Matt Cardona Comments On His WWE-Return Tan, Emotions Following Comeback, Critics & More

Matt Cardona (FKA Zack Ryder) returned to WWE for the first time in over five years on last week’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown.

Cardona was revealed as the mystery opponent of LA Knight in the first round of the ongoing The Last Time Is Now Tournament. Despite a great performance, he eventually lost to The Megastar.

In a recent appearance on the Notsam Wrestling podcast, the former WWE United States Champion opened up about several things related to his recent appearance on SmackDown.

Matt Cardona on his tan:

Fans were quick to notice Cardona’s tan when he made his way to the ring last Friday. When asked about it by Sam Roberts, The Indy God said:

“It was the self-tan the night before. Props to Chelsea Green for rubbing me. This is the first time Chelsea Green has seen the Broski hotel tan job. In the man thong. All the different products. The creams, lotions, and sprays. It’s not just one product. It’s a mixture of products. Chelsea helped rub me down.”

Matt Cardona opens up about his emotions following his WWE return:

“The first thing I was thinking was, ‘Man, that entranceway is slippery.’ Yeah, I let that soak in. I did a 360, just looking at the Tron, like, man, even now I kind of have goosebumps just thinking about it. For so many years, I thought that was it. I thought Zack Ryder was dead, but you know, we once had the Ryder Revolution, and now, it’s the Ryder Resurrection.”

On his critics:

“You’re entitled to your opinion. You can complain all you want. And I’m not even saying these people are haters or trolls. They can have their opinion. I just know their opinion means nothing to me because they’re not a real fan of mine. Because you can spot a fan a mile away. And someone who even takes their phone out and contemplates making a post about that is not a real fan.”

Matt Cardona wasn’t sure that he would be wrestling as Zack Ryder

“In this business, I don’t believe anything until it happens. One day I’ll talk about everything that went down. I feel like it’s too fresh. Don’t want to spoil everything. I will say this: I believe it was either Tuesday or Wednesday when I had to order Zack Ryder gear in 24 hours. So I don’t recall if it was Tuesday or Wednesday. Uh, I just know I needed gear in 24 hours because I was leaving Thursday.

“When I showed up to SmackDown, I will say this, I had the MAC card because I still did not know for sure if A) If it was happening. B) If it was happening, what name? In this business I don’t believe it till it happens. So, I did go with the brand-new Zack Ryder gear and Matt Cardona gear, and then just in case the Zack Ryder gear didn’t make it because it was shipped to New York, I had makeshift Zack Ryder gear. There was Matt Cardona gear that did not have any MC logos on it. So, I had three sets of gear, two sets of boots, you know, two entrance vests, which I didn’t end up wearing any of them because I had the t-shirt.”

Check out the video below:

Please credit the Notsam Wrestling podcast and give an H/T to 411Mania for the transcription if you take quotes from this article.