TORONTO – Sitting next to Matt Riddle in the dressing room, it’s impossible to not take a look at his feet. They are part of who defines who he is — a mixed-martial arts fighter turned pro wrestler.
He tried shoes, didn’t take.
“A big reason why I wrestle barefoot and with no padding, is when I would [wear shoes], I’d make mistakes. I would land on my knees or when I got suplexed, I’d land heel first, and stuff like that, and I’d hurt myself for real,” he explained. “Since I started wrestling barefoot, I have to do everything perfect, I have to land flat, I can’t land on a knee I’m throwing. Everything has to be symmetrical and even, everything has to be perfect, but it keeps me sharper. So instead of kind of just going through the motions and getting hurt with protection, I’m just smarter and work smarter and harder and everything safer.”
Riddle feels his feet are among the toughest parts of his body.
“From years of doing jiu jitsu, and even when I do strength and conditioning with people, they actually say I’m like a genius because wrestling, or doing everything I do barefoot, just strengthens my ankles and tendons and everything. And knock on wood — there’s only plastic and cement around me — but I’ve never had an ankle injury or anything since I started like doing jiu jitsu and MMA and pro wrestling barefoot.”
Keeping them clean, especially regular showers, are part of the routine.
But so are pedicures — with manicures to match.
“As you can see, I keep the toes and hands pretty — or as pretty as I can, especially wrestling barefoot everywhere. Honestly, the feet are pretty clean. I usually wear flip flops 99% of the day unless I’m in my house. And when I wrestle, I wear them up to the ring, kick them off. I wrestle barefoot. I make sure they don’t lose them. I get them back after the show — which is hard because my girlfriend bought me these nice Versace ones. I can’t kick these into the crowd, plus it’s a cold walk home.”
One of the most famous barefoot wrestlers has been in the news lately, Kevin Von Erich, whose family was the center of attention in the movie, The Iron Claw.
Riddle mentions seeing others like Samoans and wildmen without boots, but “Kevin von Erich is definitely the top guy.”
When he started wrestling, and had shorter hair, people actually told him he looked like him too.
“I was a little thicker, so I was built like an earlier Kevin Von Erich,” Riddle said. “But I’ve watched some of his work, we definitely have a much different style. But there are similarities. It’s probably due to we both wrestled barefoot, kinda like how we exit the ring. We’re not the kind of guys that are trying to jump off the top rope, land on our feet first on the cement floors. Even though my feet are tough, I’m not trying to do that, because if I do that four times a week for 10 weeks, I’m probably gonna get hurt one of those times.”
It’s all part of a greater philosophy of life.
“I feel like naturally humans weren’t supposed to wear sneakers and shoes every day, all the time. It’s one thing if you’re doing a job quick, but another thing, just have a piece of rubber stuck to the bottom of your foot all day,” he explained.
It was a nice day in Toronto, above freezing in February, but Riddle was still “rocking the flops.”
He realizes, from experience, that there are times when it’s too much.
“I also did get frostbite on my feet when I was a kid. I lived in upstate New York,” he explained. “I went outside, skateboarding shoes, they got wet, feet got cold, then they fell fine. And then I just kept playing — but I still got all my digits.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part two of Greg Oliver’s chat with Matt Riddle, conducted on February 6, 2024, at the Reena Rumble in Toronto. Here’s part one: Matt Riddle relishing his ‘freedom’
TOP PHOTO: Matt Riddle shows off a pedicured foot at the Reena Rumble on Tuesday, February 6, 2024, at The Warehouse in Toronto, Ontario. Photo by Steve Argintaru, Twitter: @stevetsn Instagram: @stevetsn
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