Exclusive: Sean Waltman Heading Back To WWE Performance Center, Talks Matt Riddle

Some may not know it, but X-Pac himself gave former UFC fighter Matt Riddle a bit of a break.

Years ago, when Riddle made the move from MMA to the Monster Factory to learn pro wrestling, now-WWE Hall of Famer Sean Waltman noticed the “bro.” He would go on to put in a word with WWE that helped Riddle secure a tryout, where he would impress officials and indirectly lead to a deal working for EVOLVE. However, Waltman refuses to take credit for the find.

“I’m sure it helped that I put my stamp on Matt Riddle, but if it wasn’t me, someone would have seen him. The Monster Factory where he came up — if you make it through the Monster Factory, you know that person really worked their ass off. You know they have a good work ethic. I saw Matt get in the ring and do stuff, and the type of stuff he was coming up with and ideas he’s coming up with. He was coming up with new things and new ways to do things. His execution is amazing. You just knew,” said Waltman in an exclusive interview with Fightful.

The former 1-2-3 Kid is ingrained in the WWE family, and tells Fightful he already scouts for the company on the house, but is actually heading back to the Performance Center to put in some work.

“Several of us already informally do that. Kind of like I did with Matt, or anyone you see and say ‘you gotta do something with this guy.’ I’m more of a teacher. I’m going down to the Performance Center and doing some stuff with them for two weeks,” Waltman told us. 

You can see our full talk with Sean Waltman above. Make sure that you check out his full X-Pac 12360 Podcast as well.