Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Matt Riddle On Issues With Goldberg, WWE Release, Being Told He'd Win MITB, Randy Orton & RKBro

Episode Date: January 30, 2024

Matt Riddle (@superkingofbros) is a professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. He is known for his time in WWE and UFC. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet at Knucklehead in Hollywood, CA to talk about being released from WWE, his appearance in NJPW, whether or not he will fight again in UFC, being a cast member on The Ultimate Fighter Season 7, why he wrestled barefoot, meeting RVD on WWE television, how "Bro" became his catchphrase, the original plan for him to win the Money In The Bank briefcase, being told he was going to win the 2022 Royal Rumble, his personal issues with Goldberg, the very personal comments that Seth Rollins made about him during their feud, becoming friends with Randy Orton and forming RKBro and much more! Quote I'm thinking about: "All growth starts at the end of your comfort zone." - Tony Robbins Sponsors: BETTERHELP: Get 10% off your first month with the code INSIGHT at http://betterhelp.com/insight MUDWTR: Get $20 off when you subscribe at http://mudwtr.com/cvv You’ll also get a free frother and a sample of their delicious coconut creamer. MAGIC SPOON: Get $5 off with the code CVV at http://magicspoon.com/cvv ROCKET MONEY: Join Rocket Money today and experience financial freedom: https://rocketmoney.com/cvv FITBOD: Get 25% off when you use the code INSIGHT at http://fitbod.me/INSIGHT MYBOOKIE: Bet on WWE! Get up to $200 cash bonus when you use the code CVV and sign up at http://mybookie.ag BLUECHEW: Use the code CVV to get your first month of BlueChew for FREE at http://bluechew.com GHOSTBED: Get 40% of your purchase with the code CVV at http://ghostbed.com/cvv MIRACLE MADE: Upgrade your sleep with Miracle Made! Go to http://TryMiracle.com/CVV and use the code CVV to claim your FREE 3 PIECE TOWEL SET and SAVE over 40% OFF PLUNGE: Get $150 off your Plunge with the coupon code CVV150 at http://plunge.com BONCHARGE: Go to http://boncharge.com/CVV and use coupon code CVV to save 25% For more information about Chris and INSIGHT go to: https://podcast.chrisvanvliet.com If you enjoyed this episode, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast/iTunes? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests.  Follow CVV on social media:  Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet TikTok: tiktok.com/@Chris.VanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Chris. Oh, I love that intro from Downstate. Welcome back to another one on Insight. I'm CBV, Chris Van Fleet. Thank you so much for being here. And thank you for making Insight one of the top wrestling podcast on the planet. I'm sure you're already following the show because you're here right now. But if you happen to fall into that category of the 75% of people who, according to the analytics, don't follow the show.

you just listen to the show, but you haven't hit follow yet. If you've ever enjoyed any of the interviews that we've ever had here, please take three seconds today to hit that follow button wherever you're listening. We got the King of Bros on the show today. I wasn't even supposed to run King of Bros on the show. Matt Riddles with us. You know that he was released from WWE in September of last year. But I appreciate that during this conversation,

he owns up to the mistakes that he made that led to his release. and he said he's actually like kind of glad that he's not there anymore. Like it's all working out for him. I mean, you saw him appear in New Japan with like a much more aggressive character, certainly not the bro character that we saw in WWE. Speaking of that, I asked him, who do you think says bro the most? I asked this question of Vince Russo as well, but who do you think says bro the most? Is it Vince Russo?

Is it DDP or is it Matt Reddle? So see what he says here. We also talk about, like, maybe will we see him back in an MMA fight again? Will he be back in UFC? He says he hasn't ruled that out. He also hasn't ruled out the possibility of doing a bare knuckle fight if it's the right opponent. We also talk about scrapped plans for him.

He says he was supposed to win the 2022 Royal Rumble and was also supposed to win money in the bank until the very last second. The plans changed. There's a lot. There's a lot to talk about here. Snap a screenshot. Let us know you're listening on Twitter. He's at Super King of Bros.

On Instagram, he's at Riddle, bro. I'm at Chris Van Fleet, and here we go. Please welcome Matt Riddle. We are making it happen. It's happening. Thank you for making the time to do this. What a day you've had today. Hey, it's a normal day in the life of, you know, me.

And here we are in Knucklehead Bar in Hollywood. Our original plan to be in the studio didn't work out. Yeah, we've had a couple original plan. I think we were supposed to meet up in Philadelphia, possibly. And then Orlando. And then Orlando. And now we were supposed to meet at the studio earlier today at three. But now I think it's close to three.

It's like 3.30? Something like that. Yeah. Four at the knucklehead bar. But then I rolled up here. My friend J.B., who runs Circle Six wrestling was standing outside. I'm like, oh, my gosh. It all makes sense.

The last time I was here, they had Barroom Blitz, which is this insane wrestling show. So I've been here before. I'm glad I'm here with you now. I'm glad to be here. Are you busier than ever right now? You know, I, yeah, you know, I'm starting 2024, 24, 24, aha. You know, it's been good. And what did I start out?

I did MLW, a bunch of signs in New York, New York City. And then the following week, wrestled for New Japan, made my New Japan debut. Got to wrestle with Zach Sabre again, but a bad dude Tito. Jeff Cobb, the Chosen Bros were reunited. And then last night, I was in Tijuana. wrestled at the crash. It's been a good six years. And it was a huge turnout. And even today, I had another signing this morning at the wrestling guy store. And it was awesome, lying out the door. And everybody was happy to see the bro. So you went from being so busy, you know,

100 miles an hour in WWE, comes to a screeching halt. You're just sitting at home for a while, right? And then it just picks up and you're probably, probably busier than you were then. You know what? I'm not as busy. I'm doing probably doing like say less matches and less shows. Because before I was probably working four days a week, I do Smackdown, live events and raw. If it was an easy week, it was probably live events and raw. And then, of course, you got shows like the bump and other things that they schedule around your, you know, you're already existing schedule. So when you work for WWW, like all my credit goes off to the guys that are still there, the ladies that are still there. It is one of the toughest jobs, hardest jobs, and just to travel nonstop and not really be able to organize anything. But for me, it's a lot.

So it was just, it's nice because now I get, I'm busier than ever, but I'm busy at my level. I kind of create my pace, all my shows, you know, I get to pick my spots. And it's nice. It's nice to have some kind of control again, you know. How do you decide what color your nails are going to be? You know, honestly, I just look at the board that day. I think of gear. I think of other things like that that I might wear.

But, you know, also I feel like a lot of people like to express themselves. I feel like I have a pretty bright personality. I'm pretty energetic. I like to have a good time. And I feel like I always go with like a bright color. I would call this like maybe Chartreuse. Yeah, you know, the lady that did it, it was actually like a green, but she put white under the green, then put the green on top.

And for some reason, it just popped 10 times more than it normally would. And it looks great. I had, I got it done for New Japan. And, you know, I don't know if I'll get it again. They all go with gold next time.

You know, yes, next time I'll be wrestling for New Japan. I'll be in Japan in Sapporo against Tanaashi, some for the television championship. So I'm, I'm feeling gold.

It's not just the fingernails. It's the toes as well. Oh, my goodness. Well, it started with the toes because I wrestled bear. Yeah.

You know, so I was like, you know, everybody's got these fancy boots and stuff. I'm not even taping my ankles or anything. Maybe I'll get a pedicure treat myself, but also kind of add to the character. You know, and then I was like, oh, the feet look good.

Might as well do the hands. Might as well get a manny petty. And now here we are. You know what I'm living large and comfortably and feeling good and trying to look good. When you wrestle barefoot, is there ever like a fear of like I might step on a weird angle or step on something sharp? I get this question a lot. And for me, I don't fear that.

If anything, I make more mistakes when I wear shoes. or boots or anything because I'm not as careful. Even if I wear knee pads, I'm more likely to just jump and land on my knees wrong or do something crazy because I feel like I had that added protection. And that's a lot of people ask me, why do you wrestle barefoot? And I do it for a couple reasons.

One, it's different. Most people don't do it. Two, I'm used to it because I fought in the UFC, did a lot of jiu-jitsu still do. And then three, when I would wrestle with shoes, like I was saying, I'd make mistakes. So when I wrestle barefoot, I had to do everything. perfect. If I don't wear knee pads, I have to do everything perfect or I'm going to get hurt.

So it allows me to do things the proper way. And I feel like other legends that have seen me do that and they know what I can do and what I'm capable of and not getting hurt and doing it. They're like, that's a talent in itself. That's putting so much trust in your opponent to not step on your toes. Oh, that happens all the time. And do be fair, when I was a child, I did get frostbite on my feet. And I really don't feel the tops of my feet or anything. So I don't mind kicking or slapping with them. Or if somebody steps on people always step on them.

They're like, oh, sorry. I'm like, it's all good, you know? When you talk about UFC, do you feel like the Matt Riddle character that we saw in WWE was starting to get developed in the Ultimate Fighter? I don't think, I don't know if I'm like the MIS. The MIS persona started on the real world, right? And then transferred into the WVE. I feel like for me, I've always been this version of me, of course, but I feel like, I wouldn't even say

WW. It's pro wrestling. But like even in the UFC, I was entertaining, but I wasn't as entertaining as I could be. And once I started pro wrestling, that's when I really started to, like, have to connect with people, talk to people, really try to, like, captivate an audience or make them feel everything I'm doing. And there's hints of it in my UFC career. Like, I bought John McGuire and I rocked them. and I jeep the crowd before I go in to finish them and things like that.

But or I've done Randy's taunt, even before me and Randy tagged, I've done Randy's taunt when I got submission of the night and when I T-KOed to Marcus Johnson in San Diego. So it's like I've always had that in me, but pro wrestling really gave me the platform to really deliver it to people. What's your relationship with UFC right now? Like, would you be able to communicate with Dana White? I mean, I could communicate with anybody.

I'll talk to anybody. I don't mind. Would he take your call? I don't think he would take my call, but I don't blame him. I mean, he's got a lot going on. And he's not really into, if I fought 10 times or maybe five times, I knocked out five people in a row right now and I'm like, I'm the best in the world. I think I might get a call.

Sure. But if I'm not fighting top talent and beating top talent, he runs the UFC, runs the best playing organization in the world. And he's not in it for like, per se money fights. There have been in the past, but I don't think that's his objective. I think his objective is to have the top ranked fighters and see who the best in the world is. And by default, you're probably going to get entertainment out of that. So you're saying if you fought another MMA fight, it's not going to be UFC like yet?

It could be maybe one day. If anything, I'd probably go the PFL route. You know, I already dealt with Bell to. I think they have a new matchmaker, but the last one I dealt with last time wasn't my cup of tea, you know. And the thing with mixed martial arts too is it's a really ugly world. And it's really hard and it's brutal and it's tough. And like it's there's no easy. And like the only people that make money are the people at top.

You know. So, you know, it's a very difficult world. But I've talked to multiple promotions. I've talked to Baranuck. I've talked to them. And I've told them, you know, we didn't talk fights or numbers or anything. But I said if the money's right and the fights right, I'm down for whatever. You know?

You'd do a bare and uncle fight? I would do whatever, dude. I know how to fight. I've been fighting since I was a kid. I fought in the UFC. There's been other UFC fighters. Now, I'd rather do M.A.

That's my, you know, that's my bread and butter. You know, and I'd actually rather just do professional wrestling at this point because I stay busy. It's not like fighting where I'd only fight

once every three months, maybe if I'm lucky, or if I even took other fights. But in the injuries and other things, but pro wrestling, even if I get injured, I could probably work around it one way or another if I'm good enough,

you know? and the signings and everything. And then just that connection to the audience, you don't get an MMA. MMA, it would be, I would have to do something social media-wise. That would be my connection. And then they'd come see me fight, right?

Kind of like the Paul's, kind of like Sugar-Shahn, kind of like, even Connor, Connor's like a megastar on social media. Yeah. He was a megastar in the UFC too, but they play together.

And people know where he's going to be because he says it, you know? So I'm a big believer that things happen in our lives for a reason because it leads us to, where we're sitting here right now in Unclehead Bar. You leaving UFC felt like from the outside

looking in, it feels really stupid. Yeah, well, especially if you fast forward to now because you know the rules and everything. And like even when I was with the USC and I got fired for a failing a drug test, marijuana two times. And I had a medical license and everything. And now you pass forward

it's off the ban substance list. And funny enough, back then TRT was allowed and now TRT is on the band substance list. And that's all. I was saying, then I'd go, hey, you're allowing fighters to use steroids and painkillers prescribed by doctors, but you're not allowing like me to use medical marijuana because it's a performance enhancing drug and I'm super dangerous, you know?

Yeah. So that was my argument then. And even the athletic, I think it was Mark Ratner, we talked, just like whispers and he's like, you're 100% right, you know, but it took, what, 10 years? Yeah. But that's just kind of how it is. So it's stupid. But at the same time, I feel like being a victim of approach.

Prohibition also skyrocketed my stardom in a way. Because even when I was in the UFC, I wasn't a household name or that well known. But then when I got fired for smoking weed and Dana White put me on blast and called me a loser and this, that, go go make six figures somewhere else smoking weed, this, that. Well, now all these fighters are doing that, right? And now I'm doing that easily and I've been doing it for like a decade now. So after that, did pro wrestling find you or did you find pro wrestling? I always, and I had this talk with some kids earlier at the site, I always wanted to be a pro wrestler.

I grew up watching pro wrestling and I loved pro wrestling. And then I started watching mixed martial arts as I got older like in high school. But I was still big in pro wrestling and that's what I wanted to do. But I felt like at that air that time, the guys were huge. They were bigger than me. The mixed martial arts guys are like, like Kurt Angle got it. But like most of the other guys, they were like good wrestlers. But that wasn't advertised.

that wasn't their moniker, gimmick or thing that helped them, you know? So I forgot the question. Did you find pro wrestling? So, but I always wanted to do it. And then, but I felt like I didn't have an opportunity. So amateur wrestling, then college wrestling, then the jujitsu into the UFC because felt like I could get into the UFC. There's weight classes.

I'm pretty good at Amateur, say, a national champion. I had some pedigree. So, and I went that route. And then at the end of my UFC crew, I was fighting on like the Indies, the regionals and I had uh I was fighting for a company called Titan FC and I got injured again and I was like sitting at home and I couldn't fight I was broke I have three kids and I was just like and I was watching WrestleMania when it first came out on the WWE network for 999 and I could afford it right and I'm watching WrestleMania and I saw Daniel Brian overcome everything wrestling man 30 Daniel Brian

hey inspirational dude it's like but like I saw him do it and I was like wow like not only is He's smaller than these guys, but he's extremely talented. He has the kind of a martial arts background, or at least he uses submissions, Jiu-Jitsu and like, Maitai strikes. And I was like, I think I think like this is a good time to get into it. You know, and I just watched a lot of pro wrestling then and before. So started training. I actually moved from Vegas to Pennsylvania.

So I trained at the world famous monster factory and train there and just all I did was wrestle, lift weights, eat and wrestle, take care of. my kids landscape roof shovel driveways in the winter whatever whatever i had to do and i was making my money and i sold my house so i was still living off that from the you know but that's how i was doing it and then eventually by the time i was almost completely broke i started getting paid to wrestle there's a real lesson there because i think there's a lot of people that would go man he was in the ufc he was you know so successful in the ufc how could he possibly want to go back to landscaping and trying to make ends meet i don't think that was a choice you know when you have

three kids. And I think that's a big thing. I'm big on taking care of my responsibilities. And if I have three kids, I'm going to make sure they're fed, they're clothed. They have a house. They're happy. You know, like, that's like important to me. So I think for me, like, it wasn't a question. It was like, how. Yeah. You know, what job? Who can I get a job with that's going to be lenient with my wrestling training, this, then, the other thing. But I can still make enough money to put food on the table and do this and still be around, you know? Yeah. And that's, that. And that's, That's what I, you know, that's what was available. It's crazy that you're sitting here.

I can't even picture how you would cut to make 170. It was brutal. What do you sit here at right now? I'm probably 215 pounds. I'm probably 25 pounds. I'm pretty cut up. I'm pretty shredded. It was a tough cut, but I'll say this.

Well, I really didn't have a choice in that cut either. I was on the ultimate fighter at 185, which is still pretty tough for me to make, but easy enough where I'm not like dying, right? Yeah. So that's what I was on the ultimate fighter. I lost one fight on the show, won the finale fight. And then the UFC hit me up. Like, hey, we want you to drop to 170.

And I'm like, okay. And I go, well, I really didn't want to drop to 170. Yeah, I figured like he played at 185 and if like somebody smashes me or I'm just so overwhelmed, like I'll drop to 170. You know, but I feel like I can hang pretty good with most of the middle weights in the, you know, the world. I'm in the UFC. Yeah.

And they go, okay. And they gave me, they offered me two fights at middleweight. And they go, do you want to fight? Paul Harris, and I don't know if you know him, he heel hooks everybody and doesn't let go. He got kicked out of the UFC for that. And then Dan Henderson. Legend. Yeah.

But this is my second fight ever professional. And I'm just like, and I'm like, what, 22 years old? These guys are legends already. And I'm just like, who do I get if I drop down to 170? They go, Steve Bruno from American top team. Steve Bruno, not neither of these guys. Very talented individual, multiple time world champion in like Korea and Asia, but not Dan Henderson, not the guy who rifts everybody's heels off their body.

So I was like, Steve Bruno, 170, that sounds good. And that's how I made, you know, made the transition to 170. That's a big cut. It's a big cut. What would your last few days be like, you know, with super reduced water? You're just trying to make 171. Like, what are those days feel like? For me, it was usually, what I'd like to do is I'd get my weight down and I'd get it down

to about 180. And I'd sit around 180, 185, just training a couple times a day. eating very minimal, but drinking very minimal, you know. You're on that Christian Bale diet. Yes. But what I would do, the last 10 pounds were the hardest. So what I would do is work out, drop about five pounds, like sauna suit, do this, run sprints, get the sweat going sit in the sauna, do the whole thing.

Get about five pounds down. And then once I was five pounds down, I'd get like a pound of food and then about two pounds of liquid, whatever it be. And that's what I would do. like probably like the starting the week of the fight and then i'd get down to probably about the last five pounds the last five pounds was really hard so i wanted to get like i didn't want to even eat i'm so thirsty at this point because now it's just water i'm not there's not an ounce of fat on me and what i would like to do is it'd give me energy it made me feel a little good and it quenched my

thirst is i would drink beers so i would get like a pint and like drink it's cold crisp it's really hard to chug a beer so you're just like sipping it and i'm just like sipping it's and i would drink it and and join it. And then I'd go, like, run a sprint for like 20 minutes on the treadmill. You know, and then the alcohol would help me sweat too. And usually the last couple pounds, I would just use beer, run, sprints, do that. And then make weight. That's insane.

Yeah. Using beer to make weight. And don't get me wrong. If I cut a couple extra pounds, I might drink a little bit of water, suck on an ice cube, stuff like that. But I needed them. I needed a lot of carbs. I needed some kind of liquid.

And I feel like when your body is that kind of level of malnutrition. your body absorbs everything it gets. Like when you're pooping rabbit pebbles, you know, it's just like your body, my body is working at maximum efficiency right now. Like I'm burning everything I'm putting in. So what was it that got you on WWE's radar? What got me on WWE's radar?

So I had a trot pretty early on into like I started training like people, you know, TMZ did like, oh, pro wrestler, you know, UFC fighter. So I started getting some play. Like, I was making waves, which more so it's really hard for any wrestler, especially if you just start off wrestling, to make waves because how do you make ways? You just got to keep wrestling, right? So that helped. I got a trial that kind of put me on the radar and then trained at the world famous monster factory.

And I also worked with the ROH dojo as well. So I was trained at these places. So I was in the right place to get looked at the right people. And I'm pretty good at pro wrestling. You know, the one thing that was hardest for me was connecting with an audience, which I was still gradually picking up. But people were willing to work with me, especially knowing I might sell a couple tickets because I was in the UFC. But you connected with an audience in UFC.

So how different was it to connect with that pro wrestling audience? It was way different. My first, so I did some small shows like at the Monster Factory, but then when I started to branch off, like it, I did my first Evolve show. And evolve and WWW had that relationship. And that's how I actually started our relationship because I did the tryout. Then I went back. And they said, maybe, maybe, maybe. we're going to take a pass on you for now.

But, and you know, and I was probably going to go to R.O.H. And they're like, have you ever thought about Evolve? And Evolve was a smaller system. But I knew there was that connection to WWE. So I went to EVE. And the first weekend I worked for Evolved, usually I get cheered. First weekend I went out to Evolve. They booed me.

Said I suck. They said I couldn't wrestle. They chanted Baby Lesner to me because I was like a small UFC guy. So I guess I'm Baby Lesner. and that's how it like that's how my indie kind of run started and then every time i'd come out and wrestle and i'm getting better and better i'm getting more in time and time because i'm getting more trust from the promoter game and everything like that and eventually before you know it everybody's chanting bro i'm getting selling tons of merch and everybody wants to book me on their

show how did bro become your gimmick so when i started pro wrestling And, you know, I watch a lot of it. I see the greats, you know. And I was thinking, like, what does like every great have? Every great has, like some people would say a catchphrase or catch line, right? For me, especially in modern times, people's focus, attention spans are quicker than ever, I feel. Mine included, you know? So, you know, I can't be like, smell like what the rock's cooking.

It's great. It was great for the time. I don't know if that would work, you know. But if you notice right now. Daniel Bryan. Yes. You got LA night. Yeah.

You know, you got bro. You know, you got Samoa Joe. Joe. You know, it's there's certain things that like, and it sounds simple. But the bro kind of thing, one, I say bro all the time. Two, I'm a super bro. I'm the king of bros. And then three, it's just like, I could easily get this in a match.

I can get this in promos. And I know people will feel it. And it's also I'm terrible at remembering names. So it does, for me, it checked a lot of boxes. And it checked the box like Daniel, Brian, and everybody else that's checked that easy to chant, easy to say, easy to connect with an audience. And also, when I think of an audience and when I think that simple, I'm not just thinking simple because I think my audience is simple.

I'm thinking simple because my audience is so vast. I'm not thinking about just the Americans. I'm not thinking about just the Canadians or people from Mexico or people from South America or people from England or people from Germany. I think about everybody. everybody from Japan to Italy to everywhere. I want everybody. I don't care if you speak my language.

You know one word that you can say to me when you see me and trust me. I was in Tijuana. It doesn't matter if I'm in Germany. Bro, you know, everybody knows how to say, bro. It's the three letter of word. It's just a sound, bro. So everybody can say it and I can connect with a huge vast audience because it's that easy. Just like everybody knows, yes, no.

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Who do you think says bro the most? Matt Riddle? DDP or Vince Rousseau. I have to say Vince Rousseau. Vince Rousseau. And sometimes it feels like he's forcing it. No, I think Vince is an awesome guy, but he definitely says,

bro, quite a bit. He's like, it's like every other sentence for him. It's good. Like, if he wrestled, if he was a wrestler,

he would have been, I would have been, the bro. Yeah, he would have been the bro. You wouldn't have been able to say, bro. I would definitely would have been able to say original,

bro. Yeah. He starts and ends sentences with bro. Bro, let me tell you something, bro. He's, he gets it in. He gets it in for sure. Did you pick your theme music to make sure that bro could be something that was sung along with it? You know, I didn't.

My theme music, like, when I first started wrestling, I used it a lot when I fought in the UFC was regulators by Warren G. Regulate, you know. And I mean, it's a classic. Yeah, it's just a classic. And I was like, I like made me happy and I calm and I feel like audience, especially when it comes to fighting. Usually it's like M&M or something crazy or things have been changing lately. And then even in pro wrestling, it's very metal based or very heavy hip hop based,

but more like angry hip hop. And everybody's so aggressive. Like hype people up. Yeah, you know. But so I was feeling like, I feel like I can hype people up, but still be like chill. Like I can get people's heads bobbing without like getting too crazy.

You know, and then, of course, in the ring I'll get crazy. But when I came to the music, when I came to WWW, I was just like, I just want something that sounds like the GTA theme at the time, GTA five thing. Like, you know, like that. I want some brass instruments.

I want that West Coast feel. And that's what they came up with. And I'm not too picky. I was like, sounds great. So yeah, I said, bro, they recorded it. That's the track.

How long did it take for fans to catch on with a bro, bro, bro, bro. Not on the indies when I very first started. That was harder because I might go to a show. show where nobody's ever seen me wrestle there. Only other than like three people in the audience that like have my t-shirt and saw me on the internet, they're like he's good, you know?

Yeah. So like, and I love the like I miss that almost because now I walk everywhere everybody just says, bro. But before like I'd walk in a building and it'd almost be quiet. I'd be like, you guys have no idea what you're in for, dude. Like you're all going to be chant my shit by the end of the day. By the end of the match, they're

chanting, you know, so. That video of you meeting Rob Van Dam and bro, you're saying, bro, he's saying, dude. That was pretty good. Rob, Rob, Rob's a good guy. I like Rob a lot, and he's fun. And you got a match with him coming up.

I do have a big, big match for big time wrestling, coming up with Rob Van Dam. When is it, March 9th? It's in Ohio, yeah. March 9th, Ohio. It's going to be sick. Honestly, I'm pretty stoked about it because not only could it just be a sick match

that people talk about for years, but it could also, you know, me and Randy's relationship started off with a match. You know, a lot of my relationships, me and Jeff Cobb's relationship, started off with a match. So, me and Rob, we seem pretty cool now. I know we'll have a great match because I know I like to go in. I know he can and will go in.

And I got it feeling by the end of it, we're going to be chilling. Not going to say what we're going to partake in. But I think we're going to have some fun. And, yeah. He is no stranger to. partaking. You are not either. So I feel like this is actually like a dream match of like 420 proportions. It really is. It should have been on 420. It really should. But to be honest, for me and Rob 420 is a holiday. I don't like to work too hard. I believe I'm hosting like a party, like a 420 party on 420. So that makes more,

you know, I don't want to wrestle on 420. But yes, it is like, and if anything, maybe March 9th will become a new 420 kind of holiday. it's like 3-9, you know, before the 420, you know, get ready. That's the day of RVD and Matt Riddle, you know. I can't believe that WWE had a 4-20 shirt. Dude, it took a lot of convincing. But I'll tell you this, they're not mad about it. They made quite a pretty penny on it, and so did I. And so did Randy, I would imagine.

But, yeah, it took, we were trying for months and months. And then 420 came up. And now, if you know Randy, Randy does. like to advertise anything. Randy does his job and that's his job. He doesn't unless he wants to do something, he's not going to do it, which that's why Randy's so cool. So we want this 420 shirt 420. They, WW hits us up on 419. They go, Randy, Riddle, we're going to do an RK Bro 420 shirt. We're only going to do a limited release one day only. All right. They can have told us any other shirt, whatever. I probably would have shared it.

Randy wouldn't have shared it. Me and Randy, he texted each other separately from them. And we go, we're sharing the hell out of this shirt. We were getting this over. We're getting this. We need this to sell. Like, we, we wanted it. We wanted it.

We needed it. We finally got what we wanted. We need to make this happy. We got to let them know how much money there is. And literally, not even 16 hours into 420. We got a call. They're like, oh, we're going to keep the shirt going. We're just going to keep it going.

And then even after Randy left you of his injury, they had the bro 420 shirt which sold like hotcakes and the bro 420 hats and everything else. But for WWE, a PG company to do a 420 shirt, that feels like it's really walking the line. It's walking a line,

but I look at it like this, 420 is just a number, baby. You know, and it only means what you think it means. And at the same time, I think the reason why me and Randy's relationship were so well, And not just so well for everyone, especially so well in WW. WW is very family oriented.

There's a lot of dads and a lot of kids. There's a lot of moms and a lot of kids. And I think, you know, when you got me and Randy together, one, I'm a 420 guy. He's a, but like I'm more of the childish side of it. I'm riding the scooter around like you would your parent, you know, and everything like that. So I feel like it almost felt normal to do that. If I didn't think it was almost like Brandy's my dad and I'm like doing goofy ass stuff. and he's like stop that you know or like when i was like spelling calibration i'm like oh like how when i

waste up on my scale at home and he's like you know and then i spell calibration perfectly because of course and how to spell calibration i have a scale that way graham's and ounces on do you remember the first time you met randy orton the very first time the very first time was i believe that survivor series and uh we wrestled and i actually got the pinfall on him and he hit me with an rkoh afterwards and it was sweet stiff stiff rkoh my mouth was bleeding. I don't know if it was my fault if I like just, because I like him so, I was like yeah, do it, you know.

Yeah. I feel like, I think you told the story where you're like, oh, there's a, the first time like I was on the main roster and like we're sharing a locker room for real and Randy met me. Yeah, Randy didn't like me. Why not? I look at it like this. I don't like bothering people.

So if you're in a room and I see you talk into a bunch of people, jib, jab and laughing, And unless I like know you well, probably just going to keep my distance because I don't want to interrupt your little powwow and you're fun, you know. So when we first met Randy, that's kind of how it was. It was COVID. And so we're all like in a locker room, spaced out, this and that. So I guess I had a chance to say hi and I didn't take it or what have you.

I think Randy took that as disrespect. Like I didn't think he was cool enough or something. And then Randy was like, how do I get this like asshole? fired and I was like oh man like dude but he didn't say that to me he had told me that later when we were friends did he actually try to get you fired uh I don't think so I mean I feel like I would have to do something else to really grind his gears plus I felt like I feel like a lot of people when they first meet me they hear things about me or this and then when they meet me and work with me and hang out with me they're like oh like even Seth when I talked to him finally because

there's a we didn't like each other for a minute I always liked him. I just, you know. But when we finally taught, he was like, wow, you're like a really cool guy. I was like, thanks, man. He's like, he's like, I hear all this crap about you. And I'm just like, yeah, it is. Wait, why didn't Seth like you?

Well, my ex-wife said some stuff about Becky and Mandy, like, kind of body-shaming them. And Seth assumed I was like on that boat as well, which I was not. I would never body shame anybody. So then I went up to set and apologize for my wife's, comments and I don't feel that way and wished him best luck with Becky and his new baby that was on the way. There's a lot of stories like this I feel like with you. Too many. Too many. I feel just because I talk a lot of trash and it's pro wrestling, I think I get that from like my fight side because in fighting, people say whatever. They say

the fights that are coming up. You've heard the press conferences. Like fighters say everything and they're vicious and they're mean and they're cruel. And like me, I feel like I'm not vicious or mean or cruel, but like, I'll talk some trash. And I just think, you know, just being around some bad people at bad times. Like, you know, like the ex saying that. It's like, you know, that's just bad bad, like, that hurt

my career probably, you know, just upsetting said, like that's why he didn't work with me that one Survivor series match, you know? And he just let Seamus kick him in the face. And I was like, okay, like, my bad dude, you know, but it is what it is. There was that moment backstage.

The Goldberg. With Goldberg. Goldberg? Well, Goldberg, I'll say this. And me and Goldberg have talked. I'm not going to say we've hashed everything out because I'm me and he's him, you know. And I just, I'm not a huge fan of his work. And that's, I'm not a huge fan of his wrestling style person. That, that's all I'm going to say.

I think he's great at drawing money. I think he's great at sports entertaining. I think he's an awesome action star. I saw him play as Santa Claus in a horror movie. I told him all this. I like, I like a bunch of stuff you do. I'm just not a fan of this work,

you know, and that's that. Now, I think if we wrestled, I would want to do a couple things differently, and I think it could be better, but that's a whole different can of worms.

But at the end of the day, me and Goldberg don't get along because I talk some trash about his wrestling. He didn't like it. He took his disrespect. And I said, it's not disrespectful because it's true. And then he didn't like that,

told me how successful he's been. And I go, you'll be more successful than I'll probably ever, be in my life. But no, he's ever going to tune back in to watch, like, a classic, like, Goldberg match. They might watch a Spear compilation.

These are tight, jackhammer compilation. Cool, or maybe one or two matches. But you're not going back, you're not going back, like you go back to watch Sean Michaels versus Brett Hart in the Iron Man match, you know? Or raise or Sean in the first ever ladder. Or I can keep continuing. Sure. You're not going to go back like that because he doesn't have any of those in his arsenal.

But he's still one of the best. of all time. And I'm not going to argue that. And I'd say that to his face now. And he knows that. We've said that. He's certainly one of the best in WCW for sure. For sure. And like I said, when it comes to drawing and making money, which obviously, this is what the business is about. He does it probably better. He can still do it better than 90% of the people that do today. So you say all this stuff, but then the first time you meet him, there's a camera right there. My buddy John Carlo was following me. And he must have knew. He's like, you're going to run into gold.

But yeah, and the worst part is it looks like it's staged, but it's not. Like, I was like reading this sign. And then like, he's a pretty big dude. And he just like shoulder tackles me. And I'm just like, what?

Oh, it's you. And like, I know you hate me because I talk all this trash. Did you think he was going to punch you? No, but if he did, I would have beat him up. So it wouldn't matter. He knows better. It feels like most people know better.

And that's that. You know, it's just. But at the same time, I do respect Bill because he came up and said something. Like I said, he wasn't my brow. I thought it was, honestly,

it was just, and I think people don't realize two different eras of like combat athletes, two different eras of pro wrestling. I feel like 90s pro wrestling was like, oh, I'm going to rip your head off, right? And it worked,

like at Goldberg. Now I feel like that works to an extent, but a guy like me works really well, too. It's more realistic. And today half the UFC fighter, are like me, you know, because I am a former UFC fighter. They are like me.

Then there was the stuff with the buildup to the Seth Rollins feud. Yeah. Which really felt real. Well, part of it's real because, you know, my ex-wife did divorce me or my, yeah, now my ex-but my wife divorced me. And when you're traveling as much as I am and everything, it's, I really don't have a leg to stand. It's not like I'll be home to raise the kids.

I'm gone like all the time. My schedule is not consistent during. in the week. So, you know, I didn't really get full custody of the kids. I get to see him. I see them like every week. I'm not like, like, hey child support and I ever, that paper, everything. But, uh, yeah, but at the same time, I figured there was already some rumors, this, then, the other thing. I go, you might as well, because they're like, what, because we started this dude, he had Cody and Randy got hurt. So my stuff ended with Randy, because we were going to go into something. And then Seth stuff ended with Cody because Cody got hurt.

So they paired us up together. Well, we didn't want to all too good wrestlers, just wrestling. We wanted to make this last, Seth's good. And Seth doesn't want anything to just be short-lived. Seth knows how talented I was as well. So that's what we were trying to do. And when we were talking about talking trash, I was like, well, honestly, what you should say to me is I know everybody will drawls. You should call me a deadbeat dad and this and that.

And that's why your wife loved you and took your kids. You suggest. Oh, I suggested. Yeah. If you suggested, I would have knocked them out. Like, how dare you? Did you suggest dropping the F bomb on TV? No, that was given to me.

So thank you, Triple H, you know, Paul, you know, but they gave, you know, but I think that was the give take, you know. Because Seth also, I didn't want to say anything bad, too bad about Becky or him or this or that. Also, unless they gave me something,

but they didn't really give me that kind of ammunition, you know, but I also know to have a good match, to have a good story, especially in WWE, you need good. ammunition you need some animosity i need to blur that line that blurred the line completely now people think we hate each other you know and it looks like we hate each other yeah and people thought

we hated each other before he even said that to me so now you got all these smarks all these people all the casual fan everybody and now even the boys in the back are like so you guys like like you like how's that match gonna go i'm like dude it's like we're professionals but that and that's what i try to do sorry that's triple h is calling you know No, it's not. Somebody else. I'll turn that on silence. Okay.

It's all good. It's all good. So. Dropping the F-bomb is like the cherry on top. Yeah. Okay. That doesn't happen. The cherry,

it was also a cherry on top. I also gave me an element of realism. He got his pill, his bullet of realism. That gave you mine because nobody says the F word in WW. Nobody says it on TV. And especially my character, who's cool as a cucumber,

why would I ever say that? He crossed the line, where the fuck are you? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Where are you? You know, I'm gonna fire. I gotta kill you. I couldn't say that.

They said I couldn't say kill. But I could say, well, you know, I could save the affluent. That felt really real. Yeah. Then that's what we were going for. And when you can do that and then back it up

with somebody who's like, Seth's talent and my talent. It was, for me, it was a match made in heaven. It's something I wanted to do for the longest time that have it happen on the biggest

stage, WWE. It's amazing. The United States Soccer Federation present the U.S. soccer podcast. My name is David Goss,

and I'm joined by my co-host, Megan Clemenberg. And now we're giving people an inside look at the World Cup. Times ticking. I think you can feel the intensity. All the guys are wanting to really take their claim, and they want to be

on that World Cup roster. There's no doubt about it. Hosting the World Cup on the home soil comes with its pressures, but we're just really excited just as the people are. The U.S. Soccer Podcast. presented by Henko, follow and listen on your favorite platform. How do you go from Randy not being a fan of you, not liking you,

to being buddies, being bros with him? So with Randy, for Randy to trust you, especially somebody in my position, you have to work with him. You know, he has to see what you're capable of in the ring, especially with him. There's a lot of people they look good, but they'll hurt you or this,

that the other thing. And me and Randy wrestled before, I actually just dropped the U.S. title, got beat up by Bobby. Then the following week, they had me tag with Randy, or have a match with Randy. And I think Randy was supposed to wrestle Braun-Strauman at the time, but they switched up the cards. I wrestled Randy, and they go, hey, we're going to have a feud with you and Randy going into backlash.

You're going to wrestle Randy beat him. Then Randy's going to suggest you guys tag, and we'll have promos doing this. Then you guys tag. You think you're cool. And then he RKO's you. We set up the feud going to back. backlash, talk some trash. Boom.

Yeah. Okay. So now we get to do Arcade Bro, which I pitched and everybody laughed at me because I want to, you know, I'm always pitching. Not pitching for somebody, but like, I always say goofy stuff to the writers to see if it happened. Sometimes it does, like Arcade Bro. So that vertagin, we're starting this little feud.

Cool. And then we do the singles match. And after the singles match, Randy was over the moon with me. And I was, I was over the moon with Randy. It was great. and he allowed me to do a lot of stuff and I also made sure because I knew how he was feeling even then I made sure to make sure

he didn't feel an ounce of pain in my match you know. Now that said I didn't hit him. I hit him where I knew it wouldn't kill him but I knew how to work. After that, right, he was like, I want to work with this guy all the time. We did the tag match next week and like right before the match they go, hey, don't RKO riddle. People are like kind of liking this RK.Brow thing. And then just from there. But it was the same thing kind of with like even Pete and me.

When me and Pete teamed up, we were supposed to team once lose second round or first round of the Dusty Cup, feud with each other, men. We teamed once won people are really high on the brozer weights. Then before you know, we're winning the Dusty Cup.

I have a golf cart that says brozer weights on it and everything else. Yeah, yeah. So it's kind of that formula, you know. And with Randy, it was that, but like times 100, you know, because we were on the main roster and Randy's Randy.

And we had a better dynamic in the sense like he's like I said, he's older, wiser. He's the viper. He's cutthro. He's a killer. And technically, if you know my background, UFC fighter, I'm a killer too. But my character in WWW, I'm like, hey Randy, you know, like, how are you, man? Like, are we going to go ride scooters later? I got some speedos, you know, like that's the character because I'm supposed to be, you know, the goofball.

Randy's been there for 20 plus years. So what are you, what's the biggest thing you pick up from him? I think the biggest thing, not only did I pick up from, well, Randy, Randy's my boy. So there's tons of things I picked up from him and he's helped me out a lot with. But the biggest thing when it comes to professional wrestling, it's just timing. Just taking your time. Even like wrestling on the Indies again, I feel like people feel like they need to rush and this and that. And it's like, it seems crazy.

The longer you wait at certain times, it gives the audience an opportunity to do what they're supposed to do. You know, if you're working the whole time, they're just watching the whole time. You need moments, you know. And Randy is the master at moments. His walkout alone is a moment. His pose is a moment, you know. That's what you learn for Randy. He's in the moments, you know.

I feel like you had a lot of opportunities. It was like start, stop with you. And you've told these stories recently. You were supposed to win the Rumble in 2022. Maybe. Maybe. Okay. It's maybe.

Okay. Now it's maybe. No, not maybe. there was there was some talk going back and forth did i ever hear vins saying you're winning the rumble kid no i never heard that but there was some talks with some producers and some writers about this or that possibly happening that's it and then we talked about possibly how i might eliminate some of the people to lead to that so that all did happen now what actually happened we got to the royal rumble didn't hear anything all day and then when we get to the back i know i'm in the final five

or four or whatever it is. I'm taking a destroyer from Bunny and I'm doing this and that and the other thing. And then when we get there, we were supposed to have a bunch of spots, you know, Shane McMahon's in there, all this.

And I don't want to mention names that somebody didn't want to do any of the spots and just wanted to throw everybody out of her. We all know who you're talking about. Yeah, and that's what happened. Because we didn't argue and he was tired.

He just got bashed in the head with the world title and he's pissed. So it's like, yeah, dude, just happy to be here, right? So yeah. So that's the rumb. story. But yeah, there was talks about it.

There's talks about me winning money in the bank. And it's like, wasn't I up there with Seth? And then up there again with theory? It's like, yeah, I was put in a position too. Things change, you know? It's like, that's what happens. I was supposed to retain the United States championship

at WrestleMania. The day up, Abyss comes in. He goes, hey, change plans. Shamis is winning. And I don't know. Maybe they were telling Shamis, he was winning the whole time. I had no idea. You know, I'm just do my job. Is that pretty common?

Day of change? Yeah, all the time. I mean, I guess like if you're Roman or somebody, they probably give you more of a heads up. But like if you're me, yeah, when I won the U.S. title, I wasn't even supposed to win. Keith Lee was supposed to win.

He got COVID. It was really sick. They replaced him with John Morrison, and then I replaced Keith Lee to win. And I pinned Morrison. Keith was supposed to pin me to protect Bobby. Things changed. Things change.

And his fans are just very difficult because they're like, all he said, it was a fact. And it's like, dude, nothing's a fact. I'm more likely to know who's going to win a real fight than I know who's going to win a pro wrestling match in WW. I've heard so many people be like, they've told me it was supposed to be this thing. My boy, priest, won money in the bank. Beforehand, he didn't know if he was going to win money in the bank, dude.

What? And he won. So it's like, people, come on. And that's the thing. They do that to keep everybody. safe keep us on our toes and everything else. Also, when you just find out and then you do it, the surprise on your

face is a lot bigger, huh? Right? So, like, that makes sense. But yes, these situations are factual. They are factual. They are fictional. They are fiction, not nonfiction. Maybe could have won the Rumble. Possibly. Possibly. Maybe couldn't.

In an alternate universe, if things would have already won in an alternate universe. I won that one. But this one, a couple of things happened differently. And then money in the bank, went to theory instead of you. Yes. And so he said, like, why would they want you to win the Rumble?

It was because we had, like, Bobby Feudy with whoever. The title matches were almost set up, but we wanted to set something up with me and Randy. So if I won the Rumble, especially if I eliminated Randy, we would have kind of beep, but then Randy should still be proud of me, right? And we're friends, but knowing Randy, how's he going to keep this cool? Right. And that was kind of the angle story possibly, possibly. possibly. And what happened, happened, which was still amazing, you know.

Do you feel like Brock won another rumble and, you know, and no one really remembers that. Yeah, of course, man. Do you feel like the door is still open at WWE? Well, I'll say this. And this isn't a knock to anybody. Good luck to everybody. If CM Punk can come back, there's definitely a possibility I can pop. That's not a knock at all that. That's like, you know, if CM Punk. And congrats to everybody. Hope everybody's making tons of money. I am too.

If CM Punk can come back, if Ultimate Warrior can come back, if Brett Hart can come back, and the list goes on and on and on. I'll say this. I have no ill will. I really don't. I'm thankful they gave me

the opportunity as they gave me. I'm super stoked on it, super happy about it. And yeah, you know, like, I don't know. I'm just, even with the UFC, I'm not bitter.

I'm grateful. I got to fight in the biggest fight organization in the world. And even when Dana slammed me, it built my start him for being like 420 athlete of the year. So it's like,

can't knock it. WW gave me a plan for multiple WrestleMania, multiple Royal Rumbles, multiple Survivor Series, multiple everything. Sweet. Thank you. No harm. Thank you for all the money and the championships

and how people and kids look at me because they got to see me on their screen. Thank you. Did you see the release coming? Like, did you feel like it was imminent? I thought it was coming months ago. I thought I was going to get released the second. I didn't think I was coming back raw after mania.

I thought I was going to get released with a bunch of other people after mania. Like you thought it would be a budget cut release? Budget cut release. And then the last one before anything, anything happened. It was like endeavor signing UFC's merging this, that. This is about to happen. I'm like, well, this isn't good. And even before that, I was rubbing people the wrong way.

It was just, like, it was, I could see the writing on the wall. I was being treated slightly differently, and I completely understand, and I get it. But it was a thing, and it's not a knock on them. I think they were being as professional as they can be while running a professional wrestling organization. And pro wrestling is not easy to run. This is more of a knock on you.

You're like, I took it too far, maybe. I took you, dude, it's me. It's me for sure. Just like the UFC, I could have quit smoking some weed, and I would have been fine, right? I could still been there maybe. Granted, things would have changed. if I would have still been there.

Now I can do whatever, right? Yeah. But I didn't change. You know, I am who I am and it is what it is. And it seems like it's worked out well for you. Like it does. It does. You've got a lot of buckets.

And one thing you said earlier in this talk is, you know, things happen for a reason. One door shuts another door opens, you know. And I think for this, like, that's why I'm not bitter. Even towards the UFC, I'm not bitter. You know, do I wish I could have fought a couple more fights? Yeah. I wish I could have been fought for the title. one day. But yeah. And with

WWE, man, I wish I could have finished the story with Randy, but I get it, dude, I mess up, do this. I'm always causing problems. There's always a dumb article written about me. I'm getting porn stars pregnant. And so what I... Dude, it's it's fucking... It's whatever, dude. I get it. For WWE,

I'm a PR nightmare. And I get it, dude. But if you actually look at my track record, how many times I've been arrested, zero, how many times I've been in trouble, zero. How anything, even the air, anything, I'm not in trouble. I don't actually do anything wrong. If anything, I get, I'm just in a bad spot.

And I'm under too much magnification and things are, especially taking the wrong way, you know, and pro wrestling fans are my audience. And they're very gullible at times. You know, the world's very gallable at times. So it's just, it's very much a world of like perception as reality. It is, you know.

And I think that you being tied to a porn star in the PG perception. Yeah, which I love. I love my girlfriend, Misha Montana. We have a baby boy, Matthew. I couldn't be happier. Matthew Jr. No, no, no. I gave him my brother's middle name because my brother's not going to have any kids.

So Matthew Ronald Riddle. So, but basically, Matthew Jr., little Matthew is what I call. I'm a new dad. Oh, congrite. Hey, thank you. Thank you. New dad. Well, I've been a dad for a minute.

Like, yeah. New dad again. Yeah. Yeah. Yes, yes, yes. She was born in May. Oh, awesome, man. So it's, welcome to the party.

Only one? Only one so far. Yeah. Who knows? Who knows? It gets rougher, dude. It gets rougher. The only good thing is you have one and then you have another.

The older one helps. Like, just by default, that baby seeing this baby, they grow up fast. I've heard this. The more you have, the more they just start taking care of each other. The twins were all over the place and twins are brutal. And then I had my son and the twins, like, not that they raised them, but just my son watching the twins, he learned how to walk quicker. He learned how to crawl quicker.

or he learned how to talk quicker just because he saw them going to the baby steps. It was easy for him to learn. If you look at just the headlines, Matt Riddle lives a wild life. Super wild. I mean,

and to be fair, has it been wild at times? Of course, you know, but like nine times out of ten, it's pretty mild. You know, I'm like hang out with my kids.

I trade you jid, so I work out a bunch. I mean, I do 420 quite a bit. I like to play some video games, but most of the time. What's the game you're playing? Oh,

Right now, well, I'm replaying the remake of Dead Space. And I beat it. I'm playing it on a new game, you know, new game plus, you know, where you play with all your guns that you already have. So doing that, then possible. I like to, like, platinum games. I love asking what games you're playing because somebody watches is going to be like, No way.

Dead Space. I got that new Allen Wake 2. I'm a big survival hard. There's another game called The Forest 2 or Sons of the Forest 2. It's insane. It's only on the PC. it said yeah i play a lot of video games i try to we're gonna actually start streaming probably the next couple weeks oh people are gonna love that people seem to like me so i figured might a stream i i don't

really care for myself but it's it's like but people seem to want to see me do stuff and i'm already playing video games so i feel like if you combine those two people are going to love it maybe streaming is such a thing right now yeah plus you know i got the porn star girlfriend so she'll probably pop in once in a while you know whatever that means you call her by her real name yeah her name's misha and she's beautiful i don't actually use her street name because her street name you can't use a street name because then people might find her and i already get harassed enough we don't need her getting harassed you know it's dude it's i'll say my life if anything my life is insane because from any given day or point like you like you said we've

been trying to do this for a minute we have and it's been brutal and yeah it's been brutal, not in a bad way, but it's just like, it's a lot, you know? I appreciate you for making the time. I appreciate you for being so understanding and making it work for me as well. Of course. I knew it would happen at some point in time. Yeah, and I've seen your work. I've seen the clips, you know? There's going to be a lot of clips from this one. You've done it with a bunch of my friends, like Cross and everybody else.

So it's like, I was like, hell yeah, dude. Cross flew here to be in that studio. Yeah, well, Cross is an overachiever. He is. That's one thing people to know about it. He really overachieves. What belt is he in Jiu-Jitsu? Think he's a purple.

Purple, but his no-gey's really good. And the thing about cross, he's very big. Like, I'm pretty big, but, like, he's, like, big, you know? I'm, I'm, oh, no, I'm very athletic. People sleep on the fact that you're a black belt. I'm very talented. Very modest, too. Yeah, well, you know, I really do try, you know, but at a point, like, pretty good.

I just think that there's a lot of just wrestling fans, just WWE fans, if you will, that go, oh, cool, Matt was in UFC. That's great. They don't know your pedigree of how good you are. You know, I'll tell you that, you know, I know I have a good pedigree because even when I fought in the UFC and even after the UFC, whenever I run into like high level trainers like Greg Jackson and stuff like that, they're always like, Riddle, always a pleasure. Like, they're always like super high on me.

Wow. And as I do, they know, they just know, like unlimited gas, bank, good wrestling, good jujitsu, it hits like a freight trade. Good coaching. This guy would probably be like a top 10 and I was. What's your favorite finish of all time? Favorite finish in a fight? Well, I only

my favorite has to be the standing arm triangle where Chris Clements, Calgary took the fight. It's actually my first failed drug test for marijuana because I took the fight on like 10 days notice and I quit. Just wasn't out of my system. And but I drove

I drove from Texas. to Calgary because I did that so I could use those plane tickets for me and my kids to go visit my family because I can get plane tickets. I can swap out like all I'll be at the fight but can I use these tickets for another destination? They'd be like yeah. So I just drove from Texas to Calgary bought Chris Clements and then drove back. That is the time I was running a gym in Texas. That is a heck of a story to go. Yeah. And then I got that standing arm triangle and And then that was my biggest payday of the night. I made $140,000 in one night in Canada.

That's insane. That's great. Yeah. Bought my house in a car with that. Cheaper times. Inflation's been crazy. Think about this story, though. Like the idea of like I was so cheap or I was trying to save money that I was going to save that

flight and drive from Texas to Calgary, which is probably what, like 25 hours? And then a bad one of $140,000. I'm like, I'm an idiot. Dude, that's just got the play. That's amazing. Wow. So I end every conversation talking about gratitude. It's such an important part of my life. Yes. I woke up this morning. I do it every day. I say out loud three things I'm grateful for and I do it before I go to sleep. So what are three things, Matt, that you're grateful for?

Three things I'm grateful for. I would say I'm extremely grateful for my friends. My friends, you know, and when I say that, you know, if you're, one of them. You know, I make, I'm nice to everybody, but the friends that have had my back through thick and thin, I've had fans that are my fans and then turn their back on me. Friends, you know, I have friends and I'm super gratitude, gratitude. What is it? Grateful. Grateful. Grateful for that. Super grateful for my girlfriend, because honestly, through everything, even getting fired and everything, she's been super supportive. And I was, I wasn't that upset getting fired. I was actually relieved because I've been thinking I was going to

to get fired for months at this point. I was like, ah, what happened? Oh, right. Leave. Yeah. It's a lot, dude. Honestly, it's a lot of work working there.

There's a lot of stress and TV times. And then there's a lot of like, say, let down. You know, you think one thing's going to happen and things don't happen. And it happens very often. Like, you had to be ready to like, and this isn't a bad thing. And anybody that works here would agree. And I love the job. But you're going to have to eat some shit sandwiches, you know?

and like sometimes like traveling all the world. He traveling back and forth to India just to like hold a sword. That's a shit sandwich, dude. Like I don't know how else to put it. You know, and I love Drew, but I would have like, if I'm going to India, I want to work. Like, why am I here?

And I was sick as a dog and everything else. So it's like just brutal, you know. So it's like, I don't know, I was grateful for something. You're grateful for your porn star girlfriend. I'm grateful with my girlfriend. You didn't call your porn star girlfriend. Yeah, that's how you did it. All right.

She's really good. She's award winning. So that makes it better. Isn't there a convention going on? Right now, we were actually going to do that this week. But I decided, hey, with the baby and everything, let's be good parents. Are you going to get into that? No.

Well, no. I mean, I tease the only fans, you know. There's a lot of money on the table. I just feel like I still have a lot of cards to play in professional wrestling and maybe mixed martial arts. So, and I'll say this. and maybe this is a selfish grateful, but I'm grateful for me.

I'm grateful for never giving up. I'm grateful for not giving a shit most of the time. I'm grateful for that. I'm grateful for being a rock for people when they're down. I'm grateful for overreacting when I do because I know I'm in the right even if it takes time for people to see it. It feels like my UFC career and now it's off the list

and everything else. So I'm grateful for being me. I love that. Well, cheers. Cheers. Cheers. F3, way better than an F5. bro.

Yeah. Well, there we go. It'll be very interesting to see where he pops up next. Maybe AEW. I mean, we saw him in New Japan. Could we see him in TNA? Could we see him in another

MMA fight or a bare-knuckle fight? I guess just time will tell. I do know that he will be at RussellCon, April 4th through 7th during WrestleMania week in Philly. I will also be there. So if you're going to Philadelphia for WrestleMania, I hope to see you at

Russell con. It's always such a great time there. So please come by, check it out. Also, if you enjoyed this episode, snap a screenshot and share it on social media, tag us so we can share it as well. On Twitter, he's at Super King of Bros. On Instagram, it's Riddle Bro, and I'm at Chris Van Fleet. I'll leave you with this quote from Tony Robbins. All growth starts at the end of your comfort Zone. Be great. Be grateful. We will see you on the next one for some more insight with special guest W.W.E. Hall of Famer. Tori Wilson. It's so good. See on Thursday. Jim Rome takes on sports. Why? Because I have a job to do with rapid fire takes. So I don't want to hear from you lava pigs on this notion today. No idea what you're talking about. You're complaining more than you like to breathe air. It's like you get up in the

only to complain and cry and moan on social media about things that you don't even understand. He's the spitfire of sports smack. Take advantage of it, but get up in here. The Jim Rome Show podcast. What's your beef? Follow and listen on your favorite platform. You've been warned.