Backstage Update On Why Riddle Dropped The US Title At WrestleMania 37

WrestleMania 37 saw Sheamus defeat Riddle to become the new WWE United States Champion in a hard-hitting affair. For those looking for a reason why the King of the Bros dropped this title less than two months into his inaugural reign with the US Championship, the Wrestling Observer has an answer to that question.

Simply put, Riddle lost the United States Title largely because he was never supposed to win the belt in the first place.

If you remember, February’s Elimination Chamber PPV saw Riddle pin John Morrison to take Bobby Lashley’s US Championship in a triple threat contest. Up until the week prior to the PPV, Keith Lee was meant to be in that match in place of Morrison – and Limitless was to walk out with the gold.

Of course, Lee has been absent from WWE programming since just before the Elimination Chamber, and Riddle found himself in the right place at the right time to become the United States Champ. Lashley was always going to be dropping that title, and JoMo was never an option to win it due to his and The Miz’s burgeoning rivalry with Bad Bunny and Damian Priest.

Rather than being the one to take the fall and move the United States Title from Bobby Lashley to Keith Lee, Riddle ended up being the one to emerge as the victor at the Elimination Chamber.

Why did the former UFC fighter lose his prize to Sheamus at WrestleMania 37, then? The Observer reports that WWE saw this as the perfect opportunity to fix a problem that first raised its head in February.