Posted on 7/28/126 by Colin Vassallo
Matt Cardona sat down with Chris Van Vliet in Orlando, FL to
discuss returning to WWE after almost 6 years away, his 2025
return as Zack Ryder in the John Cena tournament, possibly
teaming up with his wife Chelsea Green, only needing the WWE
Championship to be a Grand Slam Champion, how much his
figure collection is worth, and more!
I know that it was your goal throughout the Indies to like
find a way to get back to WWE.
“Yes and no. So when I get fired, my knee-jerk reaction
isn’t, what do I got to do to get back there? I couldn’t
live my life that way. But we’re very big on what we’re
grateful for, goal setting. One of the goals was always to
be the WWE Champion. You can’t be the WWE Champion unless
you’re WWE, right? So I had to get back there. But it wasn’t
like from day one ‘I’m gonna prove them wrong, I’m gonna get
back there.’ No, and I say this all the time too. I didn’t
want to prove people wrong. I didn’t care about that. I
wanted to prove myself and my fans right, and I feel like I
did.”
Did you feel like you were always confident there was gonna
be a path that led you back to a WWE contract?
“At one point I thought there’s no way I’m getting back,
because I was doing everything. Indie Wrestler of the Year,
cover of PWI, I was with Seth De Lander at the time because
Chelsea had gone back, and I texted Steph. I said, ‘You need
to get away from me because I’m holding you down. There’s no
way I’m ever going back.’ Because if not now, when?”
So how did this first call come for the John Cena tournament
when Zack Ryder returns to WWE?
“So from September to when I redebut in January, it’s like a
mindf*ck for me. It was such a whirlwind of things. I’m
definitely gonna mix up the timeline a bit. But it starts in
September, I believe. I’m doing TNA, but I’m not signed to
TNA. I’m asked if I want to participate in the NXT invasion,
go invade NXT. I’m like, well, if they think I really work
for TNA. I went there and I got paid, right? But I didn’t
have a contract. I’m like, I’ll sneak my way in here. So I
did the invasion, which led to a match with Josh Briggs. I
said, all right, that’s cool. I texted Triple H, ‘Thank you
for the opportunity.’ He texted back. It was all good.
Shortly thereafter, maybe within that week, Chelsea was in
Saudi Arabia doing media for the Royal Rumble, and she was
there with Nick Khan and said something to the effect of,
‘Did you see my husband on NXT?’ He said something like,
‘I’ve never met him. Give him my number.’ So she did. I
called him or texted him immediately. ‘Hey, it’s Matt
Cardona, blah blah blah…’ I think it’s that day or the next
day he calls me, and he’s very straight to the point, which
I love and respect. He said, ‘What do you want?’ I want to
come back. It was as simple as that. He’s like, ‘Okay, well,
we need to set up a call with you and Triple H.’ This is
great. Here we go. That week we have a FaceTime with Triple
H, or Zoom call, whatever, and it was a good call, but it
wasn’t a good call. You know what I’m saying? I’m like,
there’s nothing here. There was no offer to come back. It
was just a very friendly, civil, respectful call. I’m like,
all right, well, I guess back to being the indie god,
whatever.”
Were you thinking should I have asked for a job on this
call?
“I definitely said I was interested in coming back, but
there was no, ‘Yeah, we want to have you back.’ There was
no, ‘Here’s your offer. ‘There was none of that, right? A
couple of weeks go by, and he texted me, ‘Hey, do you have
time to talk today?’ I’m like, yep, and that’s when he
pitched me the Cena tournament thing. I said I’m in, and I’m
assuming that I’m going to do this representing TNA as Matt
Cardona. So SmackDown films Fridays. You fly out Thursdays.
Tuesday of that week I get a text from John Cone from WWE
Talent Relations, and he’s like, ‘Hey, we got some T-shirts
for you to approve.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, it’s cool, but how
do you guys have my Matt Cardona logos?’ It’s like, ‘Oh no,
you’re Zack Ryder.’ I’m thinking, oh f*ck. Not that I don’t
want to be Zack Ryder. I don’t have any gear, because what
am I gonna wear? Everything else I sold off, so everything
that I had was either one-off, like WrestleMania title win
gear or stuff that was all falling apart because it’s years
old. I’m like, oh no, luckily always ready. Got gear made in
24 hours, and then did the Cena tournament as Zack Ryder.”
Why were you Zack Ryder in that tournament?
“I have no idea, and I didn’t care. I brought both outfits.
I said, You just tell me which one to put on.”
At this point, did you know this was just a one-off? Even
though you had had conversations with Triple H and Nick
Khan.
“It was an absolute one-off. I was hidden in a room all day,
so I didn’t talk to anybody before the match besides the
producer and LA Knight, obviously. And I said, ‘You just
tell me which gear to put on, because I got them both.’
Always ready. And then they said, Zack Ryder. I said, ‘Let’s
go, let’s do it.’ Sold some shirts. The Woo Woo Woo, all
that, and it was a great experience. I thought, if this is
it, this is perfect closure.”
So then, when you do end up getting signed, how do you make
it to your Matt Cardona?
“Okay, so then I think it’s a one-off. I get the Triple H
point, which is great. I sold some 8 x 10s with that. Thank
you, Triple H. He’s like, we’ll keep in touch, and they did.
About a few weeks later, I was at WrestleCade, so I guess
after Thanksgiving, I’m eating dinner with the boys after
signing all day and a match, and I got a call like, ‘We
wanna sign you.’ I’m thinking, okay. I’m just assuming it’s
as Zack Ryder so I get all this new Zack Ryder gear made,
blah blah blah. Then a week or so before my debut I hear
through the grapevine you’re gonna be Matt Cardona. Now I’m
like oh sh*t I need new Matt Cardona gear. But I am very
proud that they thought there was more value in Matt Cardona
than Zack Ryder. Because who else has left [and come back
with their non-WWE name]? Okay, Razor Ramon leaves, and he
comes back as Scott Hall. He went to WCW. I did this all in
the Indies. No one’s ever done that before. Gone to the
Indies and come back as their indie persona.”
John Cena had some very nice things to say about you on
social media after you were in the John Cena tournament.
“You know what? I don’t know for sure, but I would assume he
has something to do with me getting in that tournament. I’m
just assuming. He is somebody I always ask for advice. Even
back in the day, he was a big help in the Z True Long Island
Story days. But even before that, he was always the guy.
He’s the champ, and he’s at the monitor watching every match
at a house show, and giving advice, giving feedback. To this
day, I believe if I called him or anyone else on the roster
that he doesn’t even have a personal relationship with, he’d
be there for them.”
What do you think makes Chelsea so good at what she does?
“Because she’s authentic and she doesn’t try to BS anybody,
and the fans can see that. And also, she has a connection
with the audience. Some people have it naturally. Some
people have to figure out a way to get it, but she has it.
Once you have a connection with the audience, you’re set.”
Do you think that it could work if you and Chelsea Green
were paired together in WWE?
“I mean, I would love that. Some of my greatest times in my
career were when we were on the Indies together. It was just
the best, like traveling together, and it just made the
matches so much easier. Especially as me being a heel, I
have this valet, and also she could wrestle, so we could do
mixed tag team matches, and then she can get involved
physically. It was the perfect formula.”