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Nearly a year after he returned to Major League Wrestling, Matt Riddle defeated Satoshi Kojima at Kings of Colosseum to win the MLW World Heavyweight Championship for the first time.
Riddle recalled the "amazing evening" in an interview with Fox News Digital.
"It feels pretty good," he said of winning the title. "It’s been a long time coming, I felt. But you know, anything worthwhile isn’t easy, and it feels really, really good."
Riddle nearly got his hands on the MLW World Heavyweight Championship in 2018 when he battled the pro wrestler now known as Swerve Strickland. He came up short in the nearly 22-minute match.
After a trip in the independent circuit, WWE and New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Riddle found himself back in MLW last year, starting with a match against Jacob Fatu. He’s been on a roll since then.
"To be able to do everything I’ve done and then come back full circle and then win the heavyweight championship against Kojima, who is also an absolute legend, it couldn’t have been any better," he said. "It was a sensational weekend. The crowd was white-hot in Texas, and it was an amazing evening."
Riddle said his experience in Major League Wrestling has been even better than before. Riddle is far from the only notable name on the roster. Mistico, KENTA, Donovan Dijak, Tom Lawlor and Bobby Fish are just some of the notable names in the organization.
"It’s only gotten bigger and better from [a year ago], but even then, I was working with the best people in the business, and I was working with the best competition in the business," Riddle told Fox News Digital. "I lost in the finals against Swerve and we’ve all seen what he’s done since then just like everybody’s seen what I’ve done since then.
"MLW isn’t like a locker room full of pushovers. They got, quote, a laundry list of fires plus all the CMLL talent, New Japan talent. … Since I’ve been back, it’s just been top guys and a top promotion and getting the ability to have high-level matches."
Riddle may have started the year on top, but it’s only going to get tougher from here.
He will be back in action defending the championship against two opponents: Kojima and Alex Kane. The three will meet in a triple-threat match at MLW SuperFight 6 on Feb. 8 at Atlanta’s Center Stage.
