Report on (Matt) Riddle’s New WWE Contract, Possible Plans for Feud with Bobby Lashley

It looks like WWE Raw superstar Riddle will be sticking around WWE for at least three more years.

Riddle’s current WWE contract was set to expire in August, but he has reportedly agreed to terms on a new deal, according to Wrestling Observer Newsletter by Dave Meltzer. The deal is reported to be for $400,000 per year guaranteed on a three-year deal. There will also be a $50,000 salary for every WWE show that he competes on in Saudi Arabia. Riddle is 34 years old.

It was noted by Meltzer that while WWE’s Chairman Vince McMahon likely doesn’t understand the bro gimmick, but he loves the vignettes that Riddle has because Vince thinks they are hilarious.

Riddle is currently feuding with United States Champion Bobby Lashley and MVP on Raw with Meltzer noting that the current expectation is that Riddle will challenge Lashley for the US Title at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view in January. However, Meltzer commented that “everything changes every day” in WWE these days, so it’s possible that WWE does it before the Royal Rumble next month.

This past Monday on Raw, Riddle picked up a quick victory over MVP to build him up for that future US Title shot against Bobby Lashley.

Riddle has also been in the news for the wrong reasons this year after Candy Cartwright/Samantha Tavel accused him of sexual assault, which Riddle, who is married with three kids, has denied sexual assault although he did admit to infidelity. The latest update from earlier this month is that Riddle’s lawyers have tried to dismiss the lawsuit, but that hasn’t happened yet. It’s still ongoing for now.

TJR Thoughts: I like Riddle a lot and hope he does get a sustained push, but WWE has done a lot of start/stop pushes with him so far, so it’s tough to know if the company is really going to get behind him.

It will be interesting to see if Riddle ever gets matched up with guys like Brock Lesnar and Goldberg, who he apparently has heat with. We’ll see if it happens.