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NXT talents had a big influence on the recent Royal Rumble PPV, and Triple H predictably had a lot of input in how the Superstars from his brand were booked.
The Executive Vice President of WWE has built NXT into one of the most compelling products in pro wrestling. The talents from the Black and Gold brand are considered to be on par with the Superstars from RAW and SmackDown.
NXT talents had a big influence in the recent Royal Rumble PPV, and Triple H predictably had a lot of input in how the Superstars from his brand were booked.
Sportskeeda's Tom Colohue revealed on the latest episode of the Dropkick DiSKussions podcast that Triple H pushed Matt Riddle's name forward to be included in the men's Royal Rumble match. He also pitched for Riddle to have a confrontation with Lesnar during the match, however, WWE turned down the idea.
The widely-reported backstage altercation between Brock Lesnar and Matt Riddle may have had a role to play in WWE choosing to not let the two men engage during the match.
Tom revealed the following:
I do know Triple H put Matt Riddle name's forward as someone who should be in the Royal Rumble and he put his name forward with the intent, hope I should say, of having some kind of an encounter with Brock Lesnar. The WWE said yeah, we will have Matt Riddle, and then at some point, they said 'okay, we're not going to have him with Brock Lesnar'. It may be down to that backstage altercation.
I personally find it unlikely, because the way they plan these matches out, it's very hard to make that last-minute a change. However, if you look at the list and as you recall I have it right here, there are a number of people there who could have been moved last-minute in place of Matt Riddle. And he was only in the match for 41 seconds. It's very hard to tell.
Tom also explained how Riddle may not have been punished in the Rumble despite being in the match for just 41 seconds.
When it comes to the idea of him being punished, it's not really something that they do, when it comes to that, if he was going to be punished, they would have taken him out of the Rumble and they would have put Otis back in.
On the most recent episode of NXT, Riddle also won the Dusty Rhodes Classic Tag Team Tournament with Pete Dunne which dispels all rumors of backstage heat on the King of Bros.
Do you think NXT is a better brand in comparison to RAW and SmackDown? Here's what Kurt Angle thinks regarding the scenario!
