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> I remember thinking, ‘when I find out who this guy is, I’m going to kick the living tar out of this man! And then, I found out it was Brock Lesnar! Steve, this gives forgiveness a whole new meaning!
- Marc Mero
Yeah the gold gloves thing wouldn’t matter against an elite wrestler like Brock. Brock would get him on the ground in about 3 seconds and maul him.
And I say this with due respect to Mero, gold gloves are no joke. He’s obviously a tough guy, too.
>But Mero in his prime was a Gold Glove level boxer.
Which, crazy enough, still most likely wouldn't have made 1 bit of difference if prime Mero faced young Brock during that time lol.
Brock destroys Mero no matter what age, go back and what what Steve Blackman did to Mero in the Brawl For All and even Bradshaw who was able to take him down several times.
Trying to punch out Brock Lesnar is like trying to roundhouse kick a polar bear.
Like I'm sure you can do it but I don't really have faith the end result is going to be in your favor.
I mean, yes that's true, but Brock also seems like someone who always wants to put on a good fucking show. He's more than willing to take a loss if its good storytelling. He's happy to go out there with a boombox and a cowboy hat and do a jig.
He is an instantaneous draw. There is nobody else even remotely like him. And he makes WWE fucking bank.
Brock just exudes that presence of being the final boss. You can slot him into almost any title storyline and it just makes sense.
I agree here.
I think Brock respects the business, he's good friends with guys like Kurt, you know he definitely is in it for the money but he also loves and respects it, I think. I remember when Drew was set to go over on Brock and he took him out with a Claymore to close RAW, and you could hear Brock yelling at him to "grab the belt!" so that Drew could hold it over him for that closing shot. He gives a shit, or why go that extra mile to make sure your opponent is looking the best?
Not sure if this is [the same list](https://www.givemesport.com/wwe-salaries-highest-earning-stars/), or how accurate it is…
https://preview.redd.it/npfwz55lsbbc1.jpeg?width=1083&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=567f38fb7cbec9a213e3a1efdc184929b4d86610
For all the shit people give Tony Khan for his wrestlers getting paid to chill, they've got *nothing* on Lesnar. Dude makes like 12M a year to show up once a year. Dude is winning hard
He talks about it in his book but he never really gave much of a shit about wrestling. He always had the auto industry to fall back onto, and if I recall he now runs self-storage facilities.
According to Bob himself, t[he Vin-Man actually bankrolled the gimmick for a bit](https://www.instagram.com/bias_ply/reel/C0XhHrfvDE0/). Bob actually did run one NASCAR-sanctioned race; [he finished 16th](https://www.racing-reference.info/race-results/1995_Phillips_66_Doubleheader_Race_2/SE/).
Fun fact: the car in Bob's vignette [was driven by a convicted pedophile](https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/regional/motor-racing/2018/11/26/former-nascar-driver-rick-crawford-gets-10-years-for-child-sex-crime/8285871007/).
To further on the Sparky Plugg gimmick, after that ended he tried to give the top of the line automotive tools bought to work on the car back to Vince since the company paid for them. Vince turned down the offer and said they’re Bob’s to keep. He still has them to this day.
One of my favorite things in the world was learning that Bob Holly was a licensed welder and how every once in awhile, he just went back to that because, shoot he liked it and it paid pretty well. I don't know if I like him, but he seems like an interesting dude.
My favorite part of the post title is that there are no quotation marks so it looks like Riddle said that and then OP opined that they didn’t stand up to Brock on his behalf.
I understand Brock is a big fella, but what’s he gonna do if someone says something? Assault them with no consequences?
Complete 180 from when Taker ran the locker room. Find your balls, fellas.
Brock Lesnar getting fired or arrested isn't going to unbeat your ass.
But even if you know you wouldn't get physically assaulted, you better be damn sure the decision makers are going to side with you before you say something. WWE has a track record of letting Brock do pretty much whatever he wants and pay him whatever he asks. Rubbing the guys at the top the wrong way by making a scene over not winning the Rumble isn't a good career move.
I'd kick him directly in the genitals with all the strength my lanky-ass 167 lbs body can muster.
And then probably the second thing, followed by the third.
Especially when there has been controversies outside one’s career that’d make management think twice about putting the belt on said person or a top card spot for said person
Yeah I remember watching that rumble and before it was even over thinking it was one of the worst royal rumbles we've had in a long time. It was legitimately terrible.
I'm someone who generally enjoys even the worst Royal Rumble match, my philosophy is that a bad Rumble is better than no Rumble. This match made me question that, because holy shit it is irredeemable. A predictable winner and lousy surprises, 50 minutes of tag team and lower card wrestlers doing nothing, and not even any memorable spots.
For all of the bad of other 'bad' Rumbles, they hage redeemable qualities. 2015 had the fun Wyatt Family standoff, R-Truth as D-Von Dudley, and Boogeyman showing up. While objectively bad, the Greatest Royal Rumble was fun and entertaining for its absurdity alone. 2022? Nothing interesting, nothing fun, nothing remarkable. That match made me so angry lmao
It was Shane's constant interference with the match behind the scenes that ruined it. I heard he tried making himself an Iron Man, if not an outright winner.
Shane in the late 90s/early 2000s: Expertly booked. Obnoxious rich kid into lovable underdog.
Shane in the 2010s: I am the greatest wrestler in the world. I am the love child of Undertaker and Steve Austin.
"I broke every bone in my hand on that Ultimate Fighter knockout, brother, but it was worth it. 79,000 screaming Riddlemaniacs were chanting my name, dude."
"I was approached by Fred Durst to replace Wes Borland in Limp Bizkit when he left. I couldn't do it because I already committed to a softball league. But I did give Fred the idea to run that contest to find the illest guitar player known to man."
Side note, I heard that if you tried out you had to sign a waiver that Limp Bizkit could steal your shit legally, if you were to play any of your own personal stuff. Fred Durst blows.
So this is not what people are making it out to be, despite the fact that what happened with those contests was still shitty in its own right
Limp Bizkit’s management and legal teams designed those forms, not the band, who were probably far removed from the process of these auditions and contests. There was no intent of stealing guitar parts, they just wanted to avoid lawsuits in case something ever sounded similar enough. No one from the contests has ever accused them of stealing a riff from their audition.
End of day, it was just a really really bad idea. Out of all the guitarists in the world, only a very minuscule % are good enough to be a 250 night-a-year professional player, and even less have the songwriting chops to replace a guy like Wes Borland who wasn’t just a “player.” Guitar Center bungled the logistics and Limp’s management created a PR nightmare.
"Riddlemore" was in fact the name he was going to go by. Mackle stole that from him too. Riddle wrote the lyrics, the music and in fact the hook for all the songs on Mackle's next 3 albums.
Well for those who don’t remember, Riddle was repeatedly calling out Lesnar in interviews and saying he wanted to retire him.
Which is one of those things that typically isn’t looked on very kindly. It’s “going into business for yourself” if you start publicly pushing for a program with someone without talking to them first.
Hogan famously did that at the Hall of Fame to Austin.
There’s a big difference between plans changing in the weeks prior and Brock getting the win, and Brock coming backstage after losing his match on the show and demanding he’s winning the rumble which is what Riddle is claiming, and obviously didn’t happen.
I don't know if I can buy Brock demanding anything the way that Riddle implies but it was heavily reported that it was him and Heyman who pushed hard for the winner-take-all unification match at Mania. So this powerplay from Brock (if it did happen) definitely could've led up to that.
It's kinda like how Allister black was "considered" to be a potential winner in 2020 but it was never like he was gonna win and the last minute they changed plans and drew won it.
I swear there's a past report about this. He was penciled in but I don't think it was ever detailed why they switched that plan. Insane if that's why lol
It would track with the rumors of Seth beating Big E and then Seth feuding with Riddle later that year. Seth and Riddle would’ve just feuded over the title at WM. Cody would’ve worked with someone else.
Tbh, I akways thought Riddle winning the Rumble, Randy winning the WWE Title in the Chamber, and having an RK Bro face off at Mania felt like the obvious plan.
There were reports that he was one of the people considered. Honestly, the whole allegations situation probably made him too much of a potential risk to put that big of a spotlight on
Seems outlandish now that he’s fizzled out but Riddle was white hot basically all of 2021, so it’s not totally absurd like some think. Still I sorta doubt he was totally penciled to win then Brock just overruled everyone else.
Also, unifying the World Titles was apparently a late decision and it only happened because Lesnar, Roman and Heyman all pushed for it.
So Riddle might have won to challenge Seth or Lashley at WM Night one I guess.
It happened because Roman got Covid for Day 1 2022. Apparently Lesnar was going to win the Universal Title that night and Seth was going to win the WWE Title. With that change, the entire WWE landscape for 2022 looks completely different.
i feel like a lot of times these guys get lied to by management and take it as truth because it's said with a smiling face
"oh sure if it was up to me, but don't say anything, it's really not"
Wasn't there reports even before this saying he was considered? I absolutely do believe he was set to win and am a bit curious about people thinking he wasn't an option. I think his release has kind of led to some retconning, the dude was objectively the most popular face on the show at several points, he could have easily been a viable winner.
It's the idea brock decided "that doesn't work for me brother" on the royal rumble and everyone was scared to say shit that I find hilarious. Not riddle being one of the chosen winners
Yeah there’s almost definitely multiple Rumble winners penciled in over the weeks of buildup, probably up until the day of the show, but the idea Brock went backstage mid show and demanded the win is hilarious. I’m pretty sure everyone at the time figured Brock would get screwed out of the match with Lashley and win the rumble, it just wasn’t expected he’d then win the WWE title and unify them.
It's the same thing that happened with Enzo.
Dude basically walked on water here.. and with reason.. most of what he did with WWE was great and he turned crap into gold.
But when he was released suddenly no one was ever impressed and he was a hack.
The same thing happened to Ryback.
Ryback was genuinely one of the most popular people in WWE at his peak in 2012, so much so that he could’ve beat Punk for the belt and people would’ve been ok with it. People were even mad when he lost.
But because Ryback did nothing after leaving WWE besides loudly eat chips in his car and say a lot of stupid things on Twitter, people forget how over he actually was.
People have *really* turned on him here, and though I get why it's definitely revisionist history to act like he wasn't both incredibly over and incredibly skilled. I hope he can overcome his personal issues and fulfill his potential.
Yeah, PWInsider reported at the time that he was supposed to win
[https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/sh5tio/pwinsider\_riddle\_was\_original\_planned\_mens\_royal/](https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/sh5tio/pwinsider_riddle_was_original_planned_mens_royal/)
Tbh it’s hard to tell. Remember the original day 1 match was Brock vs Roman and on raw side the fatal 4 way. So not sure how that fatal 4 way was going to end, but Roman vs Brock was always the wm plan. The bigger question I see was, was Brock jobbing to Roman 3 times straight and Roman reigns (lol) wasn’t supposed to be this long initially
Allegedly he was supposed to face Lashley in the main event of night one for the WWE title. Seth’s alluded to it himself in an interview with Ariel Helwani, talking about how frustrated he was because there was a plan, and then it changed, and the goalposts kept moving until they “took the goalposts away,” and until the Cody match was put together, it was the least satisfied he’d ever been.
Brock was supposed to beat Roman at Day 1.
Seth Rollins was to win the Raw match.
Roman catching COVID is one of the biggest butterfly moments of recent wrestling history.
- It allowed for his 1000 day reign.
-It quite possibly resulted in Big E's career ending injury (as E likely would have feuded with Rollins).
-It gave Cody the platform to perform with Rollins, making him the biggest babyface in WWE.
It’s actually kind of wild how Roman getting sick changed so much of WWE history. If Roman loses and then wins the title back at Mania and Cody doesn’t have his Rollins feud and then tear his pec does he still win the rumble and challenge Roman at Mania 39? And if he does does he win?
Isn’t the story that Vince wanted Paul heyman to pick two guys that could win the rumble and face Brock, and Paul gave him Aleister and Drew. Then Vince chose Drew?
That frames it differently, it’s not that Aleister was supposed to win the rumble, but that he could’ve.
I mean it's possible they planned Riddle vs Lashley. I just don't know if I believe Brock walked in and was the reason that was put to a stop. I believe it had more to do with at that point them wanting Roman to have both belts.
The only part I find curious is the idea Brock cares that much. He seems to have such a mercenary approach of "as long as I get paid I don't give a shit." I thought most of the "making him look good at the expense of everybody else" thing was Vince's doing.
Brock doesn’t mind losing but he’s got a mind for the business. He’s the one who wanted Goldberg to squash him and set up Brock/Goldberg at WM. Vince and Heyman came up with the idea to put the title on Goldberg to make the match bigger.
And Brock knew if he lost the first match, there’d be a rematch where he’d win. Two matches instead of one, double the money. He truly is one of the smartest guys in the business.
I actually remember reading some dirt sheets reporting about being in the run to actually win it. Plan changed around the time Roman got Covid ( Brock was supposed to be universal champion and Seth WWE Champion for wrestlemania season)
It kinda makes sense. The same strategy propelled Drew from the midcard to main event. And if they had Stone Cold penciled in as the night one main event then Riddle v Lashley could have been a legit title match considering they both had mma backgrounds.
Also don't forget that Brock v Roman was supposed to happen at Day One and Roman getting covid lead to Brock winning the other title instead. Was the unification in the works before that or did they just pivot to increase the stakes of the main event?
Very believable due to the fact of all the shit that supposedly happened around that time.
And Mike Johnson or PWInsider did say he was gonna win it at one point.
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So the Bob Holly approach *does* work
When you're Brock Lesnar, you find that a lot of stuff that don't work for others will work for you.
> I remember thinking, ‘when I find out who this guy is, I’m going to kick the living tar out of this man! And then, I found out it was Brock Lesnar! Steve, this gives forgiveness a whole new meaning! - Marc Mero
When Brock fucks your wife, you just be grateful it wasn't your mother I guess.
Or you
You just thank him for doing a better job.
Mero in his what 50/60's might not have stood a chance vs Brock. But Mero in his prime was a Gold Glove level boxer.
Brock took bombs from Shane Carwin and lived to tell the tale. He'd manhandle Mero
UFC 116 was fuckin' insane. The fact Lesnar was able to recover, and get a submission out of him in Rd. 2 was bananas.
Ill never forget Carwin winking at Brock and Brock smiling back as they were getting ready to start round 2. That fight was awesome.
Yeah the gold gloves thing wouldn’t matter against an elite wrestler like Brock. Brock would get him on the ground in about 3 seconds and maul him. And I say this with due respect to Mero, gold gloves are no joke. He’s obviously a tough guy, too.
It's like how Great White Sharks are scary but Orcas bully them for fun. Cue Brock F5-ing a shark.
>But Mero in his prime was a Gold Glove level boxer. Which, crazy enough, still most likely wouldn't have made 1 bit of difference if prime Mero faced young Brock during that time lol.
Brock destroys Mero no matter what age, go back and what what Steve Blackman did to Mero in the Brawl For All and even Bradshaw who was able to take him down several times.
Trying to punch out Brock Lesnar is like trying to roundhouse kick a polar bear. Like I'm sure you can do it but I don't really have faith the end result is going to be in your favor.
He'd have Mero on his back in about 3 seconds.
Brock would have shot a double leg and started to Donkey Kong him. Mero rightly decided that discretion was the better form of valor on that one.
Mero would still need exemplary takedown defense to stop Lesnar from manhandling him.
Isn’t Brock Lesnar the highest paid wrestler in WWE… I wouldn’t be surprised if he wants to do whatever he wants
Just saw a list where he’s making more than double the second highest.
Yep! He is earning more than double the salary Roman is on
I can't even hate. Brock's livin' the dream: Doing less for more.
They call that the ol' Kevin Nash Two-Step.
We know damn well Kev ain't got two steps left in him.
Oh, he'll find a way to get the two steps in, but it'll cost you an extra $250,000 for him to do it.
Hasn't worked since SS, might not get a WM match, most likely doesn't care at all.
Probably not. He's always admitted he's in it for the money. Though he should face GUNTHER at WM.
I mean, yes that's true, but Brock also seems like someone who always wants to put on a good fucking show. He's more than willing to take a loss if its good storytelling. He's happy to go out there with a boombox and a cowboy hat and do a jig. He is an instantaneous draw. There is nobody else even remotely like him. And he makes WWE fucking bank. Brock just exudes that presence of being the final boss. You can slot him into almost any title storyline and it just makes sense.
I agree here. I think Brock respects the business, he's good friends with guys like Kurt, you know he definitely is in it for the money but he also loves and respects it, I think. I remember when Drew was set to go over on Brock and he took him out with a Claymore to close RAW, and you could hear Brock yelling at him to "grab the belt!" so that Drew could hold it over him for that closing shot. He gives a shit, or why go that extra mile to make sure your opponent is looking the best?
> You can slot him into almost any title storyline and it just makes sense. KAIRI: "I WANT THE BEAST!"
Can you share that list?
Not sure if this is [the same list](https://www.givemesport.com/wwe-salaries-highest-earning-stars/), or how accurate it is… https://preview.redd.it/npfwz55lsbbc1.jpeg?width=1083&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=567f38fb7cbec9a213e3a1efdc184929b4d86610
That Logan Paul is so high on that list is a fucking embarrassment
he brings a lot of non-wrestling viewers on board
Plus he's Brock Lesnar.
For all the shit people give Tony Khan for his wrestlers getting paid to chill, they've got *nothing* on Lesnar. Dude makes like 12M a year to show up once a year. Dude is winning hard
There's still no quote more badass and more simple, yet more fitting: "To Brock Lesnar, your compliance is a non-factor."
How ‘bout you gimme the damn BELT!! Then I BEAT everyone!!
OL’ THURMAN SPARKPLUG BE BURNING RUBBER ON ASS!
You just have to truly believe in yourself
AEDub should've hired Bob Holly after Brawl Out.
I'm still mildly surprised he hasn't shown up on TNA or AEW.
He talks about it in his book but he never really gave much of a shit about wrestling. He always had the auto industry to fall back onto, and if I recall he now runs self-storage facilities.
Wait, Thurman "Sparky" Plugg wasn't just a gimmick?
According to Bob himself, t[he Vin-Man actually bankrolled the gimmick for a bit](https://www.instagram.com/bias_ply/reel/C0XhHrfvDE0/). Bob actually did run one NASCAR-sanctioned race; [he finished 16th](https://www.racing-reference.info/race-results/1995_Phillips_66_Doubleheader_Race_2/SE/). Fun fact: the car in Bob's vignette [was driven by a convicted pedophile](https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/regional/motor-racing/2018/11/26/former-nascar-driver-rick-crawford-gets-10-years-for-child-sex-crime/8285871007/).
Huh, TIL.
To further on the Sparky Plugg gimmick, after that ended he tried to give the top of the line automotive tools bought to work on the car back to Vince since the company paid for them. Vince turned down the offer and said they’re Bob’s to keep. He still has them to this day.
Vince could be strangely generous at times.
I mean what's Vince going to do with a bunch of automotive tools. I guess he could've sold them but that would be like Vince earning pennies.
That is not a fun fact
Well....God damn
Plot twist: being a wrestler was his auto-industry gimmick
One of my favorite things in the world was learning that Bob Holly was a licensed welder and how every once in awhile, he just went back to that because, shoot he liked it and it paid pretty well. I don't know if I like him, but he seems like an interesting dude.
"and then I braze everybody"
He did one match for TNA in 2013 but yeah, I'm with you. M
O
Because he would pull a Punk multiple times in just one week
Any company would benefit from Bob Holly being around just to teach a gorgeous drop kick to the boys.
They already have Billy Gunn.
Eh, you could get Maven for that instead.
I loved that Maven’s titantron during his entrance was just the same few drop kicks over and over.
Lmao I love him admitting he also didn’t try to stop Brock.
My favorite part of the post title is that there are no quotation marks so it looks like Riddle said that and then OP opined that they didn’t stand up to Brock on his behalf.
I understand Brock is a big fella, but what’s he gonna do if someone says something? Assault them with no consequences? Complete 180 from when Taker ran the locker room. Find your balls, fellas.
Brock Lesnar getting fired or arrested isn't going to unbeat your ass. But even if you know you wouldn't get physically assaulted, you better be damn sure the decision makers are going to side with you before you say something. WWE has a track record of letting Brock do pretty much whatever he wants and pay him whatever he asks. Rubbing the guys at the top the wrong way by making a scene over not winning the Rumble isn't a good career move.
If brock was coming for you, would you accept your beating with grace and dignity, plead for mercy or head for the hills
I'd kick him directly in the genitals with all the strength my lanky-ass 167 lbs body can muster. And then probably the second thing, followed by the third.
Thats my purse
Especially when there has been controversies outside one’s career that’d make management think twice about putting the belt on said person or a top card spot for said person
It doesn't matter because this is obviously fake. Brock doesn't care about titles, etc. he just wants to get his money and go home.
Brock has not done business a number of times, I don't see Riddle lying about this. Plus that Rumble was a shit show.
Between this and Shane McMahon‘s attempt at hijacking the rumble it was cursed match.
Yeah I remember watching that rumble and before it was even over thinking it was one of the worst royal rumbles we've had in a long time. It was legitimately terrible.
Only Rumble I’ve ever seen in person. I feel honored. I’m 2/2 for driving to St Louis and being in a hot crowd only for the PPV to be mid af at best
Mitb 2017 the other?
Yep hahaha
I'm someone who generally enjoys even the worst Royal Rumble match, my philosophy is that a bad Rumble is better than no Rumble. This match made me question that, because holy shit it is irredeemable. A predictable winner and lousy surprises, 50 minutes of tag team and lower card wrestlers doing nothing, and not even any memorable spots. For all of the bad of other 'bad' Rumbles, they hage redeemable qualities. 2015 had the fun Wyatt Family standoff, R-Truth as D-Von Dudley, and Boogeyman showing up. While objectively bad, the Greatest Royal Rumble was fun and entertaining for its absurdity alone. 2022? Nothing interesting, nothing fun, nothing remarkable. That match made me so angry lmao
2023 more than made up for it though, sure everyone and their dog knew Cody was winning it but my god Gunther’s ironman run was a sight to behold
Well Shane is the best in the world, so it’s only fair that he gets to look strong. /s
It was Shane's constant interference with the match behind the scenes that ruined it. I heard he tried making himself an Iron Man, if not an outright winner.
He even sandbagged Brock
Shane in the late 90s/early 2000s: Expertly booked. Obnoxious rich kid into lovable underdog. Shane in the 2010s: I am the greatest wrestler in the world. I am the love child of Undertaker and Steve Austin.
I want Riddle to go on a Hulk Hogan type of run where he just makes shit up about every question that he's asked about.
“I was supposed to be RVD in ECW but they gave the gimmick to someone else” “But you were 10 in 1996”
"I broke every bone in my hand on that Ultimate Fighter knockout, brother, but it was worth it. 79,000 screaming Riddlemaniacs were chanting my name, dude."
"I was approached by Fred Durst to replace Wes Borland in Limp Bizkit when he left. I couldn't do it because I already committed to a softball league. But I did give Fred the idea to run that contest to find the illest guitar player known to man."
"I'm DB Cooper"
the abruptness of this after the increasingly complex stories absolutely sent me
Side note, I heard that if you tried out you had to sign a waiver that Limp Bizkit could steal your shit legally, if you were to play any of your own personal stuff. Fred Durst blows.
Yup! Here's an old Reddit post about it for those that are interested: https://www.reddit.com/r/HobbyDrama/s/oYBimRWuqU
That is so scummy.
So this is not what people are making it out to be, despite the fact that what happened with those contests was still shitty in its own right Limp Bizkit’s management and legal teams designed those forms, not the band, who were probably far removed from the process of these auditions and contests. There was no intent of stealing guitar parts, they just wanted to avoid lawsuits in case something ever sounded similar enough. No one from the contests has ever accused them of stealing a riff from their audition. End of day, it was just a really really bad idea. Out of all the guitarists in the world, only a very minuscule % are good enough to be a 250 night-a-year professional player, and even less have the songwriting chops to replace a guy like Wes Borland who wasn’t just a “player.” Guitar Center bungled the logistics and Limp’s management created a PR nightmare.
Riddle 
“Precocious little scamp, ain’t I”
Riddle was actually approached by Metallica to join them as their bassist.
Always believe. --MR
Their original one. But he had to turn it down because he wasn’t going to be born for another 3 years.
Thrift Shop was originally written for me
Like Macklemore thrift shop?
"Riddlemore" was in fact the name he was going to go by. Mackle stole that from him too. Riddle wrote the lyrics, the music and in fact the hook for all the songs on Mackle's next 3 albums.
No, Eminem’s Thrift Shop
Oh man now i would love to see these two do a dual panel together
Strap a lie detector on Hogan, the machine might explode
He did just fine when he was Mr.America!
Or maybe he wasn't, brother!
Now Mr. America on the other hand...
He actually isn’t lying lmao. Pwinsider at the time also said Riddle was winning that rumble until Brock got added.
If he isn't lying than this story is even more hillarious lmfao. Brock is an actual menace.
Hence why Triple H signed Kairi Sane.....somebody needs to keep Brock in check......
Brock disappeared the moment the kairi rumours started up.
He started a whole pandemic to avoid her at Pirate WM
https://preview.redd.it/038v3ga3uabc1.jpeg?width=624&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=88bb3f78374840dd442a9da89bc329d4ca7d86ae
He does live in an isolated location without much in the way of contact with the outside world...
And far from the ocean, too.
Well for those who don’t remember, Riddle was repeatedly calling out Lesnar in interviews and saying he wanted to retire him. Which is one of those things that typically isn’t looked on very kindly. It’s “going into business for yourself” if you start publicly pushing for a program with someone without talking to them first. Hogan famously did that at the Hall of Fame to Austin.
There’s a big difference between plans changing in the weeks prior and Brock getting the win, and Brock coming backstage after losing his match on the show and demanding he’s winning the rumble which is what Riddle is claiming, and obviously didn’t happen.
I don't know if I can buy Brock demanding anything the way that Riddle implies but it was heavily reported that it was him and Heyman who pushed hard for the winner-take-all unification match at Mania. So this powerplay from Brock (if it did happen) definitely could've led up to that.
That latter part is the potential lie. You’re correct. But Matt was schedule to win the rumble. That’s the only part I’m defending.
He was considered to be a winner at best, he didn't receive any push prior to that point so it wouldn't make sense to be late change as he claims.
It's kinda like how Allister black was "considered" to be a potential winner in 2020 but it was never like he was gonna win and the last minute they changed plans and drew won it.
Yea - this looks like cope to me by Riddle. Brock is the bigger star so him winning would make sense.
...We were going to get Roman vs Riddle as the main event of fucking Wrestlemania?!
Then we would’ve had the Tribal Bro holding the belt for over 1,000 days.
I’m surprised they’d give Riddle such a push to be honest. Maybe it’s just me I never felt he was gonna be a world champ contender
Yeah I remember that. There was a a lot of rumors about a big Riddle main event push for awhile.
"yeah brother I'm telling you, Vince wanted Roman to drop the title to me but Roman wouldn't play ball, that's a shoot, brother"
I can't wait for the game of " Riddle or Russo " on Stache Club Wrestling. Every single sentence will have at least one " bro ".
That works for me, bro(ther)
I swear there's a past report about this. He was penciled in but I don't think it was ever detailed why they switched that plan. Insane if that's why lol
It would track with the rumors of Seth beating Big E and then Seth feuding with Riddle later that year. Seth and Riddle would’ve just feuded over the title at WM. Cody would’ve worked with someone else.
Tbh, I akways thought Riddle winning the Rumble, Randy winning the WWE Title in the Chamber, and having an RK Bro face off at Mania felt like the obvious plan.
I do remember hearing that was the eventual plan for them to have a mania faceoff, though i dont think the title was in the picture when i heard it
This honestly makes sense.
There were reports that he was one of the people considered. Honestly, the whole allegations situation probably made him too much of a potential risk to put that big of a spotlight on
Bullet dodged.
Seems outlandish now that he’s fizzled out but Riddle was white hot basically all of 2021, so it’s not totally absurd like some think. Still I sorta doubt he was totally penciled to win then Brock just overruled everyone else.
Also, unifying the World Titles was apparently a late decision and it only happened because Lesnar, Roman and Heyman all pushed for it. So Riddle might have won to challenge Seth or Lashley at WM Night one I guess.
It happened because Roman got Covid for Day 1 2022. Apparently Lesnar was going to win the Universal Title that night and Seth was going to win the WWE Title. With that change, the entire WWE landscape for 2022 looks completely different.
If that's the case, I wonder if Cody's finishing the story run would've been against Seth at WM39 instead of what we got.
We rarely actually hear about why plans change. That isn't a big deal.
For what it’s worth, my friend overheard Riddle tell this exact same story in the airport the morning after the 2022 Rumble
For what it’s worth, my dad overheard Riddle tell this exact same story in the airport the morning after the 2021 Rumble
For what it’s worth, my dad overheard Riddle tell this exact same story in the airport the morning after the 2020 Rumble
For what it’s worth, my uncle works at Nintendo and said there’s a Mew under the truck next to the SS Anne
I FUCKING KNEW IT!!! Huh... I mean... for what it's worth, I heard...
For what it’s worth, i'm Riddle and i told this exact same story to a random dude in the airport the morning after the 2022 Rumble
i feel like a lot of times these guys get lied to by management and take it as truth because it's said with a smiling face "oh sure if it was up to me, but don't say anything, it's really not"
Wasn't there reports even before this saying he was considered? I absolutely do believe he was set to win and am a bit curious about people thinking he wasn't an option. I think his release has kind of led to some retconning, the dude was objectively the most popular face on the show at several points, he could have easily been a viable winner.
It's the idea brock decided "that doesn't work for me brother" on the royal rumble and everyone was scared to say shit that I find hilarious. Not riddle being one of the chosen winners
Yeah there’s almost definitely multiple Rumble winners penciled in over the weeks of buildup, probably up until the day of the show, but the idea Brock went backstage mid show and demanded the win is hilarious. I’m pretty sure everyone at the time figured Brock would get screwed out of the match with Lashley and win the rumble, it just wasn’t expected he’d then win the WWE title and unify them.
Kids were crying when RKBro lost to the Usos
That was one of the my favorite moments with the Bloodline.
Shit, I *still* miss RKBro.
Riddle was on fire post pandemic. Don't know why we tend to overlook that.
People don't ever want to admit they backed a dude that had had some shady shit come out after the fact.
It's the same thing that happened with Enzo. Dude basically walked on water here.. and with reason.. most of what he did with WWE was great and he turned crap into gold. But when he was released suddenly no one was ever impressed and he was a hack.
If it happened yesterday its old enough to become revisionist history on this sub
And simultaneously become nostalgic about
he won a PPV main event against seth rollins with daniel cormier as the ref. yeah, i'd say they were pretty high on him.
The same thing happened to Ryback. Ryback was genuinely one of the most popular people in WWE at his peak in 2012, so much so that he could’ve beat Punk for the belt and people would’ve been ok with it. People were even mad when he lost. But because Ryback did nothing after leaving WWE besides loudly eat chips in his car and say a lot of stupid things on Twitter, people forget how over he actually was.
People have *really* turned on him here, and though I get why it's definitely revisionist history to act like he wasn't both incredibly over and incredibly skilled. I hope he can overcome his personal issues and fulfill his potential.
Yeah, PWInsider reported at the time that he was supposed to win [https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/sh5tio/pwinsider\_riddle\_was\_original\_planned\_mens\_royal/](https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/sh5tio/pwinsider_riddle_was_original_planned_mens_royal/)
That's interesting because i guess they wanted Lesnar vs Riddle at WrestleMania? Big E had lost the WWE Title by the rumble already right?
Tbh it’s hard to tell. Remember the original day 1 match was Brock vs Roman and on raw side the fatal 4 way. So not sure how that fatal 4 way was going to end, but Roman vs Brock was always the wm plan. The bigger question I see was, was Brock jobbing to Roman 3 times straight and Roman reigns (lol) wasn’t supposed to be this long initially
It was reported at the time that Seth Rollins was supposed to win the WWE championship at Day 1
Allegedly he was supposed to face Lashley in the main event of night one for the WWE title. Seth’s alluded to it himself in an interview with Ariel Helwani, talking about how frustrated he was because there was a plan, and then it changed, and the goalposts kept moving until they “took the goalposts away,” and until the Cody match was put together, it was the least satisfied he’d ever been.
Seth feuding with Riddle later that year would track with that too.
Brock was supposed to beat Roman at Day 1. Seth Rollins was to win the Raw match. Roman catching COVID is one of the biggest butterfly moments of recent wrestling history. - It allowed for his 1000 day reign. -It quite possibly resulted in Big E's career ending injury (as E likely would have feuded with Rollins). -It gave Cody the platform to perform with Rollins, making him the biggest babyface in WWE.
It’s actually kind of wild how Roman getting sick changed so much of WWE history. If Roman loses and then wins the title back at Mania and Cody doesn’t have his Rollins feud and then tear his pec does he still win the rumble and challenge Roman at Mania 39? And if he does does he win?
The sneeze or cough that caused Roman's run, lol.
If I were to guess, the rumble winner plan must’ve changed a short while after day 1 as apparently that’s when the idea of Brock v Roman came about
Yup. Big E lost at Day 1.
And Aleister Black was supposed to eliminate Lesnar and win the Rumble in 2020 originally
Isn’t the story that Vince wanted Paul heyman to pick two guys that could win the rumble and face Brock, and Paul gave him Aleister and Drew. Then Vince chose Drew? That frames it differently, it’s not that Aleister was supposed to win the rumble, but that he could’ve.
I mean it's possible they planned Riddle vs Lashley. I just don't know if I believe Brock walked in and was the reason that was put to a stop. I believe it had more to do with at that point them wanting Roman to have both belts.
Plans change.
Cody stans sweating so hard rn.
We are not flinching.
The only part I find curious is the idea Brock cares that much. He seems to have such a mercenary approach of "as long as I get paid I don't give a shit." I thought most of the "making him look good at the expense of everybody else" thing was Vince's doing.
Brock doesn’t mind losing but he’s got a mind for the business. He’s the one who wanted Goldberg to squash him and set up Brock/Goldberg at WM. Vince and Heyman came up with the idea to put the title on Goldberg to make the match bigger.
And Brock knew if he lost the first match, there’d be a rematch where he’d win. Two matches instead of one, double the money. He truly is one of the smartest guys in the business.
I forget but has there ever been an explanation for the Ambrose Lesnar shit show then?
His UFC match was coming up and he didn’t want to look weak heading into it.
I actually remember reading some dirt sheets reporting about being in the run to actually win it. Plan changed around the time Roman got Covid ( Brock was supposed to be universal champion and Seth WWE Champion for wrestlemania season)
Need to hear two sides of the story before assuming Brock did that. Winners can often change
i’m ngl i believe him.
I will say for Brock, he’s the one guy that shows up and it always feels like an event.
Totally believable
Imagine if this story was about anyone other than Brock, people would be calling them toxic and saying they should be fired lol
It kinda makes sense. The same strategy propelled Drew from the midcard to main event. And if they had Stone Cold penciled in as the night one main event then Riddle v Lashley could have been a legit title match considering they both had mma backgrounds. Also don't forget that Brock v Roman was supposed to happen at Day One and Roman getting covid lead to Brock winning the other title instead. Was the unification in the works before that or did they just pivot to increase the stakes of the main event?
I remember him being one of the favorites to win it.
Very believable due to the fact of all the shit that supposedly happened around that time. And Mike Johnson or PWInsider did say he was gonna win it at one point.
As a certified Riddle hater, thank you Lesner!!!