Speaking on the latest episode of his “Hall of Fame” podcast, Booker T discussed Matt Riddle recently being released from WWE. While Riddle had been a solid worker and character that had resonated with the WWE Universe throughout his tenure with the company, his demeanor outside of the ring had often resulted in a negative spotlight on him.
Speaking on Riddle’s release, which followed an alleged airport incident earlier this month, Booker T said,
“We’re talking about the release of Matt Riddle. Riddle is no longer a part of WWE. What do you think about that? We were talking about Riddle [his airport incident]. We were talking about Riddle. And what did I say that day? I said, ‘That stuff is only going to be tolerated so much.’ I think I said something like that. As far as that stuff, you can get away with that kind of stuff only for so long. It catches up with you, because then you become a liability. You don’t want people in the news for negative reasons. It’s the last thing you want. The last thing you need is having one in the news for negative purposes.”
Regarding Riddle potentially heading to All Elite Wrestling in the future, Booker said,
“I don’t wish any ill will on anyone regarding them losing their job or anything like that. But for someone like Riddle, who’s had several opportunities and several things happen to where — just say for instance, a lot of guys perhaps would have got released a long time ago for the same reasons. So when you get a shot — and I know a lot of people out there saying, ‘Well, he can go to AEW. If that’s what they want, they want to deal with that kind of baggage and having turmoil because one guy’s doing it and nothing’s happening and the other guy do it and something happened, having friction. I just think he really put himself in a really, really awkward position. Because he left the UFC for certain reasons. And then he came to WWE and was pretty much let right in the door and accepted by all of those guys in the locker room as well. So I don’t know, he just really put himself in a bad light.”
Read also: Here’s The Reason Why Matt Riddle Was Released From WWE
