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Matt Riddle has had a quick rise in WWE since debuting back in 2018. Two years after signing with the company and debuting on NXT, the former UFC star was elevated to the main roster.
He was moved to SmackDown earlier this year and debuted in June 2020. The former NXT Tag Team champion has a decent fan following, as his unique character, especially him wrestling barefoot, has won over the fans.
But a WWE Hall of Famer feels that Riddle wrestling barefoot may cause some to not take him seriously. Booker T revealed on his Hall of Fame podcast that Matt Riddle wrestling barefoot may not help him become a world champion in WWE.
Booker T on why Matt Riddle may not be a success in WWE
The former WCW and WWE World Champion said that Matt Riddle not wearing boots was the first thing he noticed about him.He said that to compete and win world titles, Superstars need to have a "certain look" which Riddle may not have if he wrestles barefoot.
"Not taking anything away from Matt Riddle, that (not wearing boots) was the first thing I noticed about him. I know flipping them off was cool and how WWE captured it in slow motion. That’s fine but I think about so much when it goes into being the wrestling heavyweight champion. Let’s think about it for one second. There’s a protocol there. How many world heavyweight champions have we had that were bare feet? How many bare feet wrestlers were greater than Superfly Jimmy Snuka? If you’re trying to get to the heavyweight championship or the Universal championship, there has always been a certain look that you have to have." (H/T Rajah)
Booker T said that he made this assessment from a pro wrestling promoter's point of view and how he looks at the wrestling business.
In an interview with Sportskeeda, Matt Riddle revealed if he would wear boots to face Brock Lesnar. You can watch that video below:
Matt Riddle debuted on SmackDown when he was moved to the main roster earlier this year, but he was drafted to RAW as part of the 2020 WWE Draft.
