Matt Riddle on “Cabbage Night” and His “Liberating” Rude Dude Persona
We're backstage at ACW Mischief Night in Poughkeepsie with one of the men in the star-studded main event, Matt Riddle. The "Rude Dude" was feeling confident heading into his fatal four-way match for the ACW World Championship against Richard Holiday, Matt Cardona, and Nic Nemeth. "It is a star studded main event," Riddle said. "I think the rude dude is gonna come home, the champion."
Riddle is no stranger to ACW, and we asked him what keeps him coming back to the promotion.
Why ACW is "The Most Professional" Indie
"I would say one, the fans. The fans are amazing," Riddle explained, noting his upstate New York roots. "It's kind of like a little bit of a stomping grounds."
He went on to give the company a massive endorsement. "I've worked with a lot of different people, a lot of different companies every weekend and I'd say ACW... is probably the most professional and well-ran companies on the scene today. And that's not just in the United States, it's probably worldwide. So, that's one of the main reasons I come back."
Oh, and one other key reason? "Fans and uh the catering is pretty good. It's pretty good. Good Italian."
"Cabbage Night" and the "Liberated" Rude Dude
This isn't the "Original Bro" or the "King of Bros" that WWE fans remember. Riddle is embracing a new, "rude" attitude, and he explained the change.
"I kind of broken out of my good boy shell," he said. "Now I'm kind of a rude dude. Kind of don't give a damn... It's liberating. You know, it's like... taking off my... an itchy robe. I'm like, get it off. It's finally off. Feels good."
Since the event was Mischief Night, we asked the "Rude Dude" if he got into any trouble back in the day. As it turns out, he had a different name for the holiday.
"We... called it cabbage night. I don't know why we called it cabbage night," Riddle laughed. "Usually, uh, throw some eggs, uh, some toilet paper... I like a good scare... but not paint, nothing like that, you know. I don't want to damage property... I'm a rude dude, but I I got common sense, you know. It's goodnatured mischief."
The "Hallucinogenic" Matt Riddle Collection
We couldn't let Riddle go without asking about his incredibly unique outfit. He was quick to plug his own fashion line.
"This is actually part of the Matt Riddle collection. There's a website called IEDM.com... I do like the clothing and I travel a lot and they're very comfortable," he said. As for the style? "I got more, you know, crazy designs, scary designs, uh, hallucinogenic designs, you know, mushrooms, things like that. I try to try to incorporate all myself into the clothing brand."