Matt Cardona doesn’t know if he’d return to WWE if Triple H called him and tried to bring him back.
Cardona, formerly known as Zack Ryder, spent over a decade with the company before he was released in 2020. Since then, he has been on a remarkable run throughout the wrestling world; he has captured the world titles in NWA and GCW, and he also won the IMPACT Digital Media Championship.
While he is currently sidelined with an injury, the landscape in the industry has changed drastically in recent weeks; Vince McMahon has retired, and Triple H has taken over as the head of WWE creative. Since then, he has brought back previously released stars like Dakota Kai, Karrion Kross, and Dexter Lumis, among others.
Speaking on Wrestling Inside The Ropes with James Stewart and Mike Riley, Cardona described how he has been enjoying the run he has been on since he left WWE. He made it clear that if he got a call from Triple H about a potential WWE return, he doesn’t know if he would say yes.
“Oh man, [all the promotions are] all different, they all have their pros and cons,” said Cardona. “There’s no denying that WWE is the absolute top, right? It’s number one. However, in the past two years, I’ve had the most fun that I’ve ever had in my career because I’ve been my own boss, I’ve been making my own schedule. I say I’m self-made, self-paid, and ‘Hot Mess’ Chelsea Green laid, you know what I’m saying? I’m living the dream these past two years. It’s been so much fun being my own boss, whether it be the Major Wrestling Figure Podcast, and we do our own wrestling shows, the FWF, we have our own wrestling figure company, Major Bendies. You talk about Ric Flair’s Last Match, we made Ric Flair’s last match figure. So that’s pretty cool.
“So it’s been really, really cool to be able to see what’s outside WWE, and with Triple H calling everybody back supposedly, if he called me back, of course I’d have the conversation. But I don’t know if I’d go back. I don’t know. Of course, never say never, but my schedule now is pretty great, I’m making a lot of money, and I’m having a lot of fun. So it’s hard to trade that in for just to be a name on a roster. I already did that.”
When specifically asked about what sales pitch he’d want in this potential conversation, Cardona noted that promises in wrestling can be somewhat empty. He stated that if he ever negotiated with WWE, he would need to make sure that his podcast and its relayed projects are “untouchable” because they are his passion.
“I mean listen, there’s no guarantees in wrestling, right,” said Cardons. “You could promise somebody the world. Until it actually happens, it doesn’t happen. I will say one non-negotiable is that the podcast and all its brands and entities would have to be carved into the contract, like untouchable. There’s no way I’d ever stop doing this stuff because it’s my passion, it’s so much fun. We took a chance when no one else wanted us to do this, and it’s making us a lot of money, and we’re having a lot of fun doing it. It’s my passion, I love it, and there’s no way I could ever stop doing that.”
The hosts brought up Bruce Prichard and how he continued to do his podcast, Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard, even after he returned to WWE, and Cardona responded by saying, “Never say never.” He then described how it’s a great time to be a wrestling fan and a wrestler, particularly with the excitement and unpredictability that WWE’s new regime has been generating.
“I don’t know, we’ll see,” said Cardona. “I mean never say never. Listen, these past two weeks in WWE with the random re-debuts, it’s been interesting. This is what the fans have been missing for a long time. I think we’re living in this awesome time to be a wrestling fan. You got the closest thing to the Monday Night Wars with AEW and WWE, and now you know, ‘who’s gonna show up on Monday and Friday nights?’ Like this is what wrestling is meant to be.
“Plus you have all the independents. You got things like IMPACT Wrestling, GCW. It’s a great time to be a wrestling fan, and for me, a great time to be a wrestler, especially, back in the day, even four years ago, if you weren’t in WWE, you were kinda screwed financially. What else were you gonna do? Now, there’s so many options out there, and with stuff like FITE TV and streaming, I could do a show in California, but it’s not just the 200 people in California seeing it. Everyone can watch it on FITE TV, so it’s a great time to be a fan and a wrestler.”
RELATED: Maki Itoh Sings, Nick Gage Slices During The Cardonas’ Vow Renewal At GCW Homecoming
