Despite being one of the top wrestlers on the indies, Matt Cardona is not currently being courted by two of the biggest wrestling promotions.
The former Zack Ryder was released from the WWE in 2020. This ended 15 years with WWE. He quickly sought to make himself an even bigger name on the independent wrestling scene.
His match with Nick Gage in GCW made him a huge star overnight. This was followed by a run as the “Death Match King”, although injuries curtailed his NWA World’s Heavyweight title reign.
Despite appearing in AEW for two separate stints (in 2020 and 2024), Matt Cardona has not joined any big wrestling companies. As it turns out, it’s not really his choice.
Speaking with Busted Open Radio (via Cultaholic), Matt Cardona revealed neither WWE or AEW have offered him a full-time WWE contract. He also claimed he isn’t trying to win a new deal with the promotions. Instead, he wants to prove to himself that he can succeed.
Saying that, he does miss some aspects of the WWE. He claimed he feels jealous when he sees his wife Chelsea Green wrestling at big events like WrestleMania.
“I haven’t been offered a full-time gig by WWE or AEW. All I know is when I got released, my goal wasn’t, ‘What could I do to get back to WWE?’ Or, ‘What could I do to get AEW to notice me?’ It wasn’t to prove people wrong, it was to prove myself right and to prove my fans right and working my ass off, and I feel like over these past four years that’s exactly what I’ve done. When I see Chelsea and she’s wrestling on Raw or WrestleMania, of course, I’m happy for her, but then also I’m like, ‘Sh*t, I wish I was there too.'”
Let’s make some memories
WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard recently spoke with Cardona about his torn pectoral injury. Steph De Lander, Cardona’s partner on the indies, told Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful that Cardona still went on to sell his merchandise for an hour after the injury happened.
Cardona said he knew it was a torn pec as soon as it happened, and they would tell him the same at the hospital. He said sticking around was just the right thing to do for his fans, and making even one life-long fan because of it is worth it.
“I didn’t owe them anything, in the sense that I didn’t take money from people. But I owed it to them as supporters, as fans. So this isn’t like, Barry Horowitz, pat myself on the back moment. But it’s the right thing to do. And I feel like anyone should have done that in that situation. Listen, if I needed like emergency surgery, different story. Let’s not… My arm wasn’t hanging off. This was something that was going to be done in a couple days,” Cardona said. “So it was like, there’s no reason for me to go to a hospital right now. Let’s meet the fans, let’s make some money, but let’s create some memories for these people and a connection.”
Cardona always tells other indie wrestlers seeking advice that making a connection is key. If he made someone’s day, ignoring the pain and sticking around it was worth it.
“Some of these people, I’m sure they saw I was injured. I was screaming afterward backstage. I’m sure they heard it,” Cardona noted. “I was just screaming to myself, ‘F*ck!’ Cuz I knew. This wasn’t anyone’s fault. Sh*t happens in wrestling right? It ain’t ballet. It was pretty obvious I was in pain. I could barely sign, because I was using my right arm, which was what… I tore my right pec. So I think, even if I made one life-long fan out of that, it’s worth it.”
