{"id":66919,"date":"2020-04-16T10:56:43","date_gmt":"2020-04-16T14:56:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/?p=66919"},"modified":"2020-04-16T10:56:43","modified_gmt":"2020-04-16T14:56:43","slug":"timothy-thatcher-matt-riddle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2020\/04\/16\/timothy-thatcher-matt-riddle\/","title":{"rendered":"Matt Riddle &#038; Timothy Thatcher: Born Out of Betrayal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On this past Wednesday&#8217;s episode of NXT on the USA Network, one half of the NXT Tag Team Champions <strong>Pete Dunne<\/strong> &#8211; who is stuck in the United Kingdom due to travel restrictions &#8211; surprised his partner <strong>Matt Riddle<\/strong> with a replacement until he&#8217;s able to return to the US. That opponent debuted on NXT and it turned out to be longtime international indie star <strong>Timothy Thatcher<\/strong>, who helped the team retain their titles by defeating <strong>Undisputed Era<\/strong>&#8216;s <strong>Roderick Strong<\/strong>. While many fans were excited to see Thatcher debut in such a big fashion after joining WWE this past February, long-time fans of both men were also intrigued at this seemingly random pairing &#8211; because for three years on the international indie circuit, from the US to the UK to Germany, these two men did not get along. In fact, their first encounter was kicked off by betrayal.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Riddle &amp; Thatcher vs. Undisputed ERA \u2013 NXT Tag Team Championship Match: WWE NXT, April 15, 2020\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wcVpKaJVb3c?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Matt Riddle and Timothy Thatcher both came from very different career paths in arriving in NXT. Thatcher started out in the West Coast indie scene in California in 2005, fighting his way through <strong>EVOLVE Wrestling<\/strong> and Germany&#8217;s <strong>Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw)<\/strong> in the 2010s, and finally getting to NXT in February of this year. Meanwhile, Matt Riddle was a charismatic MMA fighter who competed for <strong>UFC<\/strong> until his firing over multiple failed drug tests in 2013. He attempted to continue his MMA career in <strong>Bellator<\/strong> and <strong>Titan FC<\/strong>, but by the following year, he had left MMA for pro wrestling. He trained at the <strong>Monster Factory<\/strong> in 2014 and following a WWE Tryout in 2015, he signed with EVOLVE Wrestling. It was there that these two technical fighters would first cross paths.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_66922\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-66922\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-66922\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2020\/04\/riddlemethis-e1587015400763.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"336\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-66922\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: WWN \/ EVOLVE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>After weeks of feuding with <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/2020\/03\/23\/drew-gulak-catch-point\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Drew Gulak<\/strong>&#8216;s <strong>Catch Point<\/strong> stable<\/a>, Riddle finally agreed to face them as the tag partner of EVOLVE Champion Timothy Thatcher at <em><strong>EVOLVE 52<\/strong><\/em>. But less than two minutes into the match, Riddle turned on Thatcher and joined Catch Point, setting up a feud in EVOLVE that ran from <em><strong>EVOLVE 56<\/strong><\/em> through <em><strong>EVOLVE 58<\/strong><\/em> and ending with a No Holds Barred Match at <em><strong>EVOLVE 62<\/strong><\/em>. Timothy Thatcher won all three contests. Thatcher would go on to a record 596-days as EVOLVE Champion.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"EVOLVE Mini-Doc: Before, During, After Thatcher - Riddle I\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/uIzTTpEf2Wc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Their feud picked up in 2017, but this time the battlefield shifted to Europe. In March of that year, Riddle finally picked up his first win over Thatcher in England with London&#8217;s <strong>Revolution Pro (RevPro)<\/strong> at <em><strong>Live at the Cockpit 14<\/strong><\/em>, and a week later they had a rematch in Germany in the finals of the <em><strong>wXw AMBITION<\/strong><\/em> tournament. Riddle won again, closing their war to 3-2 in Thatcher&#8217;s favor. In April, they would meet again, this time during WrestleMania Week in Florida, where <strong>World Wrestling Network (WWN)<\/strong>, the parent company of EVOLVE, <strong>Full Impact Pro, American Combat Wrestling (ACW)<\/strong>, and others, was looking to crown its first WWN Champion. Matt Riddle won again, outlasting Thatcher, <strong>Fred Yehi, Jon Davis, Parrow<\/strong>, and &#8220;Hot Sauce&#8221; <strong>Tracy Williams<\/strong> in Six Way Elimination Match at <em><strong>WWN SuperShow<\/strong><\/em>. A few weeks later at <em><strong>EVOLVE 82<\/strong><\/em> in New York City, Riddle would defend the WWN Championship against Thatcher, evening their series at 3-3.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_66921\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-66921\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-66921\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2020\/04\/irddl-e1587015374865.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-66921\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: wXw<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>That fall, both men would reunite in England, when Matt Riddle was set to defend his <strong>PROGRESS<\/strong> Atlas Championship against challengers <strong>WALTER<\/strong> and Thatcher &#8211; both of the wXw stable <strong>Ringkampf<\/strong> &#8211; at <em><strong>PROGRESS Chapter 55: Chase The Sun<\/strong><\/em>. Neither man was victorious that night, as WALTER reigned supreme and becoming the new Atlas Champion.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FULL SHOW - CHAPTER 55: Chase The Sun - FREE!\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/aEHsTXH4azY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In January of 2018, Thatcher and WALTER would once again try and take gold from around Riddle&#8217;s waist. Ringkampf headed to <strong>Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG)<\/strong> for <em><strong>Mystery Vortex V <\/strong><\/em>to face off against PWG World Tag Team Champions <strong>The Chosen Bros<\/strong>, featuring Riddle and <strong>Jeff Cobb<\/strong>. This time, Ringkampf would not claim victory. Three months later, they would meet again in PWG, at <em><strong>PWG All-Star Weekend 14<\/strong><\/em>, in their final singles encounter before Riddle headed to WWE that July. Riddle was victorious again, moving to 4-3 against Thatcher, with four straight singles victories.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_66923\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-66923\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-66923\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2020\/04\/049_NXT_04152020EJ_04827-c3af0c491ce03a8617e7199e31d4ee30-e1587015557618.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-66923\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Now it&#8217;s 2020 and both men are in NXT. While Riddle no doubt respects Thatcher&#8217;s abilities, the roots of rivalry have been set during their three-year battles around the world. And with Thatcher losing that war 4-3, perhaps we&#8217;ll see Thatcher truly make his mark in NXT by doing exactly what Riddle did in EVOLVE to make his own mark &#8211; turn on the Champion.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Timothy Thatcher turns down an NXT Tag Team Title: NXT Exclusive, April 15, 2020\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/o3fQjwijSmQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Stay tuned to the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/a>\u00a0for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.\u00a0 WWE fan? You can check out an almost unlimited array of WWE and NXT content on the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/watch.wwe.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WWE Network<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On this past Wednesday&#8217;s episode of NXT on the USA Network, one half of the NXT Tag Team Champions Pete Dunne &#8211; who is stuck in the United Kingdom due to travel restrictions &#8211; surprised his partner Matt Riddle with a replacement until he&#8217;s able to return to the US. That opponent debuted on NXT [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":649,"featured_media":66924,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,3],"tags":[136,116,751,1194],"class_list":["post-66919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nxt","category-wwe-universe","tag-evolve","tag-nxt","tag-matt-riddle","tag-timothy-thatcher"],"modified_by":"Jamie Greer","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/649"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66919\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}