Matt Cardona On Why He Liked Losing the Intercontinental Title After A Day, His and Bryan Myers’ WWE Heel Turn Idea

During a recent Q&A, Matt Cardona discussed his very short Intercontinental Title reign starting at WrestleMania 32 plus more. Cardona did a Q&A for Pro Wrestling Junkies and was asked about his title reign, which lasted a day from WrestleMania 32 until he lost it on Raw the next night. He also was asked what he thinks he could have done differently at the end of his WWE run and recalled his and Bryan Myers’ idea for a heel turn that played out a little on WWE.com but didn’t go any further. Highlights are below, with the full video here:

On if he wishes he had held the Intercontinental Title longer after his WrestleMania win: “I think losing the next night made the moment. I wish I could have lost later on in the [same] night. You know? Why have the title for two weeks or two months? Unless I’m going to go undefeated for two years, take it off me! You know what I’m saying? That’s the story, that’s the story of Zack Ryder, the underdog that finally gets it and then it gets taken away. So I thought that’s what made the story so special, because nobody thought I was going to win. And then to lost it the next night, it’s like, ‘Oh my God, he finally got something and then he lost it.’ So I thought that moment was the way to go. If I would have lost it, I don’t know, at Backlash against Cesaro or something, who cares? I’m glad that I lost the next night. Perfect fit for my career.”

On what he thinks he could have done differently in WWE to get a bigger push: “You know, listen. I’m one who always wants to put the blame on myself. I never want to look back and say, you know, ‘They held me down,’ or ‘They didn’t push me,’ blah blah blah. Because that doesn’t change anything, it doesn’t make you happier, you know what I’m saying? But towards the end with Hawkins, I do think that — we were trying to push to be bad guys, to be heels. And we kind of were doing it insome backstage stuff that they put on WWE.com, where we wanted to preach that we were in the ‘Gratitude Era,’ and kind of be like over-the-top cheesy and positive where people would hate us. I wish we would have got the opportunity to do that, but we didn’t. And that is what it is.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Pro Wrestling Junkies with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.