Matt Riddle Claims This WWE Veteran Vetoed His Planned Royal Rumble Win

Former WWE star Matt Riddle has revealed that he was to win the 2022 men's Royal Rumble match, but Brock Lesnar forced WWE to change their plans and eventually crown him as the winner.

Riddle was a recent guest on "Signed By Superstars," where he admitted that there was some truth to the rumor that WWE had plans to have him win the Rumble and eventually face Randy Orton at WrestleMania. He stated that Lesnar changed the direction of that storyline and eventually put himself in the Rumble match after being defeated by Bobby Lashley earlier that night.

"So I believe — you know it's sports entertainment — but I was told that I was going to win the Rumble and everything else, and then Bobby Lashley beat Brock Lesnar because somebody came in and hit him with the belt or what have you," said Riddle. "Then Brock came in, didn't want to do business with everybody, said he was winning, and then he won. Like, none of the producers, nobody stood up to him and they let him do it. I didn't either."

In the 2022 men's Royal Rumble match, Lesnar entered the match as the 30th and last entrant and eliminated five stars, one of whom was Riddle. "The Beast Incarnate" eventually went on to face Roman Reigns on night 2 of WrestleMania 38, where he lost the WWE Championship to Reigns, and lost the title to "The Tribal Chief."

Lesnar was reportedly not a fan of Riddle, after the latter expressed his interest in "retiring" Lesnar, which didn't go down well with the former WWE Champion. The even had an altercation backstage at the 2020 Royal Rumble, with Lesnar telling Riddle that they'll never work together. This prophecy turned out to be true as the two never got in the ring in a singles match, with their only interaction apart from the 2022 Royal Rumble match coming at the Elimination Chamber, which also took place in 2022.