Real Reason WWE Just Changed Matt Riddle's Ring Name

Here's why Riddle lost his forename.

by Andy H Murray
Matt Riddle
WWE

Matt Riddle became the latest member of WWE's single-word name club last night, as the promotion updated his WWE.com roster listing to just "Riddle".

PWInsider reported that the promotion made this decision earlier on Thursday. Fightful Select, meanwhile, stated that Vince McMahon had been impressed by Riddle's match with Sheamus on this week's episode of Raw, adding that we will see a more serious presentation of the former UFC fighter going forward.

Dave Meltzer has now released another report on the reason behind the move. Per his writeup in this week's Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE dropped the "Matt" as they don't the details of Samantha Tavel's ongoing lawsuit against WWE, Riddle, EVOLVE, and Gabe Sapolsky to come up when people Google the current Raw wrestler's name.

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Tavel is currently suing each party for $10 million each. Riddle is alleged to have committed several acts of sexual assault against her between 2017 and 2020, with the suit detailing an April 2017 rape after an EVOLVE show in Brooklyn, New York, amongst other incidents. The allegations first emerged during the #SpeakingOut movement in June, with Riddle issuing a stong denial in response.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.