NXT superstar Matt Riddle spoke with Pro Wrestling Sheet to hype his tag title defense against Imperium on tomorrow’s NXT on USA. Highlights from the interview can be found below.
Teaming with Timothy Thatcher and facing Imperium on tomorrow’s NXT:
You already know what I think of Timothy. The guy’s a stallion. Even though me and Tim haven’t tagged in the past, we’ve had a history. I think it was a good fit. Fabian and Marcel, I’m not going to lie, they’re tough, they’re athletic, they’re foreign. They speak multiple languages. They’re pretty impressive individuals, you know? I think me and Stallion Tim got this one. Pete [Dunne] knew what he was doing when he picked him. I think me and Tim, you saw it on the Newly-Bros Show. We get it, we know each other. I think it’s another title defense in the books. I know Adam Cole is the longest-running NXT world champion, but I think we could be the longest-running NXT tag team champions. We’ll see.
Thatcher replacing Pete Dunne:
I was a little sad because Pete was gone. I didn’t know what was going to happen. I saw what was happening to Jordan Devlin, having the tournament to see who’s going to face him. You just don’t know what’s going to happen with titles, you know. I didn’t want to vacate it because my partner was out of the country. When they told me that Tim was going to be my partner, I was stoked just because of that. Me and Tim, even though we’ve wrestled a lot in the past, we’ve also traveled the world a lot. Me and Tim know each other pretty well. The guy loves peanut butter and carrots. Like I said, we’ve had a history, but usually we’re on opposite sides. It’s nice to be on the same side finally.
His relationship with guys in the locker room:
In the locker room, I have a really good relationship with a lot of the guys. We might not call each other every day, but when we see each other at work and stuff we’re pretty friendly. I feel like I have a pretty good relationship with everybody. The fact that I’m me all the time, even if it’s a different version of me, it’s always me. I feel like that also helps me play off everybody because I know who they are, I know what they do, I know their mannerisms, I hear them talk and I can kind of work off that. Even if you’re not on a team, you still ride buses together, you fly together, you travel together. Even if you don’t like each other, you’re still going to learn each other’s mannerisms.
Training routine at home:
I was fighting the kids at first, but they gave up. Then I bought a bag and started fighting the bag. I got weights. My wife does Olympic lifting, so she has a rack for squats and everything else. We have like 400 pounds in weight. I’m pretty good, you know. I’ve been staying pretty tight. I’ve been skateboarding. I ride a little wind bike in the backyard. Get some sun while I’m riding the bike, you know?
Wanting to accomplish things on the main roster:
I don’t want to push anybody into things or rush anything. But at the same time, I love NXT, I love the product we do, I love the intensity, I love the intimacy, especially when we do have fans at Full Sail. The Takeovers are amazing. But yeah, I think everybody knows the main goal is to eventually get to the top, be at the main event of WrestleMania, win the Royal Rumble. Do it all and be the top guy. I fought MMA and I felt like I could have gotten a lot further and I didn’t. Now that I’m in pro wresting, if I have any opportunity, I’m going to seize it and take it. If there’s an opportunity or a spot open, I’m going to take it. I’m going to take the opportunity and run with it as hard and far as I can.