Almost a year after returning to Major League Wrestling, Matt Riddle defeated Satoshi Kojima at Kings of Colosseum to win the MLW World Heavyweight Championship for the first time.
Riddle recalled the “fantastic night” in an interview with Pakinomist Digital.
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Matt Riddle celebrates his MLW World Heavyweight Championship victory. (MLW)
“It feels pretty good,” he said of winning the title. “It’s been a long time coming, I felt. But you know, anything worthwhile isn’t easy, and it feels really, really good.”
Riddle almost got his hands on the MLW World Heavyweight Championship in 2018 when he fought the professional wrestler now known as Swerve Strickland. He came up short in the nearly 22-minute game.
After a stint in the independent circuit, WWE and New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Riddle found himself back in MLW last year, starting with a match against Jacob Fatu. He’s been at it ever since.
“To be able to do everything I’ve done and then come back full circle and then win the heavyweight championship against Kojima, who is also an absolute legend, it couldn’t have been better,” he said. “It was a sensational weekend. The crowd was white hot in Texas and it was a great night.”
Matt Riddle wins the MLW title. (MLW)
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Riddle said his experience in Major League Wrestling has been even better than before. Riddle is far from the only notable name on the list. Mistico, KENTA, Donovan Dijak, Tom Lawlor and Bobby Fish are just some of the notable names in the organization.
“It has only gotten bigger and better [a year ago]but even then I was working with the best people in the business and I was working with the best competition in the business,” Riddle told Pakinomist Digital. “I lost in the finals to Swerve and we’ve all seen what he’s done since then, just as everyone has seen what I’ve been doing since then.
“MLW is not like a locker room full of pushovers. They got, quote, a laundry list of brands plus all the CMLL talent, New Japan talent. And get the ability to have high level matches.”
Riddle may have started the year on top, but it only gets tougher from here.
Matt Riddle displays the MLW World Heavyweight Championship. (MLW)
He will be back in action defending the championship against two opponents: Kojima and Alex Kane. The three will meet in a triple-threat match at MLW SuperFight 6 on February 8 at Atlanta’s Center Stage.
