8 AEW wrestlers Matt Riddle has competed against outside WWE

Matt Riddle signed with WWE NXT in July 2018 and was an integral part of the Black and Gold brand until the recent announcement of his move up to the main roster of WWE. Riddle managed to have some of the best rivalries in NXT against top WWE Superstars including Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, and Finn Balor.

The Original Bro has had several rivalries for the NXT Championship and the NXT North American Championship but failed to win either during his two-year tenure on the Black & Gold brand. Instead, his partnership with Pete Dunne allowed him to become the NXT Tag Team Champion and have a good reign.

Recently, WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle announced that Riddle would be heading to the SmackDown brand from NXT. This is great news for fans of WWE’s Stallion who has proven that he has what it takes to become the face of SmackDown one day.

While most of us are aware of the wrestlers he has competed in inside the WWE ring, many aren’t aware of the fact that Riddle has also competed against several All Elite Wrestling (AEW) wrestlers during his time on the Independent Circuit.

This has led us to come up with an interesting list of Superstars who have locked horns with The Original Bro before he signed on to WWE and they went on to join AEW.

Take a look at the 8 current AEW wrestlers who have shared the ring with Matt Riddle.

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#8 Brian Cage

Brian Cage started his wrestling career at a young age and soon followed his dream of becoming a big star by signing up with WWE in 2008. In WWE, he was part of Florida Championship Wrestling when he became the FCW Tag Team Champion for just a little while before losing the titles to the team of Bo Dallas and Bray Wyatt.

He left WWE in 2009 and went onto the Independent Circuit where he had some good matches and rivalries in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG).

Matt Riddle and Brian Cage's paths have crossed earlier

Cage competed against Matt Riddle in a singles match at Beyond Wrestling’s Beyond Paying Paul event where Riddle managed to defeat Cage. The two later competed in a tag team match during their time in PWG at PWG Only Kings Understand Each Other.

While Cage could not defeat Riddle in their first two matches, he managed to defeat him while defending his Wrestle Circus Ringmaster Championship at WrestleCircus #SXSW.

Cage is now part of AEW and is starting to find his footing on the promotion after defeating Lee Johnson in his first singles match.

#7 Jimmy Havoc

English wrestler Jimmy Havoc is one of the biggest names in wrestling who has never worked for WWE. Havoc has had a great time on several different promotions, including Progress Wrestling, Defiant Wrestling, and Insane Championship Wrestling.

However, his time in Progress Wrestling was arguably the best as he went on to become the longest-reigning Progress World Champion in history by holding the title for over 600 days.

Matt Riddle and Jimmy Havoc have competed in a few big matches

It was during his time in Progress Wrestling back in November 2016 when he shared the ring with Matt Riddle for the first time. The two men competed at PROGRESS Chapter 39: The Graps of Wrath in a 7-Way Elimination Match for the Progress World Championship. The title was ultimately won by Pete Dunne.

That wasn’t all, as the two men have competed in a couple of tag team matches against each other too. The only recorded singles match between the two men at PROGRESS Chapter 66: Mardi Graps saw Riddle defeat Havoc. Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) has also seen the two men compete in a Triple Threat Match with Keith Lee involved.

While Riddle moved onto NXT soon after that match, Havoc joined AEW in February 2019 and seems to have formed a nice partnership with Kip Sabian on the promotion.

#6 Luchasaurus

Luchasaurus is one of the main men in AEW

Luchasaurus is best known for his work in Lucha Underground before he went on to join AEW. However, much before he even went on to Lucha Underground, he was signed to WWE NXT as Judas Devlin.

During his time in WWE, he competed in many live shows against famous Superstars such as Baron Corbin and Rusev. However, he was released from his contract after suffering an injury that required him to take some time off from competition.

After recovering from the injury. Luchasaurus began competing on the Independent Circuit where he was part of several promotions, including former WWE Superstar Tommy Dreamer’s House of Hardcore (HoH).

Luchasaurus has defeated Matt Riddle before he joined NXT

At HoH 35, Luchasauraus competed in a Triple Threat Match against Matt Riddle and Willie Mack. Unlike most of the wrestlers on this list who’ve lost to Riddle before he signed with WWE, Luchasaurus went on to win his match against the former NXT Tag Team Champion.

Currently, Luchasaurus is enjoying his time in AEW as a big part of the promotion. He has competed against the biggest names in the business there and has formed a faction called the Jurrasic Express with Jungle Boy.

#5-4 Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson (The Young Bucks)

Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson, known as The Young Bucks, are one of the most interesting tag teams in wrestling. While they have been through several different wrestling promotions during their illustrious careers, it’s interesting to note that they’ve never signed with WWE during their careers.

However, Matt has competed on SmackDown twice in 2008, losing to Chuck Palumbo in February and the Big Show in October.

The Young Bucks have also appeared on an episode of ECW to portray Triple H and Shawn Michaels in a segment before being laid to waste by The Miz and John Morrison.

Matt Riddle has competed against The Young Bucks outside of WWE

At Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) Mystery Vortex IV in 2016, The Young Bucks competed against Jeff Cobb & Matt Riddle in an exhibition match that lasted almost 20 minutes. Riddle and Cobb managed to defeat the brothers in their first encounter.

The two teams later met in a Triple Threat Match at PWG All Star Weekend 14 in 2018 where Jeff Cobb & Matt Riddle defended their PWG Tag Team Titles against The Young Bucks and Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz. Xavier and Wentz went on to win the match and took the titles off Cobb and Riddle.

While Riddle went on to NXT soon after, Cobb went on to compete for a number of different promotions and even had a match against Jon Moxley in AEW. The Young Bucks, however, were instrumental in the birth of AEW and continue to be one of the biggest players on the promotion.

#3 Joey Janela

Joey Janela is another big name in the wrestling industry who is famous for his time in Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG). Janela is also well known in the wrestling community as he holds his annual Spring Break events during WrestleMania season.

In 2017, at the Beyond Americanrana, Janela and Matt Riddle headlined the night with a good match that saw Janela defeat The King of Bros to close out the show. At WWNLive Style Battle in January 2018, Riddle got his revenge as he defeated Janela during the show.

Matt Riddle has been part of Janela's Spring Breaks before he joined WWE

Apart from their matches in the ring, Riddle has been part of Janela’s Spring Break events more than once during his wrestling career.

At GCW Joey Janela's Spring Break 2, Riddle took on former WWE Superstar James Ellsworth and defeated him comfortably in under four minutes. At Joey Janela's Lost In New York in 2018, Riddle was defeated by PCO. Stallion Riddle has not appeared on Joey Janela’s Spring Break since signing a contract with WWE.

Janela was one of the first wrestlers to sign with All Elite Wrestling in January 2019 and appears on AEW Dark and AEW Dynamite.

#2 Darby Allin

Darby Allin was one of World Wrestling Network’s (WWN) biggest names before he left the promotion for AEW. He debuted for WWN at EVOLVE 59 and lost his first match for the promotion.

During 2018, Allin competed against a string of WWE NXT Superstars but suffered a loss against every single one of them. The WWE Superstars who defeated Allin included Mustafa Ali, The Velveteen Dream, Roderick Strong, and Kassius Ohno.

However, just before he suffered all those losses, he competed against Matt Riddle at EVOLVE 110 just days before Riddle went on to NXT. Allin managed to defeat Riddle in their fight via pinfall after 15 minutes of action.

Matt Riddle has also defeated Darby Allin to make things even

Before the two men competed one-on-one, Riddle had defeated Allin at EVOLVE 101 in a Four-Way Elimination Match that also included Austin Theory, who is now on RAW, and Jaka.

Allin is currently competing against some of the biggest names in wrestling as part of AEW as he has already competed against Chris Jericho, Adam Page, Cody, and PAC on the promotion.

If WWE and AEW ever decide to have a cross-promotion event, this will be one booking that could work out for both companies.

#1 Cody Rhodes

The biggest fish in the sea makes it to the top of yet another list. Wrestling fans know Cody Rhodes extremely well and are aware of his outstanding work both inside and outside WWE and AEW.

After competing for WWE for over a decade after following in the footsteps of his father and half-brother, Cody realized that he deserved so much more after which he decided to move to the Independent Circuit and move around in different promotions.

While Cody may be AEW's future, Matt Riddle is the future of WWE

At House of Glory (HOG) Unbreakable in 2016, Cody took on Matt Riddle for the first time and defeated the new SmackDown recruit. The two followed up their great match with another stellar performance at WCPW Chain Reaction in March 2017 where Cody defended his WCPW Internet title against Riddle. The match would end in no contest when The Prestige laid both men out after they battled for over 15 minutes.

Cody was at the forefront of giving fans the taste of a new wrestling promotion unlike any other. He was instrumental in bringing up AEW, and along with Tony Khan, strives to make it one of the best wrestling promotions in the world.