wrestling / News
Matt Cardona Gives Injury Update After Tricep Surgery, How It Happened
Image Credit: WWE
Matt Cardona has provided an update for fans after undergoing surgery for a torn tricep this week. As noted, Cardona revealed that he suffered the tricep tear during a non-televised match. Cardona posted to his Instagram account to share a video in which he detailed how the injury went down and talked about his desire to return. You can see the highlights below:
On the Injury:
“Hey guys, I just wanted to update you on my injury. For those who don’t know, I tore my tricep last week. I got surgery this past Tuesday. Let’s go back two weeks ago, Smackdown against Gunther. We had a fight. I got my ass kicked. It was an impromptu match, so I was in street clothes. No pads, specifically no elbow pads. And I got powerbombed on the announce table, got powerbombed on the apron, twice in the ring.
On When the Injury Happened:
“And by elbow was bothering me, but I didn’t really think anything of it. And then even the next week or so in the gym, like it was bothering me. But I thought, ‘Okay, I’m just banged up. No big deal.’ And then last Friday I was wrestling Kit Wilson, and in the first minute or so I did a second rope dropkick. Landed on the front of my body, landed on my elbow like I do almost every match, and I felt a pop.
“And I thought, ‘There’s no way I hurt my elbow on a dropkick, right?’ So I clothesline him over the top rope and I’m like, ‘That felt weird too.’ And then I did my baseball slide dropkick where I hold onto the second rope… and holding onto the ropes, I had no strength in my arm. I said, ‘Okay, this tricep is torn.'”
On Being Out Of Action:
“There is no good time to get injured. When I got injured on the indies, I was The Indy God, right? I had all these titles, I was killing it. Getting hurt was a momentum killer. A buzz killer, and I was trying so hard to get back to WWE. So that sucked when I got hurt then. But now, I think it sucks even more because let’s be honest, these past seven months, I haven’t been doing much, right? And I’ve been optimistic that something is gonna change, and it did a couple weeks ago with the Gunther opportunity. And you know, I knew that returning to WWE was going to be an uphill battle. And I was ready for it, Alwayz Ready…
“There’s no dead weight on the roster, so I knew it would be an uphill battle. But yeah, it just sucks getting hurt now when I’m still like, figuring out who Matt Cardona is in WWE… And let’s be honest, I’m not getting any younger, right? I’m 41, which, you know, I don’t think is that old. I feel like I’m in the best shape of my career besides this injury. The two World Champions are my age or older. But I’m closer to the end than I am to the beginning. So, five months, six months, three months off — at this point in my career, that’s a long f**king time. So it is certainly not a good time to get injured.”
On His Motivation To Return:
“I don’t want to sit home, I don’t want to sit and collect a check. I don’t want a vacation. I want to be in the ring, I want to be wrestling… I worked too damn hard to come back to have this injury ruin it. So I’ll be back faster than the surgeon said, and I’m coming back to be the WWE Champion or I’m gonna die trying.”
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Matt Cardona with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.
