Matt Riddle Debuts in NXT, Bullet Club vs. Impact Match Announced

Matt Riddle was one of the fastest rising MMA stars until he was released from UFC after testing positive for marijuana. Although Riddle’s days in the octagon are over for now, he has been building up a great career as a professional wrestler over the past few years. Riddle’s work in promotions such as EVOLVE has been praised, and it seemed like only a matter of time before he’d get signed by a major wrestling promotion. Riddle reportedly attracted the attention of WWE and New Japan Pro Wrestling earlier this year, but in the end, Riddle ultimately decided to sign with WWE and begin working on the NXT brand. After months of rumors and speculations, WWE finally confirmed his signing earlier this year.

King of Bros! @SuperKingofBros #wwenxt #nxt #NXTSanford #bro pic.twitter.com/aEV9lk3bS2
— ?? Libby ?? (@lahill122) September 22, 2018

So yeah! This is actually happening. @SuperKingofBros #MattRiddle #NXT #NXTSanford pic.twitter.com/rGK2PO85V2
— Will Holder (@ThrillHolder) September 22, 2018

During the NXT Takeover: Brooklyn IV event from this past summer, Riddle was shown watching the event in the front row before being revealed as NXT’s newest signee, but he had not made a single appearance for NXT since then. Although he did not appear at the recent set of NXT tapings earlier this week, Riddle made his unannounced NXT in-ring debut last night. Riddle defeated Fabian Aichner at an NXT live event in Sanford, Illinois, and fans in attendance have commented that Riddle was impressive in his first WWE match. There is currently no word on when Riddle is expected to debut on NXT programming, but it has been teased that his first rivalry on the show will be against Kassius Ohno.

M3 – @SuperKingofBros pins @FabianAichner. Here’s the finish. #NXTSanford pic.twitter.com/rQk7ApkWG9
— Kyle (@FLWrestlingFan) September 22, 2018

Chris Jericho’s “Rock ‘N’ Wrestling Rager at Sea” is now only a few weeks away from taking place, and the wrestler has managed to secure dozens of huge names for the upcoming cruise. Some potentially excellent matches have also been made official for the cruise, including the newest one: a 10-man elimination war match pitting five members of the Bullet Club faction against five of the biggest stars currently competing in Impact Wrestling. It will be Cody Rhodes, Marty Scurll, Adam Page, and The Young Bucks vs. Sami Callihan, Johnny Impact, Brian Cage, and LAX. The music and wrestling-themed cruise of Jericho sails out of Miami, Florida and heads to the Bahamas starting on October 27th-October 31st.