Matt Cardona On His Role in The Last Match, Didn’t Realize How Hard It Would Be

Matt Cardona has taken to the stage for the pro wrestling musical The Last Match, and he recently revealed that he didn’t realize how hard it would be. Cardona plays the lead in the musical production, and he talked about his work in the role during an appearance on the Notsam Wrestling podcast. You can check out some highlights below:

On not realizing how hard it would be: “So I did the first two shows and — not that I thought it was going to be easy, ’cause I did not. I did not anticipate how hard and how stressful it would be right. So the whole crew had, you know, a week and a half, two weeks of rehearsals. I’m actually still an active wrestler, I was in the UK wrestling. So I came and had maybe three or four days of rehearsals. I had to memorize this whole script. Listen, I’ll tell you the truth: I didn’t read the whole script, you know? I mean, I did that point but when I accepted the role, I just read up to my part. I said, ‘Oh okay, that’s it,’ right? I didn’t realize like, I’m the main dude. So I’m in the entire thing, which was entirely — it’s something I’m not used to. Because like okay, wrestling, you get ready for your match, the match is over, you can relax. Uh uh, not here. You gotta go do your next scene, and your next scene, and your next scene, and then — holy s**t. The finish of the show is the match!”

On the match being the easiest part: “When I got to rehearsals I got the match down in a second right easy, right? Easy, that’s that was the easiest part… the dialogue, back and forth, it’s not just like a bunch of different promos. It’s dialogue back and forth. That’s what was very, very challenging. And luckily the rest of the cast and crew were so encouraging, so understanding. They’re probably talking s**t about me behind my back? To my face, they really made me feel comfortable and that that helped a lot and it went a long way.”

On how he felt about his performance: “I felt okay about the first performance. Second performance I thought I nailed it… I’m excited. I knew that there was a plan for this to keep going, but I didn’t know what the exact plan was. I still don’t, to be honest. I know I’m attached to it and as far as it goes, I’m along for the ride, yeah. So we got a show coming up November 14th, two more shows and I’m very, very excited. But again, I’m still an active wrestler. So I have NWA that weekend, going for the world title. I’m flying Monday morning right to the show, like literally from the airport, changing and performing. I don’t even get to do the run through. I mean, hopefully I remember those lines.”

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