WWE Fired Ex-Champion Before Giving Him $1 Million Contract

A former WWE superstar has claimed that he was fired before the company started paying him $1 million annually.

In September 2023, Matt Riddle was among the WWE releases, coinciding with the company’s official sale to Endeavor, which led to the formation of a merged company with UFC, now known as the TKO Group.

The controversial Matt Riddle was a United States Champion and a two-time Raw Tag Team Champion with Randy Orton. That team, known as RK-Bro, was among the most popular acts in the company. There was no storyline ending to the group since Orton missed a year and a half of in-ring action due to a serious back injury.

Since departing WWE two years ago, Riddle has been outspoken about his five-year run in the company and taken shots at numerous people.

During an interview with TMZ Sports’ Inside The Ring, Riddle spoke about how money may have been an issue with his release, in addition to behavioural issues.

“TKO bought it. They bought the UFC and WWE pretty close together, spent a lot of money. They’ve been firing people left and right. Even when I got fired — and I mean, they had their reasons — but when I got fired, they fired what, Dolph Ziggler, Mustafa Ali, countless others.”

“And you could say they all had their issues one way or another — just being there too long, or not having the same creative vision, or etc. Wrestling is just like any form of entertainment — there’s a million excuses. But I think it was mostly money.”

Matt Riddle Claims WWE Let Him Go Before Giving Him A Raise

As he continued, Matt Riddle spoke about how, starting in December 2023, he was going to be making up to $1 million annually, but he was let go before that could happen. Since he was released in September 2023, he was paid for the next 90 days as part of a non-compete clause.

“Certain people were there this long, you got a certain check. I know my last year I was supposed to make a million dollars a year. They fired me, and it ended December 27th before I started making that first week of a million a year.”

Also read: A WWE personality blasted Matt Riddle over recent comments made by the former superstar.