Matt Cardona Says He Came to AEW to Win Championships, Thinks AEW ‘Is the Real Deal’

– Fightful recently interviewed former WWE Superstar Matt Cardona. Cardona discussed becoming a part of AEW after EVP Cody Rhodes previously implied he wouldn’t bring the former Zack Ryder in before later changing his mind. Cardona and Cody are very good friends. Following Cardona’s release from WWE last April, Cody wrote a very heartfelt message for Cardona on social media. Below are some highlights.

Matt Cardona on his talks with AEW: “I mean, it was one of those things that Cody is one of my good friends, if not one of my best friends, so it was kind of a no-brainer. On our podcast, our producer would always joke, ‘AEW confirmed’ in that nerdy internet troll voice. I was like, ‘Listen, nothing is confirmed yet, we’re talking.” Of course, I wanted to be and still want to be in AEW because it’s the best. For how many years did we hear, ‘The next fed’s comin’. The next league’s comin’,’ and it never did, right? AEW it comes, it arrives and it exceeds all expectations in my opinion. They’re mainstream, pay-per-views, live on TNT, action figures. This is the real deal. So, who wouldn’t want to be involved in this?”

On his goal to win titles in AEW: “Listen, I didn’t come to AEW to just get a t-shirt on AEWShop.com. It’s a very nice shirt, but that’s not why I came to AEW. I came to AEW to win Championships, to have great matches, to have fun, right? So, I would love to wrestle Cody for that TNT title or go for the AEW title. Maybe team with Cody for the Tag Team titles. But, just being in the ring for the first time in five months on Dynamite, it was just so much fun. I was very nervous before. I watched it once, I’ll never watch it again. That’s it. But, I loved it. I loved the whole experience. That’s what wrestling should be, I think. I can’t wait to do it again.”

On his plans if AEW doesn’t pan out: “I love the hustle. Whether it would be on that old YouTube show or the Major Wrestling Figure podcast, I love being creative and hustling and seeing the results to my hard work and now, being free, there’s nobody that’s going to stop me. If I fail I fail. But, I want to at least try. That’s why I was so excited being free. It’s weird right now, there are no independents. There’s a couple going on here and there. But, I want to wait until everything’s safe. I don’t want to take any independent bookings and then have to cancel them. So, that is a weird predicament, not being able to wrestle on these independents. But, hopefully soon we’ll be able to.”