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Matt Riddle is one of the biggest names in WWE today thanks to his Mixed Martial Arts career followed by his great work in the squared circle outside WWE.
When Riddle signed onto WWE and joined NXT, fans were convinced that he would become the NXT Champion sooner than later. However, Riddle had some big moments and matches in NXT but never managed to win a singles title during his run on the Black & Gold brand.
Instead, he formed an alliance with Pete Dunne which helped him not only win the 2020 Dusty Rhodes Classic but also allowed the two men to defeat The Undisputed Era to win the NXT Tag Team Championships.
Recently, Riddle lost his final match in NXT against Timothy Thatcher inside a Fight Pit to the disappointment of the WWE Universe. However, the fans were treated to a great surprise as WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle announced that Riddle would be joining SmackDown after a great run on NXT.
After the announcement regarding his move to SmackDown, RAW Superstar Aleister Black, who was also a former NXT Champion, expressed his desire to compete against the new Blue brand recruit.
Keeping that in mind, we couldn’t help but dig up the names of all those RAW and SmackDown Superstars Riddle has already competed against outside WWE.
In this article, we will look at the five top RAW and SmackDown Superstars who have already competed against The Original Bro.
#5 Cedric Alexander
Cedric Alexander was the highlight of 205 Live for several months and his move to RAW was seen as a major one. Even though he got some big matches to start with, he was watered down by some mixed bookings.
Recently we’ve seen him gain some more prominence after joining forces with Ricochet, and the two men could go on to rule the RAW Tag Team Division if they’re booked right.
While Alexander is one of the bigger names in WWE, his work outside WWE has earned him a lot of praise over the years. Most of you will be familiar with Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) where he was part of a 10-men tag team match that had Matt Riddle on the opposite team.
The match had several high points and comedic moments but did not turn out to be as good as most of us would have liked it to be.
The rising stars of WWE could come face to face again
At EVOLVE 62, Riddle and Alexander faced each other in a singles match that was won by Riddle via submission. Riddle was a dominant force on EVOLVE Wrestling and the company built him up very well during the initial matches of his career that saw him make his opponents tap out after a great performance.
#4 Ricochet
Back in November 2019, Ricochet had his last WWE NXT match against The Bro of NXT, Matt Riddle. Even though Ricochet had moved to RAW months before that, he thought it was a great idea to go back to NXT and pick a fight with The Original Bro by attacking his opponent Kona Reeves just days before Survivor Series.
However, the involvement of other WWE Superstars led to a distraction and allowed Riddle to pick up a big victory over Ricochet. While we’d seen Riddle and Ricochet team up on NXT a few times, we’d never seen the two compete against one another on NXT.
The two babyfaces of WWE have competed outside of the company
Outside WWE, however, the two men have traded blows a few times. The two were involved in a Triple Threat match along with Tony Nese at EVOLVE 68, a match that was won by Nese.
They went one-on-one at EVOLVE 75, and Riddle managed to make The One and Only tap out after the two men put on a great match that lasted almost 10 minutes.
Riddle and Ricochet are arguably two of the most gifted Superstars in WWE today and we could end up seeing them become the face of their respective brands in the next few years.
#3 Austin Theory
Austin Theory is one of RAW’s newest recruits who seems to be having a great time on the Red brand. The young WWE Superstar ended up on RAW from NXT as a replacement for Andrade and seems to have impressed the creatives enough to make RAW his home brand.
The 22-year old has already competed against some of the biggest Superstars in the WWE ring, including Roderick Strong, Tommaso Ciampa, and Aleister Black.
Matt Riddle and Austin Theory had a few things in common before they signed with WWE
However, Theory was a big star during his time outside WWE as he is a former EVOLVE Champion. In fact, he was the EVOLVE Champion when he signed with NXT and started competing against the big boys there.
At EVOLVE 101, Theory competed against Matt Riddle for the first time on the promotion in a Four-Way Elimination Match. The two men had another match at EVOLVE 109 just a day after Riddle lost the EVOLVE Championship.
We’ve also seen the two men compete in Tag Team Matches against each other on NXT House Shows just before Riddle and Pete Dunne won the NXT Tag Team Championships.
Interestingly, Theory made it to RAW from NXT before Riddle made it to SmackDown!
#2 Drew Gulak
Many of us have seen Matt Riddle and Drew Gulak compete against each other in WWE. The two had a great match just last year in January when they came face to face in NXT. We’re well aware of both men’s talent, and Gulak gave Riddle a run for his money even though he ended up losing the match by submission.
While it’d be great to watch the two men compete on SmackDown one day, they both have competed against and with each other a few times in the past before they joined WWE.
Matt Riddle and Drew Gulak's encounters outside WWE
Gulak was one of the first men Riddle competed against when he joined EVOLVE back in 2015. Riddle has also fought with Gulak in a tag team against Chuck O'Neil & Eric Spicely in Beyond Wrestling’s Beyond Fete Finale events.
Gulak made his way to SmackDown a few months ago and found his footing on the Blue brand after he joined forces with multi-time WWE Champion Daniel Bryan. However, there were reports recently which stated that Gulak's contract with the company had expired and he wasn't able to agree a renewal, which led to his departure from WWE.
According to the latest reports though, Gulak has signed a new multi-year deal with WWE and will be making his way back to SmackDown on FOX. If this is true, then Riddle could end up forming a partnership with the two men early on in his SmackDown career just to get a good taste of what to expect from the Superstars of the Blue brand.
#1 Drew McIntyre
Drew Gulak isn’t the only Drew in the company Matt Riddle has faced on another promotion. WWE Champion Drew McIntyre is familiar with the new Stallion of SmackDown as the two have traded blows in other promotions on several occasions.
On February 25, 2017, Riddle and McIntyre competed in their first match in EVOLVE which was ultimately won by The Super King of Bros. On March 30, The Scottish Psychopath got his revenge by defeating Riddle.
Two days later, Riddle defeated Fred Yehi, Jon Davis, Parrow, Timothy Thatcher, and Tracy Williams in a 6-Way Elimination match to become the inaugural WWN Champion.
McIntyre was one of the men who challenged Riddle for the title a month later in an “I Quit” match. The two had a lengthy match on April 23, 2017, which was won by Riddle to retain the WWN Championship.
Will Matt Riddle and Drew McIntyre compete for the WWE Championship one day?
Riddle recently sat down for an interview with Sportkeeda’s Gary Cassidy and had a few things to say about the WWE Champion. Riddle said the following about a match against McIntyre:
“Right now, the biggest stallion in the WWE stable would have to be Drew McIntyre. The guy is a hoss. I wrestled him on the indies at EVOLVE and stuff like that. The guy is a professional. He looks the part, he is the part. He talks the talk, he can walk the walk. He's great. You know, so I'd like to have a match because he's the guy to beat. I don't know if it would necessarily be the Dave Meltzer's seven-star match of the year.”
You can read the full interview right here.
Hopefully, we will get to watch Riddle take on McIntyre in WWE soon with a major title on the line and the two big men can give us a great match to remember.
