Matt Cardona Explains His Road Back to WWE, Why He Competed as Zack Ryder in The Last Time Is Now Tournament

Earlier this year, Matt Cardona finally made it back to WWE. The WWE Superstar recently joined Insight with Chris Van Vliet, where he explained his return to WWE, first under his old gimmick of Zack Ryder late last year in The Last Time is Now Tournament, and then earlier this year as Matt Cardona. Below are some highlights:

Matt Cardona on His Goal 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.”

On If He Was Confident About a Way Back to WWE

“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 DeLander 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?”

On Getting the Call To Return as Zack Ryder

“So from September to when I re-debut in January, it’s like a mind**** 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.’ I’m like, ‘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.”

If He Thought He Should Ask for a Job on the 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 wing 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.”

On Why He Was Zack Ryder and Not Matt Cardona in the Tournament/h2>

“I have no idea, and I didn’t care. I brought both outfits. I said, You just tell me which one to put on.”

On How His Initial Return Was a One-Off

“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.”

On Coming Back After Saying Zack Ryder Was Dead for Years

“I’m not saying that, but this is an opportunity, right? I’ve been busting my ass on the indies for years. I’ve been reaching out every once in a while when I was doing something cool for an opportunity. They’re going to give me one, and I’m like, eh, no thanks. I don’t want to be Zach Ryder. That’s not how you do good business.”

On How It Was Decided To Return as 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 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 ****, 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? 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.”

On John Cena Saying Nice Things About Him After the 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 him.”

On Returning to WWE Full-Time

“It was a crazy gift. It was a crazy couple of months because Chelsea and I were moving into a new house. It was the whole contract negotiations, and not like I want more money. Nothing like that. It was more like because I have all these outside things that I’m involved with, and WWE is so cool about me keeping my podcast, my toy line. But there was a couple of things legally that we had to work through. It wasn’t just like okay, here’s the contract, sign it.”

On Being Able To Continue His Major WF Pod and Figure Business

“Yeah, I’m able to do the podcast, the toy company, certain things. You can’t win all the battles. I had to ditch WhatNot.”

Matt Cardona officially returned to WWE in January, beating Kit Wilson on Friday Night SmackDown.