Fans call out Matt Riddle for lying after former WWE star’s eye-popping payday claim

WWE released Matt Riddle from his contract in September 2023, and since then he has appeared in a lot of different promotions. He was in recent news for his Money in the Bank winning claim and Royal Rumble claim.

During a Q&A session on “The Kurt Angle Show” podcast, Riddle revealed that if he were to remain in WWE his payday would have been increased to $1,000,000 a year. Fans took to social media to express their disbelief and called out the former WWE star for lying in his interview.

Matt Riddle claims a $1,000,000 payday

Matt Riddle has been in the news in recent times due to his signing to Major League Wrestling, the wrestler recently appeared in a podcast hosted by 14-time wrestling world champion Kurt Angle. While the interview was underway, Riddle revealed whether his release from the company was related to the WWE/UFC merger into TKO.

Matt said how his relationship with Dana White may be a cause for his parting from WWE, “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.”

The former RK-Bro member also revealed how much he would have made had he stayed with the company. “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.”

He went on to explain how the merger ‘didn’t help’ and how his behavior also made it hard for him to remain with WWE. Matt added how he went to HR to ask questions about his future course but they got rid of him at the end.

The king of Bros expressed his interest in working in Japan at the NJPW. In the interview, he said, “Dude, I’ve been waiting to go to Japan since before the WWE. I was trying to get there before WWE. It’s just that when they finally offered me a deal, WWE offered me a deal and the money was right, Now that I’m older, you know, I got another opportunity and I’m literally, I couldn’t be more excited.”

Fans call out the former WWE star for lying

Matt Riddle was in the news for his outlandish story of winning the Royal Rumble. Riddle’s recent revelation of getting 1 million paydays per year caused some fans to call out the wrestler for lying. Some fans clearly refused to believe Matt’s claim and took to Twitter to address his fictitious stories.

Fans shared their own thoughts after the news about Riddle’s pay was released. One fan commented, “Riddle at this point might break Hulk Hogan’s record of stories that are fiction”. Another fan said, “Why is Riddle trying to go lie for lie with Hogan?”

Wrestling fans have made it clear that they won’t take Matt’s claim seriously. WWE has yet to respond to the 38-year-old’s statement. Matt Riddle is set to debut in NJPW alongside another former WWE wrestler, Nic Nemeth (formerly known as Dolph Ziggler). While some fans are unhappy with Riddle’s outrageous stories, others are excited to see the MLW star in action again.