There's guys like Daniel Bryan and CM Punk that incorporated mixed martial arts submissions and moves into professional wrestling. I feel like the way it was incorporated was really good, but there's not enough people doing it.

Everybody in wrestling is usually a pretty nice guy, they're all just hard workers trying to get their opportunities.

If you get Fight of the Night, there's a reason you got Fight of the Night: it's usually because you had that crowd on its feet, going crazy during the fight, almost like a professional wrestling match.

I want more unpredictability. I want more realism. I think the fans would appreciate that, and that's what I've brought since day one.

If someone comes up to me and asks for an autograph or picture, who am I to say no?

The more name value I have, the better. The more undeniable I am, the better. Then I can get what I want.

I think with the right opportunity, I can go as far as I want, but you never know.

I think a lot of people are excited that WWE was willing to give me a chance, and they want to see how far I can go with it.

When I first started, I had a mullet, and I was trying to play a hillbilly persona. While it was fun, it wasn't me.

I always had watched pro wrestling. I happened to be watching the WWE Network one day and started watching differently: I wasn't watching it as a fan, but instead I was watching it as something that I could possibly be a part of.

I am not the biggest fan of Dana White.

I try to be as humble as possible, but I'm just on another level. That's all there is to it.

Lesnar is a bully. I'd hurt him and show him that he couldn't hurt me. That doesn't sound too technical, but in a fight with Brock Lesnar, you need to go after him.

With wrestling, everybody always asks what they can do to get signed or how can they get over. There's no right or wrong answers. That's why I think the best thing you can do is be yourself.

That's why I like the indies: because I like being who I am. I get to be who I am in the ring, on the microphone, everywhere. It's great. I never have to get out of character because I am Matthew Riddle.

In fighting, if you get hit in the face, you don't show it. You can't show it.

I get more respect doing professional wrestling than I ever did in MMA.

I love fighting, but I don't miss waiting months upon months just to fight once in front of people and then have to wait months again to fight once in front of people.

If you train, you work hard, you're actually 110-percent dedicated, you're doing it for all the right reasons, you're probably gonna end up on the top. You know the cream always rises to the top.

I've always been a bro, and I've used the word 'bro' a lot.

Promoters saw the potential in me and the value in me. It was because of companies like Evolve, PWG, Progress, and Beyond Wrestling. Those are the big ones that gave me a push and made my name worth something on the indies.

When you have a guy like me who's a former UFC fighter and who is basically a normal guy who can do exceptional things, that connects with people rather than some random Viking who can also do exceptional things.

Being real in pro wrestling has paid off. Just being myself - that really translated to the fans.

I always wanted to wrestle, but when you're a kid, how do you do pro wrestling? For me, it seemed like the easiest way for me was to get into amateur wrestling and go that route because it was a place where I was allowed to go.