So, I was watching some wrestling stuff the other day, catching up on things, and I saw Matt Riddle pop up. Always found the guy interesting, you know? But one thing always bugged me, or at least made me curious: why doesn’t the dude wear shoes? Like, ever. In the ring, it’s always bare feet.
It got me thinking, there has to be a reason, right? You don’t just decide to wrestle barefoot in a world full of boots and stomps without some logic behind it. So, I decided to poke around a bit, see what I could dig up. It wasn’t like some big investigation, more like typing stuff into a search bar while having my coffee.
Digging into the Barefoot Mystery
First thing I found, and it kinda makes sense, is money. Apparently, way back when he was starting, proper wrestling boots were kinda pricey. I guess if you’re trying to break into the business, you save cash where you can. Skipping the fancy footwear is one way to do it, I suppose. Seems practical enough.
But then I found another reason, which honestly sounds more like a wrestler’s reason. He actually said somewhere that he finds it easier to bump without boots. Bumping, you know, taking falls and hitting the mat. Maybe the boots felt clunky or threw off his balance? Wrestling barefoot might give him a better feel for the mat, better control when he lands. That makes a lot of sense from a performance standpoint.
While I was looking this up, naturally, other stuff about Riddle came up. You know how it is, you search one thing and end up reading about five other things.
- Saw all the stuff about his WWE release last year. Seemed like a bit of a messy situation, lots of talk about issues outside the ring. Shame, really, ’cause he had some good moments there.
- Remembered his team with Randy Orton, RK-Bro? That was pretty fun. Found a little note about him wishing Orton a happy birthday recently, seems like they stayed buddies. That’s cool.
- Looks like he’s not sitting around either. Since WWE, he’s been showing up in places like MLW and even over in New Japan. Good for him, keeping busy.
So, Why No Shoes Then?
Okay, back to the main point. After poking around, it seems like it started partly because boots cost money, but the bigger reason, the one he stuck with, is performance. He feels he can move better, bump better, and just wrestle better without them. It became his thing, his look.
So yeah, that’s what I found out. Started as maybe a cost-saving thing, turned into a comfort and performance preference. Makes sense when you think about it. Every wrestler’s got their quirks, and Riddle’s just happens to be his bare feet.
