In the weeks since the SmackDown before the Royal Rumble, more and more members of the WWE Universe, current and extended, have begun to discuss the allegations against Vince McMahon and how “disgusted” – the word almost exclusively used by current Superstars – they feel about his actions.
From current Superstars like Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, and Cody Rhodes, to retired members of the sport like Kevin Nash and Lance Storm, it seems like a wrestler can't land an interview without being asked about the former Chairman of the Board of WWE, even if the responses have been remarkably similar, considering there haven't been many new developments the initial announcement of the Janel Grant lawsuit.
Asked if he has any takeaway from the lawsuit against Mr. McMahon, John Laurinaitis, and WWE as a whole in an appearance on the MMA Hour, Matt Riddle told Aeriel Helwani that he has mixed feelings on the matter but ultimately believes that the former Chairman of the Board has put some pretty scandalous things on text will be very hard to justify in court.
“Some of the things I've read are pretty disturbing, if true. At the same time, I've read the texts, which can be considered kind of disturbing, in a way. The hard part for me with all this is… it's a finicky area. It seems like he ends up in these situations. There are always large sums of money involved. I don't know. I have no idea. I know my situation and how it was. For me, I feel like that's how I feel about situations because that was my experience, being falsely accused. I don't know, maybe he's falsely accused, but those texts, there are good amount of texts. It's a pretty big trial situation. A lot of money involved. NDAs were issued and signed at one point. I don't know. There are a lot of red flags, for sure. I don't think it was great. There are a lot of red flags in professional wrestling, period. There are a lot of red flags in Hollywood, period. It's not a knock on Hollywood or wrestling. When you run billion-dollar industries that are fueled by athletes or good-looking people or actors or entertainers, and how you choose said entertainers, there's a lot of room for the mess,” Riddle noted.
“With WWE, my situation, sent me to rehab. I won't say anything bad. They did the best they could and what they thought was best for me. I honestly think that. I think they thought putting me in rehab throughout the holidays for the remainder of the year, they thought it was the best thing for me. I disagree. Maybe the first month, take the holidays, but another 30 days was a little rough, and you overdid it, but I get why you did it. You're protecting yourself and investment, and you're looking out of me. Nine times out of ten, WWE did the right thing, but there are still going to be a couple of bad apples. Entertainment is a weird world and it's a lot of politics and navigation. I feel WWE does the best they can. MLW and New Japan do the best they can, and that's why I align myself with these companies.”
A weird response, right? Well, Helwani wasn't finished with his line of questioning with the “King of Bros,” as he wanted to know Riddle's take on Mr. McMahon specifically, to which he learned some very interesting facts about the WWE locker room.
Matt Riddle reveals that Vince McMahon wasn't the only WWE creep.
Continuing their conversation, Matt Riddle was asked for his take on Vince McMahon specifically in his appearance on the MMA Hour. Though Riddle wasn't aware of Mr. McMahon's situation specifically when he was working for the company, he did see similar actions from other wrestlers and always found it “creepy.”
“I've never heard anything about Vince. I've seen certain people, I'm not going to mention names, I've seen certain people make passes at certain female talent by saying, ‘Come to my locker room' or that creepy kind of thing. The woman I talked to didn't go and was above that,” Matt Riddle explained via Fightful. “She's a stallion and was like, ‘I'm not doing that.' Like, ‘Here's my number; come to my locker room.' That's where it ended, but it could have escalated, and if that person was in fear of their job or wasn't as over as they are, they probably would have gone there because ‘What am I supposed to do?' D**n, I probably would have went there, ‘I just need the job.'”
Outside of the, shall we say, unusual decision to call a female Superstar a “stallion,” it's unfortunate to learn that these sorts of propositional activities exist up and down the WWE hierarchy, or at least existed when Riddle worked for the company a few months ago.
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