Matt Riddle revealed that his creative suggestions were frequently rejected by WWE when he was there, but ended up being used in promos or segments shortly afterward. He said that he currently has much more freedom to develop his ideas at MLW.
In a recent interview on The Takedown on SI, Riddle recalled how his suggestions were received backstage at WWE.
“I definitely have more freedom here than I did in WWE. 100%. In WWE, most of the time when I suggested something, somebody would say it was dumb, and then two weeks later it would be part of the promo or part of the sketch. MLW kind of lets me rock.”
Riddle also praised the way MLW runs its programming. He said that the company has a defined creative plan, but allows talent to contribute to their characters.
In MLW, that freedom has already allowed him to temporarily abandon his traditional “Bro” character to play the “Rude Dude,” with a more aggressive attitude. Court Bauer, the owner of the company, was the one who suggested that he put the idea into practice.
On Thursday’s MLW Fusion, Riddle defeated Mark Coffey in the first round of the Opera Cup, advancing to the quarterfinals, where he will face Ikuro Kwon.
Despite his criticism of WWE’s creative team, Riddle also highlighted his achievements in the company, including his two reigns as RAW Tag Team Champions alongside Randy Orton, when they formed RK-Bro.