Zilla Fatu: Matt Riddle Hit Me So Hard It Felt Like I Passed Out For 10 Minutes

Zilla Fatu reveals that Matt Riddle has been his hardest-hitting opponent in the squared circle so far.

Zilla Fatu is a relative rookie in the world of professional wrestling. Still, as the son of Umaga and a member of the legendary Samoan wrestling dynasty, he’s expected to be one of the hardest-hitting competitors in any given match. His heritage has also allowed him to wrestle some top stars immediately. Fatu has already wrestled Booker T, Mustafa Ali, Enzo Amore, and more.

Zilla Fatu recently wrestled Matt Riddle for House of Glory in Chicago. During the recent interview with Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful, he named Riddle as the top opponent who could pack a punch. Fatu praised “The Original Bro” for his toughness despite his “flamboyant” persona.

“Oh, that’s hard because I’ve got hit a lot in these matches. I like that. I like how you put me on spy. But let’s keep it 100. I’m gonna go with House of Glory in Chicago. Me versus Matt Riddle. Man, Matt Riddle caught me with one of those knees and I felt like I passed out for 10 minutes. It was only a few seconds and I was just so blessed that the ropes was right here and I was able to grab it.

“Even though he has that little flamboyant character or whatever you want to call it. Look, he’s the real deal Holyfield. Okay? That’s why I never underestimate my opponent. I don’t care what they look like. But, Matt Riddle definitely is one of the ones.”

Zilla Fatu also gave a shout-out to 1 Called Manders, ranking him as one of the true tough men in modern wrestling. Fatu said his time in the ring with Manders came very early in his career and was a proper introduction to the industry.

“It’s him, and also, do you know this OG name—1 Called Manders? I said this first, I should have said this first because that was my first match that was like, welcome to the business. But shout out to Manders, man. Bro, I wrestled him the very first time, and my whole chest was red, red as my beanie. I remember because it took damn near two weeks for my chest to shake back from that. So shout out to Manders, that’s the OG over there.”

Zilla Fatu’s next test will be against Charles Mason at HOG Texas. This bout will be for both the HOG World Championship and the Crown Jewel Championship. Winner takes all.

HOG Texas will take place on Friday, July 11, 2025, at the Haltom Theater in Haltom City, Texas. The event will stream on TrillerTV+. Fightful will provide full results once it concludes. You can find results from around the world of wrestling in Fightful’s results section.

Check out the full interview with Zilla Fatu in the video embedded at the top of this page.