Matt Riddle has once again found himself in the spotlight after he accused a Port Authority police officer of sexually assaulting him at JFK Airport in New York this past weekend. In the now-deleted Instagram post, Riddle claims that he was made to “feel small and useless” and even attached a photo of the officer in question. TMZ Sports later reported that the Port Authority was “shocked” by the claim and felt nothing happened to warrant the accusation. Nonetheless, they have since launched an internal investigation.
The former United States Champion has now been pulled from upcoming appearances at live events and even missed last night’s episode of WWE RAW despite being featured regularly over the last few weeks. Whilst immediate speculation would point to Riddle’s incident being the cause, it has now come to light that his absence from the show seems to be unrelated entirely.
Dave Meltzer reported during the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio that Riddle was, in fact, suffering from an illness. Specifically, he was dealing with a double ear infection and bronchitis which kept him off the show. Meltzer noted that his absence was in no way a punishment for the incident though he speculated that it’s possible he may be punished separately depending on the outcome.
Riddle was flying back from India when the incident occurred at JFK Airport. The Original Bro was presumably one of many talents who traveled to the country for WWE Superstar Spectacle in Hyderabad this past Friday, though he did not compete at the event. Riddle last wrestled on the September 4th edition of RAW where he, alongside Drew McIntyre, lost to The Viking Raiders in a tornado tag team match.
This is not the first time Riddle has embroiled himself in controversy in recent times. Riddle was written off TV last December due to an on-screen assault from Solo Sikoa that would supposedly keep him out of action for six weeks. In reality, Riddle had allegedly failed his second drug test of the year, per Bodyslam, and was sent to rehab. He did not appear on WWE programming again until nearly four months later, returning on the RAW after WrestleMania 39 in April.