Why was Matt Riddle released from WWE? Was it because of his outburst at JFK that gave himself and WWE a black eye? Or maybe his relationship with Dana White, which is notoriously shoddy, to put it kindly? Did Paul “Triple H” Levesque simply not have anything for the “King of Bros” now that he's in charge of putting the creative plans together?

Sitting down for an interview with Kurt Angle on his namesake podcast, Riddle attempted to compartmentalize why he was released from the promotion, which may have included his very generous contract number.

“I think that definitely didn't help things. Me and Dana White don't have the greatest relationship and I know he's definitely a big part of that. It definitely played a part. Also, I know that they're making budget cuts regardless, and I was getting paid quite a pretty penny,” Matt Riddle told Kurt Angle via Wrestling News.

“I don't know if it was right before RKO Bro or right after, Laurinaitis pulled me into the office. I thought I was in trouble. I didn't get my vaccine yet. I went in there, and they were like, ‘Hey, we want to give you a raise,' and they gave me a substantial raise. It increased every year, and this year, I was gonna get paid a million a year. I was at 750. I mean, last year, I cleared my bucket. I did extremely well. I think that was a big contributing factor. I was gonna get paid a million dollars starting next year, but I also think, you know, the merger didn't help, and then also my behavior didn't help either. You know, I ruffled some feathers with HR in the last couple months I was there. I asked a couple questions, this, that, plus other things. So I think there's multiple reasons why they got rid of me, but it is what it is. One door shuts, and another one opens, and you just learn from your mistakes and stuff.”

What actually caused Riddle to be released from WWE? Was it the drama? The change in creative? Or was it truly because of budget cuts, with Riddle's relatively high number making him an obvious cut when compared to performers in, say, the $300,000 range? It's impossible to know, but it's cool that Riddle is at least open to discussing his exit instead of being embarrassed by the situation.

Matt Riddle talks about his forgotten lines promo from WWE.

As Matt Riddle prepares for his first match for New Japan Strong, a tag team match against TMDK with a surprise tag team partner, the “King of Bros” stopped by Signed By Superstars to autograph some merchandise for fans and answer some questions from fans about his past, present, and future in the squared circle.

Asked about arguably his most infamous promo in WWE, where he forgot his lines while talking to Asuka, Riddle revealed what he was supposed to say, and needless to say, it was pretty weird indeed.

“Let's talk about that promo. One, usually when they go live, they tell you. Sometimes, you go through a couple of rehearsals beforehand. I had the scooter, they gave it to me and said, ‘We don't want to see you. Go 20 yards that way and roll down.' I rolled down, and I didn't know it was live TV. The promo they originally had was me talking about how I had been to Japan before, which I hadn't, and how I would go to underground robot fights, and I was going to ask Asuka if scooters would be a big hit in Japan. Yeah, I forgot everything. I forgot everything when I rolled up,” Matt Riddle told fans at Signed By Superstars, via Fightful.

“I scoot back to the locker room. Me and Randy [Randy Orton] didn't really talk, I guess Randy didn't really like me when I first started working there because I am who I am. Randy comes up to me and goes, ‘I don't know if that s**t was planned, but that was your best promo yet.'”

Alright, so would it have been memorable to hear Riddle talk about underground robot fights? I mean, maybe? The “Original Bro” cut a lot of weird promos during that period, and it seemed like there was no real rhyme or reason as to which ones became hits and which were written off as being goofy. The decision to look in the camera and say, “I forgot what I was saying,” and scoot away, leaving Asuka to look incredibly confused, however, made this into an all-time Riddle moment in WWE, even if it was objectively a mistake.