The bygone days of pro wrestling are full of tales of wrestlers throwing their star power around to get creative changed in their favor. We’re talking the “that doesn’t work for me, brother” Hulk Hogan type stuff. Not so much in more recent times, but Matt Riddle wants us to believe it took place in WWE just two years ago and changed the finish to the 2022 Royal Rumble.
Riddle’s time with WWE is now over thanks to his September 2023 release, and he’s already popped up in MLW and NJPW. Perhaps that’s why he’s been willing to talk about things that happened while he was there, and his most talked about claim to date has to do with Brock Lesnar.
During a virtual signing session this week with Signed by Superstars, Riddle claimed he was told he’d be winning the Men’s Royal Rumble match two years ago, but Lesnar decided he was going to win and no one decided to argue the point with the Beast Incarnate (h/t Wrestling Observer for the transcription).
So, I believe … you know, it’s sports entertainment. But I was told at one point I was going to win the Rumble and everything else. And then what was it? Bobby Lashley beat Brock Lesnar because somebody came in and hit him with the belt or what have you. Then Brock came in, didn’t want to do business with everybody, said he was winning (The Royal Rumble), and then he won. None of the producers, nobody stood up to him and they let him do it. I didn’t either.
Was WWE planning on having Riddle win the Rumble? Insiders are split on that. PWI’s Mike Johnson reported at the time that it was the plan but things changed several times and landed on eventually landed on Lesnar.
Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer isn’t as sure, as he explained on Wrestling Observer Radio.
I never heard that one before and it doesn’t really make sense for him to win the Rumble because then he would have to be in the main event at Mania and they were never pushing him at that level.
The people who would know for sure, like Vince McMahon and Triple H, aren’t likely to discuss this topic any time soon. But whether Riddle is on target here or not, this feels like a story that will live on, just because fans will believe that Lesnar really could have said “nope, sorry, I’m winning the Rumble” and nobody felt like telling him no.
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