Matt Cardona On His Upcoming In-Ring Return at NWA 74, Keeping Busy During Injury

Matt Cardona is set to make his in-ring return at NWA 74 later this month, and the former NWA & GCW World Champion discussed his comeback in a new interview. Cardona spoke with ComicBook.com about the match, and you can check out the highlights below:

On making his in-ring return at NWA 74: “Yeah, we’re back. I’ve been working with a new doctor, Dr. Matt Cardona, and he’s going to clear me to compete for NWA 74. Listen, when I got the surgery, it sucked. There’s no good time in this business to get injured. But if there was ever a bad time, this was a bad time. I had seven titles. I was killing it, but it was a bump in the road. And I told myself, ‘I want to be back in three months, and that’s what I’m going to do.’ Right under three months for NWA 74. The surgeon said, ‘Five to six months.’ He still wants me in an arm brace. I’m Matt Cardona, okay? I’m already back in the gym. I’m training. I’m ready to go.”

On making continued appearances during his time out of the ring: “It didn’t really stop, like you said, once I got hurt. Because most promoters recognize that I’m as valuable if not more valuable on the microphone, than in the ring. So I still made the towns. I still went to Australia. Still did GCW. Still did NWA. But yeah, the grind will continue. I still have the Major Wrestling Figure podcast, which is an eight day a week job. So that with the wrestling, I’m busier than ever and I love it.”

On having a handpicked opponent for NWA 74: “Billy Corgan, he owes me something. He made me give up the title. I never lost the title. Nobody ever pinned me, I never tapped out. In my mind, I am the real world’s champion. So I made a little deal with Billy. I said, ‘I’ll come back for 74. I’ll put some star power on your show, but I have to handpick my opponent.’ So I’m not going to let you know who it is. You got to tune in to find out.”

On competing at GCW Liverpool: “GCW, Brett Lauderdale. They’re so unorganized. I have no idea who I’m working. I have no idea. Brett Lauderdale texted me that graphic at 3:00 AM. I don’t know what’s going on. That’s why I love GCW. GCW, it’s that renegade promotion. I love being a part of it.”

On wanting revenge against Blake Christian: “He’s stiff. He’s an unsafe worker. This is legit. This should make all the dirt sheets. This should be the clickbait headline. Matt Cardona said, ‘Blake Christian is stiff and unsafe.’ This guy legitimately tried to tear my bicep off of my bone. Unbelievable. He should be banned from the business for what he tried to do.”