Can Matt Riddle Break The WWE Main Roster Curse?

Finn Balor Money In The Bank Briefcase
WWE.com

Unfortunately, Matt Riddle is also main roster-bound. WWE tends not to handle such promotions well - to such an extent that the very word “promotion” has become grimly ironic. Riddle gets over everywhere - but can he stay over in the one promotion in which it doesn’t matter if a performer gets over?

Bobby Roode is not Glorious; he is Deluded. Shinsuke Nakamura promised a new chapter of WWE in-ring storytelling at TakeOver: Dallas; he is now an old throwback to the foreign menace trope, albeit one that is subverted and actually entertaining. It took two brilliant teams to take the Authors Of Pain somewhere approaching their invincible storyline limit at TakeOver: Orlando. On RAW, they are barely a match for Titus O’Neill.

There’s being jaded, and there’s that: a complete betrayal of how acts got over in NXT so incredibly moronic that it doesn’t just ruin RAW and SmackDown as programmes worth investing in. The buzz surrounding NXT TV itself has been lost. Evidently, the TakeOver specials are amazing. We’re reaching a wonderful point at which Saturday nights are at least equal to WWE’s best ever Sundays throughout its rich, three decade-plus pay-per-view in history - but the TV show isn’t appointment viewing, like it was in 2015, because there was hope for the future in 2015. There isn’t anymore.

Finn Bálor has nothing to smile about, having been booked to avoid Brock Lesnar and perform in meaningless midcard fare, but smiles anyway in a borderline agonised manner. He is told to wear a big smile out there, he does, and nobody believes he is genuinely happy, representing in micro WWE’s critical macro issue with the complete artificiality of the product.

Matt Riddle is different, though.

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and surefire Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!