Matt Riddle: If Bray Wyatt Wasn’t So Charismatic, He Wouldn’t Have Survived The Goldberg Squash

Goldberg made short work of ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt at WWE Super ShowDown, winning the WWE Universal Title and halting any momentum Wyatt had following the debut of ‘The Fiend’ in 2019.

Many questioned the booking decision of having Wyatt lose in such a manner after building him up as a man who feels no pain. Wyatt has since rebounded to an extent thanks to his feud with John Cena and the Firefly Fun House match at WrestleMania 36. But Matt Riddle believes Wyatt would not have survived the wrath of Goldberg if he wasn’t so good.

“You know, it’s unfortunate. It’s not that he wasn’t a money-making machine in his time, and this and that, and that he’s not entertaining. I get it. But, at the end of the day, this is a really hard thing to do. It’s hard on your body and there’s a reason why, you know, people come and go. Then to not only bring him back but then to almost destroy… if Bray Wyatt wasn’t as good as he is and so charismatic as he is and everything else, he wouldn’t be able to survive. Most characters would die after that and probably be released shortly after. He was billed undefeated then just to have him Speared a couple times, barely Jackhammered, one, two, three,” Riddle told Gary Cassidy of Sportskeeda.

Riddle continued, further criticizing Goldberg’s style in 2020.

“The other thing, too, is you’re putting other athletes that are in their prime or trying of having their run, you’re putting them in jeopardy because somebody wants to come back. You know? And the landscape of professional wrestling has changed since the ’90s. Not that it’s better or worse, but it’s a little bit more sport, it’s a little more competitive, it’s a little harder hitting. Not that there wasn’t hard-hitting stuff or there wasn’t that style then, there was but I feel like now, overall, it’s different. Getting in a World Title match and you can’t deliver a good forearm, or this or that, people are going to call you out.”

Goldberg’s reign didn’t last long as Braun Strowman defeated him at WrestleMania 36 in a short match that featured just a few moves.

“I don’t think it was a poor move bringing him back for a match, but to bring him back to win the title, to destroy the character like The Fiend being so unstoppable and then just have Braun Strowman beat him… You know, it doesn’t really do much for Braun Strowman beating him. It’s not like it was a passing of the torch or a great match. It was a couple of Spears and a Powerslam,” said Riddle. “As a fan, like yourself and myself, we all agree and every fan that watched that, even if they wanted Braun to win or whatever, was disappointed. Even if you wanted Goldberg to win, you probably didn’t want him to win like that. It’s one of those things. You know me, I think it was a bad call but I don’t make those calls, I can only give my input, my insight and my opinion, and that’s all I have.”

The beef between Riddle and Goldberg goes back years with Riddle often calling out Goldberg for working in an unsafe manner. The two got into a confrontation at SummerSlam 2019 with Goldberg telling Riddle that they aren’t bros.