt Brown, on March 3, 2011, at UFC Live: Sanchez vs. Kampmann, replacing an injured Mark Scanlon. However, Riddle was also injured, resulting in the Brown fight being removed from the card altogether.
Riddle was expected to face T. J. Grant on June 26, 2011, at UFC on Versus 4. However, Riddle was forced from the bout with an injury and replaced by Charlie Brenneman.
Riddle faced undefeated welterweight prospect Lance Benoist who had made his Octagon debut on September 17, 2011, at UFC Fight Night: Shields vs. Ellenberger. He lost the fight via unanimous decision in a bout that had earned Fight of the Night honors.
Riddle was expected to fight Luis Ramos on December 30, 2011, at UFC 141. However, the fight was called off as Riddle became ill and had to only pull out moments before the fight took place.
Riddle was expected to face Jorge Lopez on February 4, 2012, at UFC 143, replacing an injured Amir Sadollah. However, Lopez was also forced out of the bout and replaced by newcomer Henry Martinez. Riddle won the fight via a split decision.
The bout between Riddle and Ramos was rescheduled for June 22, 2012, at UFC on FX 4. However, Riddle was forced from the bout with another injury, and was replaced by Matt Brown.
Riddle stepped in for Siyar Bahadurzada on short notice to fight Chris Clements at UFC 149. Riddle won the match after catching Clements in a standing arm-triangle choke, forcing him to submit at 2:02 in the third round. Riddle won a $65,000 Submission of the Night bonus. This also marked the first submission win of his professional career. On October 20, 2012, it was announced that Riddle had failed his post-fight drug test, testing positive for marijuana. Riddle was subsequently fined and suspended for 90 days, retroactive to July 21, 2012. His win over Clements was changed to a no contest.
Riddle was originally expected to face Besam Yousef on November 17, 2012, at UFC 154, replacing an injured Stephen Thompson. However, Yousef was forced out with an injury and replaced by John Maguire. Riddle defeated Maguire via a unanimous decision.
Riddle faced Che Mills on February 16, 2013, at UFC on Fuel TV: Barão vs. McDonald. Riddle defeated Mills via split decision. On February 26, 2013, Riddle revealed that he had tested positive for marijuana. This was his second failed drug test within a year, and Riddle was subsequently released from the promotion. He had finished his UFC career ranked 3rd in UFC history for takedown defense (89.3%) and 8th for the total of strikes that have been landed (1350), and without positive marijuana tests would have held an octagon record of 10–3 with a streak of five consecutive victories.
Bellator MMA (2013)
Shortly after being released from the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Riddle signed a multi-fight deal with Texas-based promotion, Legacy Fighting Championships. However, on May 18, 2013, it was announced that Riddle instead joined the Bellator MMA roster after his Legacy contract had been purchased by the promotion. Riddle was expected to compete in the Bellator's welterweight tournament during their ninth season which begins in the Fall of 2013. However Riddle cracked his rib and had to pull out of the tournament, and subsequently retired from MMA fighting due to financial reasons. A few weeks later Riddle came out of retirement and was expected to fight at Bellator 109. Once again Riddle pulled out of that fight and was subsequently released.
Titan FC (2014) Riddle fought fellow former UFC fighter Michael Kuiper in the co-main event of Titan FC 27 on February 28, 2014. Riddle won by second round guillotine choke.
Riddle was expected to face MMA legend Jose Landi-Jons for the vacant Welterweight Championship at Titan FC 29 on August 22, 2014. However, Landi-Jons was forced out of the bout due to visa issues, and was replaced by UFC veteran Ben Saunders. However, Riddle was forced out of the bout due to injury and was replaced by the man he was originally scheduled to face, Jose Landi-Jons.
Professional wrestling career Independent circuit (2014–2018) On October 29, 2014, it was reported that Riddle was training for a career in professional wrestling. Riddle made his debut on February 7, 2015, at the Monster Factory in Paulsboro, New Jersey. In July, he won the Monster Factory Heavyweight Championship. On September 15, it was announced that Riddle had signed with the World Wrestling Network (WWN) to work the October Evolve events, which he later confirmed after taking part in a WWE tryout. On January 24, 2016, Riddle won Evolve's Style Battle tournament. On April 8, Riddle signed a contract with Evolve's parent company WWN. On September 3, Riddle made his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), entering the 2016 Battle of Los Angeles tournament, from which he was eliminated in his first round match by Kyle O'Reilly. In October, Riddle faced Cody Rhodes at New York promotion House of Glory's show titled Unbreakable in a losing effort.
On January 15, 2017, Riddle defeated Rampage Brown to win the Progress Atlas Championship. Riddle debuted for Revolution Pro Wrestling on January 21, challenging Katsuyori Shibata for the British Heavyweight Championship in a losing effort. On February 11, at CZW 18, Riddle faced David Starr in an inter-promotional champion vs champion match, with Riddle defending Progress Wrestling's Atlas Championship and Starr defending wXw's Shotgun Championship. The match ended in a double disqualification, and neither championship changed hands. On April 1, Riddle defeated five other men in an elimination match to become the inaugural WWN Champion. On October 20, Riddle and Jeff Cobb, known collectively as "The Chosen Bros", defeated the Lucha Brothers (Rey Fenix and Penta el Zero M) to win the PWG World Tag Team Championship. On April 20, 2018, they lost the titles to The Rascalz (Zachary Wentz and Dezmond Xavier).