From 2008-2014, current AAA World Cruiserweight Champion Matt Riddle found success throughout his MMA career by posting an 8-3-2 record, an appearance on The Ultimate Fighter, and a four-fight winning streak in the UFC. Now after ten years removed from the sport, Riddle is considering stepping back inside the octagon. Speaking with “Barstool Rasslin,” Riddle revealed that he’s been training outside of his commitments for professional wrestling and believes he could find success in MMA again if he keeps himself in good physical shape.
“I’m still wrestling, but I’ve also been considering fighting again, I still got it in the tank,” Riddle explained. “I train a couple times a week and I think I’m just waiting for the right time and opportunity because I’m still wrestling so much. I’m in such demand with that, it’s kind of hard to like separate that. So I’m kind of just waiting for the wrestling to start to fade a little bit…I train to be in good shape, to do my job professional wrestling, where I feel like with fighting there’s a lot more to it, like say certain parts of your body I’m going to have to recondition again so I don’t like feel like I’m being crushed.”
Riddle also mentioned taking UFC fights on less than two weeks notice in the past due to his ability to maintain his physical health. He believes that if he’s able reach the same level of conditioning from his previous stint in MMA, he could find success in his second run with the sport.
Wrestlers Who Will Never Work For The WWE Again
Many wrestlers have fallen in and out of the good graces of the WWE over the years, particularly during the 40 years Vincent K. McMahon ran the company. McMahon, who is a big personality in his own right, was not beneath having public issues with some talent for reasons both justified and unjustified. However, McMahon was never one to let a personal issue get in the way of making a sound business decision. Such thinking paved the way for polarizing wrestlers such as Hulk Hogan to return to the company on multiple occasions, and laid the foundation for many wrestlers once exiled, such as Bret Hart, to return to WWE programming.
Not every previously exiled wrestler is able to work their way back into the company’s good graces, however. Many men and women who have walked through the doors of the largest wrestling company in the world walked out of the doors as persona non grata and were never able to repair the burned bridge due to one of several reasons. Post-WWE legal trouble has often stood in the way of many once popular stars making their way back to the publicly-traded company, but others conducted themselves in such an unprofessional manner on their way out, that it effectively dashed any hopes of a return to “New York.”
Here are 12 former WWE superstars who will probably never work for the company again.
Shane Douglas
Shane Douglas went on to earn the “Franchise” moniker in ECW and became one of the greatest heels in the history of the Philadelphia-based wrestling promotion. However, Douglas also accrued experience working in larger companies such as WCW and WWE. After gaining some buzz for his rejection of the NWA World Championship at an August 27, 1994 tournament for the coveted title, Douglas heated up in ECW and earned himself a second stint in the WWF as a result. Douglas made his WWF return as Dean Douglas, a “dean” character with roots in academia.
