Report: Matt Riddle Eliminated From WWE Royal Rumble After 40 Seconds Because Of Backstage Heat

On Sunday, Matt Riddle entered his first-ever Men's Royal Rumble match. After delivering a few kicks to Drew McIntyre and a knee to Edge, he was promptly dumped out of the match after 40 seconds by King Corbin.

Many fans speculated that this was Riddle's punishment for his verbal altercation with WWE Champion Brock Lesnar earlier in the day. However, a WWE source confirmed to

this was not the case and the plan all along was for Riddle to be eliminated quickly by Corbin.

However, while the former UFC fighter wasn't punished for his altercation with Lesnar, he was quickly thrown out of the Rumble because he has heat with backstage officials.

that The King Of Bros has "a lot of heat right now" for some reason and he was tossed out after 40 seconds to teach him a lesson.

Meltzer said: "There’s a lot of heat on Matt Riddle right now and if you were wondering what happened in the Royal Rumble and why, there’s your why. I don’t want to say its to teach him a lesson but it probably is…He isn’t at the forefront (of NXT) and there’s a reason he was in and out so quick. And it was more than just a way to get heat for Baron Corbin which ended up being what the outcome was."