Save It For Next Time. Backstage News On Why Ricochet vs. Matt Riddle Was Such A Short Match On This Week’s NXT

There was a reason for that. The NXT invasion of the main roster has turned up the intensity in WWE as we head towards Chicago and Survivor Series. NXT has come into both Monday Night Raw and SmackDown and declared war with the pay per view being the big final battle between the three brands. The build has included a variety of big time matches and moments, including several which took place on this week’s NXT. One was notably short, but there was a logic behind the move.

This week on NXT, WWE COO Triple H left the doors open for anyone from Monday Night Raw or SmackDown to come in and try their luck in NXT’s house. Several wrestlers from both brands took him up on the offer, including Ricochet, who faced Matt Riddle in an impromptu match after Ricochet jumped Riddle’s original opponent, Kona Reeves. Ricochet went on to lose a short match, which had some fans wondering why it did not receive very much time.

It was fun while it lasted. Check out the match we got:

According to Wrestling Observer Radio, the match was kept short to prevent the match from suffering from its finish involving Ricochet being distracted by SmackDown’s Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura. Rather than having Ricochet lose in a long match to such a finish, Riddle pinned him in less than four minutes. The idea is that fans will not see Ricochet losing a significant match, which helps protect him in defeat while still giving Riddle the pin.

Opinion: That does make sense and while I would have liked to see more, a lot of fans would have been annoyed by a ten to fifteen minute match between these two ending with a finish that is not well received when it takes place on the two main shows. Ricochet vs. Riddle is an interesting match on its own and there is a chance we could see it again later on the bigger stage. It may not have been the most popular finish, but it could have been worse.

What did you think of the match? Will we see it again on the main roster? Let us know in the comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his- Amazon author page with 30 wrestling books. His latest book is KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews.

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