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In regard to rumors regarding former UFC fighter and current EVOLVE star Matt Riddle, there is smoke to the fire.
PWInsider.com has confirmed with mutiple WWE sources today that there is indeed interest in the company in signing Riddle for the NXT brand. However, reports that the 32-year old former WWN Champion is locked in to a WWE deal are premature as nothing has been signed and PWInsider.com has not even been able to confirm he's undergone the pre-signing medical testing.
WWE has had a long-standing interest in Riddle and actually put plans in motion several years ago for EVOLVE to begin using him after Riddle took part in a WWE tryout but was not signed to a WWE deal.
In January 2017, during a media conference call, Paul Levesque was asked about the possibility of signing Riddle, who was let go by UFC after failing two drug tests for marijuana in one year. At the time, Triple H said said he is all about second chances but a guy has to prove himself. H felt Riddle had promise and he helped get him taken care of in the scene and cultivated (a reference to getting Riddle into EVOLVE). Levesque commented that Riddle has done very well with that. He referred to Riddle as having a bright future.
As of now, Riddle is still scheduled for all of his current domestic independent bookings, including EVOLVE on 8/4 in Philadelphia and 8/5 in Melrose, MA. However, Riddle has pulled himself off bookings for Ireland's Over the Top Wrestling the same weekend as Summerslam 2018, which lends itself to the theory that WWE plans to have Riddle appearing at ringside at Takeover: Brooklyn, something the NXT brand has done regularly for years to unveil new talent, most recently Keith Lee.
Also of note, we have heard from sources in Japan over the last 24 hours that there has been renewed interest in using Riddle from New Japan Pro Wrestling, which has toyed with bringing in the former MMA fighter previously, but never officially announced his debut.
So, Riddle appears to be in a great position where multiple promotions are interested in him. Where and when he makes a move remains to be seen, but there is indeed smoke to the fire.
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