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MATT RIDDLE YANKED FROM POP CULTURE CONVENTION IN FALLOUT OF ONLINE COMMENTS YESTERDAY

Matt Riddle was removed from appearing from pop culture convention Siouxer Con as a result of comments Riddle made online yesterday:

"In light of recent public statements made by Matt Riddle regarding the topics of SA and DV, SiouxperCon has made the decision to cancel his appearance at this year’s convention. The statements that were made in no way represent our organization or event, and are not aligned with the mission, vision, and values of our organization.  Fans that have purchased photo ops in advance for Matt Riddle will be automatically refunded this week to their original form of payment.  SiouxperCon has always strived to be a safe and inclusive space and event for all to feel welcome, including those that have been affected by SA and DV. This is why we, along with New Sound Wrestling, will be donating 10% of the proceeds from all SiouxperMania tickets sold to The Compass Center to support the work they do in our community for survivors and victims."

Yesterday, Riddle responded to reports he no showed a charity event in the UK over the weekend and did not return his deposit or flight money:

 

Riddle made reference to fans online being "dumb f***ing c**ts", including "believing that Me Too sh**."

The "Me Too sh**" appears to be a reference to a lawsuit filed against Riddle during the time he wrestled for WWE.

In 2020, Independent wrestler Samantha Tavel aka Candy Cartwright filed a lawsuit before the United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois yesterday against Riddle, who at the time was under contract to WWE.   Tavel announced during a Chicago press conference on 10/18/29 that she was filing a lawsuit against WWE Smackdown star Matt Riddle, World Wrestling Entertainment, the old EVOLVE promotion and Gabe Sapolsky.  With the exception of Riddle, the court had agreed with the other defendants that there was no bearing for them to be part of the case and they were all removed.

The lawsuit, which at the time sought $10 million against each of the defendants, stemmed from Cartwright's allegations (which became public during the Speaking Out movement online) that Riddle allegedly choked and forced her to perform oral sex on her in May 2018.    According to The Chicago Sun-Times' article, Tavel was allegedly approached for sex by Riddle (who she was in a relationship with) but said she was not comfortable having sex on the bus because of the other wrestlers being present.  The article cited:

Once she said no, Riddle put his hands on her neck and said, “What if I just made you?” Tavel recalled at a news conference Thursday at the Union League Club, 65 W. Jackson Blvd.

“I never thought he would do anything to hurt me and, in that moment, I was terrified,” she added.

John Chwarzynski, Tavel’s attorney, stated during the press conference that the alleged incident was among a “multitude of sexual assaults committed by Matt Riddle against my client, Candi Cartwright.”  The lawsuit alleged Tavel was assaulted multiple times between 2017 and January 2020 by Riddle.

WWE did not have Riddle under contract during the time frame of the allegations and were not involved in the EVOLVE events, one of the reasons they were dismissed by the Court as an defendant.

Tavel later voluntarily filed to have the lawsuit dismissed with prejudice and the case was closed.  There is no word whether the two sides ever entered in a settlement.

Riddle's wife responded to the accusations that he no showed, backing Riddle claims that the promotion had promised him multiple days of work but that he was really going to be waiting in a hotel for several days to wrestle:

The UK promotion, Global Wrestling Kingdom, issued the following, stating Riddle did return his deposit and will cover the promotion's lost expenses.

"Mr Riddle has now paid back his deposit and has given us his word that he will reimburse his expenses too.

We have not made any public statement on this unfortunate situation, but we think it's important to set the record clear on Mr Riddle's claims.

His flights were booked and approved by his manager back in April. No issue was raised at the time.

We originally planned to coincidence his appearance with some seminars but his manager asked if we could share his weekend with a promoter in Paris who wanted to book him on the Saturday which we agreed to.

Unfortunately, they decided that they couldn't work with him. We did make efforts to see if we could help get him booked elsewhere but to no avail. We simply can't force promotions or gyms to work with him if they don't wish to.

After months of chasing his manager for a promised promo hyping up the event, he eventually sent us one the Wednesday prior to the show.

We wished him a safe flight on Thursday but got not response. No issue of the flight was raised.

We informed him the name of his driver on Friday morning but got no response.

Again, no issue was raised regarding his flight, nor did he let us know that he was planning on not showing up.

After his driver waited several hours at the airport for him, we asked him where he was but didn't get a reply back until Friday evening. Only then did he tell us he was unhappy with his flight and decided to take other bookings instead.

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If you or someone you know needs assistance, the National Sexual Assault Hotline is 800-656-4673

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