Matt Cardona Reveals His Reaction To Cody Rhodes & Kevin Owens’ Comments About Him From Last Year

Matt Cardona finally revealed his reaction to past comments by Kevin Owens and Cody Rhodes. During a June 2025 appearance on Cody Rhodes’ What Do You Wanna Talk About? podcast, Kevin Owens and Cody Rhodes joked about Cardona, with Owens talking about how much Cardona loves the indies while always talking about wanting to go back to WWE.

During a recent appearance on Insight With Chris Van Vliet, Cardona shared his reaction to the comments. Below are some highlights:

Matt Cardona on Kevin Owens and Cody Rhodes’ Comments

“Oh boy. Honestly, I was pissed! Because they made it seem that all I would say is I want to be back in WWE. Blah blah. I’d only talk about it when I’d be doing things like this, and you ask me a question. So it bothered me, but I’m over it now.”

On Recognizing the Comments Not Being Malicious

“Yes, it wasn’t malicious. I just did not appreciate that I didn’t get a chance to come on and tell my version until I got re-signed. At the time, there’s nothing I could have put out on social media, because I would have lost in the court of public opinion. I think I spliced it up and made it seem like they were putting me over. But I wasn’t going to go after them, because I would have lost that fight.”

Matt Cardona eventually did make his way back to WWE, first as Zack Ryder, competing in The Last Time Is Now Tournament last November. Later in January, Cardona made his full-time return to WWE, using his real name and updated gimmick from the indies.