Matt Riddle Vs. Stephan Bonnar Is Officially The Most Unexpected Pro Wrestling Match Of The Year


Here on With Spandex, we tend to write about Matt Riddle from time to time. Mostly because he’s a god dang pro wrestling prodigy and completely rules in just about every way you can think of, up to and including his “bro”-laden merch. Riddle has been all over the world already as a wrestler, winning titles and blowing people’s minds.

Riddle is no stranger to weirdness in wrestling, even though he’s relatively new to the world. His background as an MMA practitioner and former UFC fighter has led to all sort of bizarre “dream matches,” including a match against Dan Severn over WrestleMania weekend. But his latest opponent is even weirder than that.

According to PWInsider, UFC Hall of Famer (yes) Stephan Bonnar is about to make his pro wrestling debut, in maybe the least likely MMA fighter-to-pro wrestler transition this side of James Toney. You may remember Bonnar from having the lamest insults of all time on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, or perhaps from being one-half of one of the most well-known and greatest MMA fights of all time.

Bonnar is set to step into the ring at House of Glory’s show in Jamaica, New York on August 18 — which is SummerSlam weekend, you know. The event, called High Intensity 6 (a new level of intensity heretofore experienced) does not yet have this bout (or any match) listed for the card, but we believe it, because we WANT to believe it. Also, Bret Hart is going to be there? Never underestimate the appeal of Tommy Dreamer owning a wrestling company.

There’s absolutely no telling how this match will turn out, because this is the first we’ve heard of Bonnar transitioning to pro wrestling. But you can certainly do way worse than Matt Riddle for your first opponent. We really, really hope this match happens, and not just because it’s happening during SummerSlam weekend, so it will be easy to get to if you happen to already be in Brooklyn for … some other show.

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