Former UFC fighter Matt Riddle appeared in the crowd at last night's WWE NXT Takeover: Brooklyn 4 in New York City.

The independent wrestling standout was introduced after Velveteen Dream's win over EC3 - confirming speculation he had signed with WWE .

Fans in the Barclays Center went wild when the 32-year-old was shown on screen, wearing a suit, his trademark cap and a pair of flip flops!

He is the latest performer to star in both MMA and sports entertainment, joining the likes of Ronda Rousey, Brock Lesnar, Shayna Baszler, and Bobby Lashley.

(Image: © WWE)

But what do we know about the new addition to the NXT roster? Who really is the 'King of Bros' and what can WWE fans expect from him?

Riddle, from Allentown, Pennsylvania, first made his way on to our TV screens as part of the UFC’s reality based show, The Ultimate Fighter.

He was a contestant on season seven of the show and while he was eliminated in the opening rounds, he showed enough promise to gain a UFC contract.

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Riddle would go on to compete for UFC in 12 fights, amassing a record of 7-3-2. However, his record would always be overshadowed by two no-contests.

They both related to victories which were overturned after he tested positive for cannabis and this ultimately led to him being released by the promotion.

He would go on to have just one more MMA bout outside of the UFC, picking up a win under the Titan Fighting banner, but his love for the sport was dwindling.

With his MMA days seemingly behind him, Riddle made the decision to embark on a career within the professional wrestling business.

He started his training in October 2014 at the famous Monster Factory wrestling school in Paulsboro, New Jersey under the tutelage of Danny Cage.

Riddle made his wrestling debut just four months later in February 2015 and it wasn’t long before he established himself as one of the biggest names on the indie scene.

During his first full year he shared the ring with Chris Hero, Tommaso Ciampa, Roderick Strong and Cody Rhodes, bouts which all helped him be crowned both rookie of the year and most improved wrestler of the year in the prestigious Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards of 2016.

In 2017, Riddle began to shine in Europe, working for the likes of England's PROGRESS Wrestling, Revolution Pro Wrestling, International Pro Wrestling and Germany's Westside Xtreme Wrestling.

It wasn’t long before he became a fan favourite due to his laid-back attitude, 'bro' catchphrase and interaction with audiences but mainly his ability to suspend fans disbelief with his hard-hitting MMA style.

Stand out matches with Katsuyori Shibata, WALTER, Travis Banks and Will Ospreay not only highlighted his ability to adapt but also proved his worth as one of the very best that the independent scene had to offer.

Wrestling barefooted, the 6ft 2in, 216lb star's moves include the Bro To Sleep (GTS), Bromission (Twister) submission, triangle choke, Brostroyer (Canadian Destroyer) plus variations on Fishermanbusters, knee strikes, piledrivers and an assortment of suplexes.

The dad-of-three is a former Evolve Champion, two-time PROGRESS Atlas Champion, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla Tag Team Champion with Jeff Cobb and WWN Champion.

Riddle’s stock rose even further during WrestleMania weekend in 2018, when he partnered with independent promotion Game Changer Wrestling to put on one of the most hotly anticipated cards of the weekend.

(Image: GCW)

Matt Riddle’s Bloodsport paid homage to the shoot style of wrestling, with the only rules being victory by knockout or submission.

With so much hype behind him, it wasn’t long before the rumours began to circulate as to where he would end up and many fans expected to next see Riddle in New Japan Pro Wrestling.

This had been heavily touted for a while, largely based on his style of wrestling, and speculation mounted when Dave Meltzer reported he would participate in the New Japan Tag League at the end of 2017.

The Chosen Bros (Riddle and Cobb) never got the opportunity to make the tour however, with rumours that New Japan’s parent company had discovered his past UFC test failures for cannabis and pulled him from the shows.

An EVOLVE 4K Short Film: A Farewell To Matt Riddle

But what is now New Japan’s loss, is undeniably WWE’s gain and it is encouraging to see Riddle finally end up in a position in which he will have a global platform.

What remains to be seen is how the 'King of Bros' will be used by the WWE. Like most independent names signed in recent times, a stint in NXT is not a bad place to start.

There have been very encouraging early runs for the likes of Ricochet, EC3 and Keith Lee, who have all been able to keep hold of their characters and the style which has made them a success. Only time will tell if the same can be said for Riddle.

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Relive all of the action as it happened in the Mirror Sport WWE NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 4 Live Blog.

You can watch WWE NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 4 on the WWE Network.