Matt Riddle is making serious allegations against an airport police officer who allegedly sexually harassed him. He is absent from the current edition of RAW.
Five months after making his WWE comeback following league-mandated drug treatment, Matt Riddle is back in the headlines.
The former UFC fighter was absent from Monday’s Monday Night RAW TV show after being at the centre of a mysterious incident at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport over the weekend.
WWE star Matt Riddle makes serious allegations against airport police officer
The 37-year-old had run afoul of law enforcers while travelling back from a WWE event in India, in a now-deleted social media post he claimed to have been sexually harassed by a male airport police officer – he also posted a photo of the person. The situation had been “really weird and uncomfortable” and they had tried to “make me feel small and useless”.
According to the tabloid TMZ, the responsible airport authority has launched an investigation, but it also reports, citing police circles, that there is great astonishment about Riddle’s accusations.
Riddle had acted “disorderly” when leaving the plane, the police had been called and had talked to Riddle, who had acted “apologetically”. After talking to him and other eyewitnesses, the situation appeared to be resolved, no charges had been filed and no report had been made.
According to media reports, WWE is now also investigating the incident.According to Pro Wrestling Insider, Riddle is likely to take a break for a while, and he is also not expected to appear at this weekend’s live events.
Multiple in the negative headlines
Riddle, who has been under WWE contract since 2018 and seemed to be on the verge of a major breakthrough in the interim, has been in the negative headlines multiple times in recent years.
Shortly after Riddle’s main roster debut in the fall of 2020, there was already turmoil when wrestler Candy Cartwright, who used to be involved with him, sued him for an alleged “multitude of sexual assaults” – and originally also demanded 10 million dollars in damages from WWE. The case ended with an out-of-court settlement.
Then last year, according to consistent media reports, Riddle twice failed internal drug tests at WWE and was suspended – this could not have involved alcohol or marijuana use, for which the promotion does not issue suspensions, according to official company policy. Riddle took a break between December and April, reportedly undergoing therapy during that time.
Immediately after the year’s highlight WrestleMania 39, Riddle returned, but it seems like a comeback on probation: Riddle played a much less big role in shows this year than before, all matches he competed in this year at big events WWE let him lose.
