Matt Cardona On Chelsea Green, Possible WWE Return, Adam Copeland Match, Chris Jericho, John Cena

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Matt Cardona (@TheMattCardona) is a professional wrestler previously signed to WWE. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet at West Coast Creative Studio in Hollywood, CA to discuss his post-WWE career 5 years on from the release, why a return has not happened yet, his matches in AEW and ROH against Adam Copeland and Chris Jericho respectively and why they never led to more, advice for released wrestlers, whether he is interested in returning as Zack Ryder, being married to Chelsea Green and more!

Quote I'm thinking about: "It's better to be consistently good than occasionally great." - Nick Bare

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On some fans potentially not being aware of his work in WWE:

"On the flip side, there are fans that have no idea what I'm doing now. I'm at WrestleCon, [fans say], ‘Where you been, Zack?’ Well, all over the world for the past five years. But I don't blame them, because times have changed, but I was the biggest wrestling fan growing up. I didn't watch indie wrestling. It was different then, there was no internet, there was no streaming stuff. So I get some people just watch WWE, and that's fine."

On how many people ask him for Zack Ryder autographs:

"I think it's like 75% Matt, 25% Zack, I get it. Zack Ryder set me up for Matt Cardona. I have no problem signing a Zack Ryder 8 by 10 or an action figure. That Intercontinental Title picture, that 8 by 10, I made thousands of dollars off that, so I'm grateful for it." 

On what was missing from his WWE run that he has now:

"Man, I would have loved the opportunity to show the different side, the heel side, if you will. But in WWE, you could pitch all day, they're not necessarily going to do it. On the independents, you can do whatever you want. So I organically turned heel, so to speak, on the Indies, and I'm so comfortable in that role. I love that the fans hate me. Now I think they're starting to love to hate me, which is fine too, because they're still buying my merch. But I've said this a million times. I needed to get fired to find myself. So I don't even want to say blessing in disguise. It was just a blessing. I needed to get fired to find myself." 

On some fans at independent shows not knowing who he is:

"Absolutely, I learned that from William Regal a long time ago. Every time you walk through the curtain, you have to pretend that they don't know who you are. I tell it to guys and girls on the indies all the time, you can't think oh, they watch that cell phone promo you cut. You need to reintroduce yourself and tell that story in the ring. For me, it's just so easy because I'm this chicken sh*t heel. It's as simple as ding, ding, ding, we're about to lock up, I just roll out of the ring. It's just easy stuff like that that I feel like these bad guys now, they don't want to be uncool. I have no problem being uncool. There's other things I can do throughout the match, or even just subtle things on the entrance. Some things could be very cheap, like for instance, putting out your hand for a high five, taking it away. I mean, ripping up a sign, like, that's kind of easy. It's just right in front of you stuff, but you got to be smart. Every crowd's different."

On being The Complete Matt Cardona:

"So I was The Indie God, The Death Match King, and then I tore my pec, which sucked. There's no good time to get injured, but that certainly was not a good time to get injured. I was about to, as crazy as it sounds, celebrate my four years of being released from WWE. I filmed this whole hype video, and I got hurt the Saturday before. I'm like, sh*t, just tore my pec. I knew I'd be fine work-wise, because people bring me in to cut promos. I ended up being the General Manager of GCW, so I was fine, money-wise. But being honest, I can't just come back wearing that crown or The Indie God hat again. I needed a fresh coat of paint, so to speak. So I was just thinking of all these ideas and it just hit me, The Complete. It means so many things, like The Total Package, Lex Luger. I can do it all. I looked the part. I wrestled the part, I talked the part. Or The Complete, everything that led to this point in my career, whether it be the Major Brothers or the YouTube Broski stuff, or winning the IC title, or getting fired, then the death match King the indie got everything wrapped into one is The Complete Matt Cardona."

On whether he feels complete:

"No, I'm always grateful, but I'm never satisfied, if that makes sense. Of course, if it ended today, I'm very grateful for what happened for my career, 21 plus years, getting paid to live my dream. But I have a lot more goals that I want to accomplish."

On his advice for released WWE stars:

"I'm paraphrasing it, but it was you have three options, right? You can one, fade into obscurity, feel bad for yourself, have a pity party, never be seen again, or be delusional with your prices and never get booked again. Or you can coast off your WWE name. And I don't just mean your literal name, I mean the fact that you were in WWE just coast off that. Do a couple of indies here and there, some autograph signings, and you probably do that forever. Or the one I chose, work your ass off, reinvent yourself. Have a lot of f*cking fun and make a lot of f*cking money, and you have three options you choose. It's not the third one's not easy, but it's possible."

On what option most choose:

"I think history shows that they fall into number two, just coasting. And that's unfortunate. It's not easy out there on the independents, especially because a lot of these guys and girls don't know what it's like to do the independents. I didn't, I had to just dive in head first, and I had to teach myself. Of course, I stole things from Cody, from Drew McIntyre, the guys who had left and had made their names even bigger. But then I created my own blueprint."

On still finding a way back to WWE or AEW:

"I’ve said this a million times. When I got released, it wasn't like, what can I do to get back to WWE or get to AEW? [It was] What can I do to prove myself right? And, oh my God, even saying that again and again and again, for five years, I've been saying that I don't want to prove people wrong, I want to prove myself right and my fans right. It makes me sick to say because I feel like I've said it so many times, but it's the truth. I feel like I have. But man, like, what else do we need to do to get back there?"

On being surprised that he hasn’t returned:

"Honestly? Yeah. But obviously I'm missing something, I don't know what it is. Listen, people say to me all the time, especially since we just had WrestleMania, WrestleCon. Thousands of people, probably every other fan, if not every fan. 'When are you coming back?' Well, it's not up to me. Or at the WrestleMania Hotel. Thanks, Chelsea for letting me stay in a hotel room for free. Saved me some money. Great hotel. Great Steakhouse, too. But so many people from the office or other wrestling, 'Hey, man, when are you coming back?' It's like, I don't know. I've reached out many times. I shouldn't say many, a few times, every couple months when something cool happens or I have something to say, hey, look what I'm doing. There's been no offer. Everything's very nice, professional, but there's no offer. And you know what, it is what it is, I'm gonna keep working my ass off." 

On a possible Royal Rumble return as Zack Ryder:

"I've had gear ready every single year. So this is the truth. So I always have gear. I'm always ready. I always have gear where the trunks are the same, but the knee pads are interchangeable, the ZR or an MC."

On not being opposed to returning as Zack Ryder:

"It's not my first choice. I think Zack Ryder is dead, and I don't mean that in a negative way. Zack Ryder set me up for Matt Cardona. But I mean, obviously WWE thought Zack Ryder was dead. They fired me five years ago. And my Matt Cardona name. I feel like I've done these interviews for five years. And again, this is like how many times have I said this? But I don't care how you define success, money, accolades, happiness, this is the most successful I've ever been in my career as Matt Cardona, but it's because Zack Ryder and WWE set me up for that."

On his internet videos and whether there was any issues from WWE:

"I'm never going to be one of those guys that say they buried me for doing this or that. I always want to blame myself. So during that time, did it? Listen, I went from the beginning of the year, 2011, nobody. Started a YouTube show, end of the year, I'm the US Champion, teaming with Cena on Raw, The Rock returns. They're chanted for me over The Rock. The next year, get pushed off the stage in a wheelchair by Kane. Is that being buried? I don't want to cop out and say that I could have knocked on Vince McMahon’s door and said, 'Hey, what's going on here?' I didn't do that. I just take all accountability for what happened. I like to just blame myself and move on. Then I kind of floated for a couple of years, and I was always ready anytime they threw me a bone. I capitalized, IC Title WrestleMania, that was after the YouTube run. Then back to doing nothing. Then me and Hawkins with the tag team titles at Mania in New York, New Jersey. Well, it was the pre-show, but I still counted this Mania. It was technically Mania. We got the plaque. There's a plaque with the canvas and all that. Then I just floated again until I got fired. But I was always ready, always pitching ideas, always being proactive. But it is what it is. There's so many moving parts in WWE. There's so many characters. It's a TV show. Not every character on the TV show could be featured, just how it is." 

On wrestling Adam Copeland in AEW:

"Career highlight for sure. You know, having that match with Adam, it was a match I never thought would happen. WrestleMania 24 is my first WrestleMania, and I run in the main event, me and Hawkins. We're the Edge Heads. We help Edge, not successfully, Undertaker choke slams us. We're in the main event of WrestleMania, and this delusional, naive kid saying, 'Well, next year WrestleMania, it's gonna be Edge Heads explode. Hawkins, there's Ryder versus Edge...' No, that didn't happen. Hawkins and Ryder were lumberjacks in the Tag Team pre-show match. Then Adam eventually gets the unfortunate career-ending injury, he retires. Then he comes back and I'm in WWE, but then I get fired, and then he leaves and goes to AEW. Well, this match could actually happen now, because AEW, the forbidden door, they're always bringing people in. So he was doing the Cope open, and I just shot him a text saying basically, 'Hey man, if you ever need an opponent, just please consider me.' He said something like, 'Yeah, I think this story is coming to an end, but if we ever do it again, I'll keep you in mind.' I totally forgot about it. Couple months later, got the call. 'Can you show up Saturday?' I had to cancel my match with Ultimo Dragon. But yes, I was there and it was, it was an absolute dream match."

On wrestling Chris Jericho:

"So then I go away for a couple of months, and then I got a call, 'Hey, you interested in working Chris Jericho at the Hammerstein Ballroom?' Yeah, let me think about it. Duh! Again, one of my childhood idols, he was on my birthday cake, but I was ninth grade. I love Chris. As a performer, I look up to Chris. So to wrestle Chris, we had a whole program, and for Ring of Honor, had to do it. Another dream match."

Why didn't that turn into more?

"Again, I don't know. Dave Meltzer reported that I got offered a contract, but I did not, so I don't know what happened."

On whether he would accept an AEW contract:

"If it made sense. I don't want to be anywhere just to be a guy on the roster. And I know there's no guarantees in pro wrestling, but I need like intent, like we see you doing this, or we envision you being here. I don't want to just collect a check. Been there, done that."

On being a blueprint for wrestlers getting over:

"I say this all the time. When someone comes up and they ask for [advice], like, I just started wrestling, do you have any advice? Yeah, don't quit. That's it. Because it's not over until you quit. When you quit, then it's over. Right now, do I wish I was somewhere else, maybe? But it's like, I'm not there yet. I haven't achieved everything I want yet. It's not over until I quit. When I say it's over, then I never achieved that thing. But I'm not throwing in the towel yet."

On how much longer he intends to wrestle:

"Until the wheels fall off. I love it. Listen, I'm in the best shape I've ever been in. I feel like I'm not missing a beat. Do I do the most acrobatic, technical stuff? No. But I'm the same wrestler I was when I was 18. I'm still moving the same. Of course I've grown and gotten better and stuff like that. But I feel like I'm at the top of my game in the ring. I don't care who I'm in the ring with. I feel like I bring out the best in them. This is gonna sound ridiculous, but when Jericho and I were having that little AEW thing, he compared me to Bret Hart. I was like, that's pretty ridiculous, but I'm like, you know what? That's a great compliment, because I feel like Bret Hart could have a match with anybody and could adapt to anyone's style. Listen I'm not saying I'm Bret Hart, cause I know this is gonna turn into Matt Corona says he's as good as Bret Hart. No, I don't think I'm as good as Bret Hart, the best there ever is. But I do feel like I can adapt to any style, whether it be a high flyer or a death match guy, or just anybody. I can have a great match with anybody, and I feel like that's one of my best qualities."

What is Matt Cardona grateful for?

"Chelsea Green, my family and my career."