Matt Cardona On Facing Sean Waltman: His Comeback Won't Be 'Too Sweet'

Matt Cardona continues to reach new heights in the wrestling world, and the man who is “always ready” is gearing up for yet another high-profile match with Game Changer Wrestling.

At GCW Welcome to Heartbreak on Friday night, the reigning NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion will reunite with Brian Myers to face X-Pac (Sean Waltman) and Joey Janela in the WWE Hall of Famer’s first match since 2019. Waltman initially aligned with Janela after the Internet Champion defeated “The Bad Boy” in a chaotic bout at The WRLD on GCW; the Hall of Famer attacked Cardona and, in the process, ruined his post-match celebration.

In a new interview with WrestleZone, Cardona recalled how Waltman slammed him face-first onto his nose, which had been broken during his match with Janela, with the X-Factor. The IMPACT Digital Media World Champion called the assault disrespectful before he looked back on the way his connection to Waltman dates back to 1994.

As a young boy, Cardona wanted the Hasbro 1-2-3 Kid action figure more than anything, but he couldn’t get it for Christmas. He subsequently saved up enough money to buy the figure four years later, and the renowned action figure collector got Waltman to sign it last year. For this reason, Waltman’s actions at The WRLD on GCW were particularly crushing to Cardona, who vowed to burn the figure he once held dear.

“First of all, I already had a broken nose,” said Cardona. “He comes in and gives me that X-Factor on my already broken nose. Horrible. The disrespect that Sean Waltman showed me. And I told the story many times, Christmas 1994, all I wanted was the Hasbro 1-2-3 Kid figure. And my parents couldn’t afford it, they couldn’t get it for me. But years later, I saved up all my money and it was the first thing I ever bought on eBay in 1998 was this 1-2-3 Kid Hasbro figure. And I kept in the box all these years.

“And last year at WrestleCon, I met Sean, I got Sean to sign it, we took a nice picture. I thought we were buds. And then he does that. This week I’m gonna f-ckin’ burn it. I’m gonna burn that figure, I’m gonna post a video. Because I don’t want Sean Waltman in my life. He ruined my Christmas, and he ruined my Hammerstein moment.”

Indeed, Cardona is a man of his word; he posted a video in which he burned the figure he called his “holy grail” and declared that Waltman, like the 1-2-3 Kid figure, would “burn in hell.”

https://twitter.com/TheMattCardona/status/1497160387053170695?s=20&t=nptuHRL2kvRqjEQr2b-e9g

When Waltman steps into the ring on Friday, he’ll be competing in his first match since 2019. In previous interviews, the WWE Hall of Famer has made it clear that he aims to “play a few songs off the new album”, but Cardona emphasized that this comeback story will end on Friday. He stated that it’s time for Waltman to “go away” and encouraged the legend to get another job. In fact, the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion suggested that he could go run NXT. Cardona then wondered how GCW’s getting away with using the X-Pac name on the official match graphic before he similarly borrowed from WWE IP by telling Waltman that he has two words for him.

“First and last,” said Cardona. “This comeback is not gonna last long. I understand you know, for once in his life, he decided to eat his protein and go to the gym. That’s great, he looks great. And he is an absolute legend, but the Attitude Era is over. It’s over, Sean. It’s not time for a comeback. It’s time for you to go away. Do your own podcast, I don’t know. Go get a job and run NXT or something, I don’t know. Do something because getting in the ring with me and Brian Myers, we are in the middle of our peak, you know, our prime.

“And to mess with Joey Janela again, I thought I was done with this guy, I thought I put him out of his misery. I thought I was done with his shenanigans. And now the team of Joey and Sean Waltman, I mean, listen. We can’t even call him Sean Waltman. I don’t know how GCW’s getting away with those graphics. Because WWE owns that, that’s WWE IP, I know that, firsthand. So Sean Waltman, if you’re listening, I got two words for you: suck it. Because we’re gonna be finished with you, and I’m gonna get on that red-eye and getting the f— out of GCW.”

https://twitter.com/TheMattCardona/status/1496883612049936386?s=20&t=nTAAy_tHnDeQIlfrmkP53Q

This tag team match at GCW Welcome to Heartbreak is also noteworthy because it will feature the reunion of Cardona and Myers, collectively known as The Major Players. In WWE, the duo held the Tag Team Championship twice, but once they were released, they decided to stop teaming together for a while. That being said, the two men remained open to working as tag team if they were presented with the opportunity to compete in meaningful matches. Now, The Major Players will face Janela and X-Pac in a buzzworthy bout before they take on The Hardy Boyz in March.

Though Cardona initially described how facing Janela and X-Pac will allow him and Myers to “work off the ring rust”, he later acknowledged the fact that this bout won’t be easy. Still, though he gave his opponents credit, he promised that, in the end, Waltman’s comeback won’t be “too sweet” after all.

“Once we left WWE, we said we’re not teaming anymore unless it’s a match that has some stakes, that’s worthwhile, that has enough meat on the bone,” said Cardona. “So we’re doing Joey and X-Pac to kind of work off the ring rust. And then in a couple weeks, we got Matt and Jeff, the Hardy Boyz. And I say work off the ring rust, but we know Joey Janela and X-Pac is not gonna be an easy match. We know it’s not gonna be an easy feat.

“Joey is a tough son of a bitch, a crazy son of a bitch, he’ll do anything. And X-Pac, he certainly doesn’t wanna lose in his re-debut. So we know it’s gonna be tough, and we know we have the odds stacked against us because GCW, that building hates me. That’s where I quit because they disrespected me so much. So to come back to that building that has no f—— locker room, to be wrestling the man who disrespected my marriage in Joey Janela, and the man who ruined my celebration at Hammerstein in Sean Waltman, his comeback, it’s not gonna be as too sweet as he thinks.”

https://twitter.com/GCWrestling_/status/1496975522001129472?s=20&t=S2ElpIQFIxUaygBCgq_Xlg

The card for GCW Welcome to Heartbreak is as follows: