WWE boss Vince McMahon does not understand Matt Riddle's television gimmick but likes the star anyway as he thinks he's funny in his own way. Vince is known to be pretty fond of the former UFC fighter, so much so, he encouraged him to go out there and tell his story after Riddle told him the reason for his wrestling barefoot.
Per a report from WresltingNews from last November, the WWE chairman sees a bit of Shawn Michaels in Riddle.
And according to Wrestling Observer Newsletter's Dave Meltzer, McMahon does not get Riddle's act but enjoys it. Meltzer reckons Vince has never seen Fast Times at Ridgemont High, which is why he doesn't realize where the gimmick comes from. The aforementioned is a 1982 comedy that gave the likes of Sean Penn, Nicolas Cage, Forest Whitaker, Eric Stoltz, and Anthony Edwards a stage before they became big stars.
The wrestling insider claimed he's unaware as to whether McMahon's liking of Riddle has convinced him to give the star a main event push but enjoys what he brings to TV.
"So Vince doesn’t understand Matt Riddle’s gimmick, the bro thing or anything," Meltzer said on Wrestling observer Radio (H/T WrestlingNews). But, Vince thinks that Matt Riddle is very funny in his own weird way. So Vince likes the guy.
"I don’t know that he wants to push him to a main event but he likes the guy on TV doing this stuff because Vince probably never saw Fast Times at Ridgemont High and doesn’t realize that he’s doing a 40-year-old character – you know, Jeff Spicolli from that movie. And probably he thinks that this is really unique and funny and everything like that and so he wants this character. He likes Matt Riddle.”
He's Clearly A Favorite
It's clear WWE's high on Riddle. The wrestler has made no secret of his constant marijuana use and Triple H's even joked he caused "smoke issues" when the BroserWeights stowed away on his plane ahead of NXT Takeover: Portland earlier this year. We imagine he'd get buried if Vince did not like what he offers.
WWE's kept the star on TV following sexual abuse allegations and the company's even reported to have dropped the "Matt" from his in-ring name so a Google search wouldn't produce results pointing to the accusations.
Source: WOR (H/T WrestlingNews)