Matt Riddle says he failed WWE drug tests due to cocaine usage and was relieved to be fired
During an interview with The MMA Hour, former WWE star Matt Riddle discussed his drug test failures in WWE. Riddle revealed that he failed multiple times due to cocaine usage and for the first offense, Riddle stated that he used the drug a couple times at a strip club.
Riddle talked about going to rehab and then thinking he was going to be fired when he got out…
“Honestly, for me, and probably just from my experience with the UFC, I thought I was going to get fired a long time ago just because, I don’t know. I got fired from the UFC. I was on a four fight win streak and then I got fired. So after that, I’ll be honest, I just think I’m going to get fired any day because you just never know. Some guys don’t, some guys do. So that’s how I always played it. And then after I went to rehab and stuff like that, and I got out, I didn’t even think they’re going to bring me back. It was Wrestlemania season. I wasn’t on Mania. And a lot of times they do the budget cuts right after there, so I was like, ‘think it’s already chopping block time?’ And that didn’t happen.
Then TKO merger and then plus my shenanigans, just acting a fool half the time didn’t help things. But at the same time, like I said, I think it was best for everybody. Honestly, the day I got fired, I remember, and I don’t mean this in a bad way, it’s not like mean, it’s not a dig to WWE, but it was probably one of the biggest reliefs I’ve had in a long time because for the last seven years, I was under contract with them, working very hard, and before that was working really hard to get there. I didn’t take one vacation like they give you vacation, but I always made sure I didn’t miss work and I didn’t take a vacation in like seven years. Wow. I think my vacation was my time in rehab. If you added up all my weeks over the seven years, probably the amount of time I spent there was my vacation time that I earned over the course of.”
Matt Riddle talks failing drug tests and going to rehab.#TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/79xq8FALD2
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) February 28, 2024