Matt Riddle has opened up about his infamous 2021 comments aimed at Roman Reigns — and how he ultimately apologized after the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion took offense.
Back in the summer of 2021, Riddle caused a stir during an interview with Bleacher Report when he took a direct shot at Reigns and his family legacy. “You’re related to The Rock. Shut up,” Riddle said at the time. “Like, I’m not impressed, I can beat you up in a real fight. So, shut your mouth. You’re not moving needles.”
Speaking to TMZ.com this week, Riddle revisited the situation and revealed how things played out behind the scenes. “I could beat him in an MMA fight, a jiu-jitsu match. In a football game, he probably could catch better than me, throw better than me, tackle better than me. He’s a bigger guy,” Riddle explained. “Dude, he flipped out. He texted me. ‘Not cool, dude.’ And I was like, ‘oh sh*t.’”
Realizing he had crossed a line, Riddle drafted an apology — but with some help from his then-tag team partner, Randy Orton. “So I apologized. I wrote this long apology. I go, ‘Randy, how does this look?’ I showed him and he goes, ‘Nah, this isn’t right,’” Riddle said. “You know, because Roman’s on SmackDown. This is during COVID, we’re still separated. He fixes the text. It was basically: ‘My bad, bro. Maybe we’ll work again someday soon.’”
The apology helped smooth things over, and the two later shared the ring without any lingering issues. “We’d worked since then. And the guy loves me,” Riddle added. “I try to tell this to people — it’s pro wrestling. If I’m not talking sh*t, like what are we doing here?”
The incident has since become one of the more memorable real-life tensions turned professional storylines in WWE’s modern era, showing how quickly things can shift behind the scenes in the world of sports entertainment.
