Matt Riddle Discusses How The Independent Scene Has Changed

At 39-years-old, Matt Riddle has had quite the journey in professional wrestling. The former MMA fighter made his debut in 2015 and made it to WWE just three years later. After spending time in NXT, he was brought up to the main roster before being released in 2023.

Since then, Riddle has wrestled for numerous independent companies. His most notable work is in MLW where he’s a former World Champion, but Riddle knows how tough this industry truly is. In an interview with “The Franchise” Shane Douglas, Riddle spoke about how things change constantly and that’s something he must be prepared for.

“The business is going to change in three months,” Riddle told Douglas. “Just even seeing the independent scene now from where it was when I was on the indies, it’s night and day different. And then even from when I started on the indies again in January to now, almost a year, night and day difference dude. Even the reactions, everything. It’s coming around now I feel, in a different way.”

Here in 2025, Riddle has worked for seemingly every major promotion. From the likes of MLW to GCW to HOG to CMLL, Riddle continues to make waves in the industry as pro wrestling has become his life. While he’s lost a few of his titles in these past few months, he just surpassed 250 days as WSW Australian Champion.