Published: 3 minutes ago by Sanchez Taylor | Last Updated: 2 hours ago by Sanchez Taylor
Sanchez has over six years of pro-wrestling news writing experience, covering the biggest news stories in WWE, NXT, AEW, TNA Wrestling and more. He has personally interviewed a number of top stars, producing exclusive content with the likes of AEW's Swerve Strickland and WWE's Nick Aldis.
WWE
With Matt Cardona officially returning to WWE in January following a one-off appearance in November, the future looked bright for the Indy God.
Cardona had reinvented himself following his WWE release in 2020, introducing a character which got over huge with fans in TNA Wrestling and on the independent scene.
Despite this, Cardona had expressed interest in a WWE return under the right circumstances, often reiterating his desire to headline WrestleMania and win the WWE Championship in interviews while
Having competed in the previous year’s Last Time is Now tournament to determine John Cena’s final opponent, Cardona showed up in January, wrestling under his own name, and publicly discussing his world championship aspirations.
After defeating Kit Wilson on the January 2 SmackDown episode, Cardona had an intriguing backstage segment with Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes on the January 16 show, stating that his ultimate goal was to hold WWE’s top prize.
While Cardona ultimately came up short in that night’s qualifier for a future #1 contender’s match, Cardona talking about potentially winning the Undisputed WWE Championship – as Cody Rhodes had done upon his own return to the company in 2022 – gave many fans hope that he’d soon be booked as a top contender.
Eight months later, a lot of that hope has fizzled out, with Cardona having not won a singles match on SmackDown since his in-ring return victory over Kit Wilson.
With Matt Cardona now out of action due to injury, now is the perfect time to reflect on his return run so far, which has led many fans to ask what went wrong, and will Matt Cardona ever win the WWE Championship?
Always the bridesmaid, never the bride?
Many fans are now pessimistic about Matt Cardona’s world championship chances, because it feels like he is in a similar position to where he was prior to his 2020 exit.
Bar a couple of underdog championship wins, the last few years of Cardona’s previous WWE run saw him presented as more of an enhancement talent, rather than a top title contender.
Since returning, Cardona has had competitive matches on SmackDown against the likes of Trick Williams, Carmelo Hayes, Randy Orton, Ricky Saints and GUNTHER, ultimately coming up short against these names.
With the exception of Randy Orton, everyone named above is a star younger than Cardona, who WWE has actively presented as a big deal at one point or another.
Even including Randy Orton, who was feuding with Cardona’s friend, Cody Rhodes, at the time of their clash in late-May, majority of Cardona’s SmackDown opponents have been stars who were engaged in rivalries with other stars, making the former “Zack Ryder” feel like a bit of a bridesmaid.
Small details such as Cardona not being allowed to use his independent entrance music in WWE, while Cody Rhodes was able to bring “Kingdom” to the company, have convinced a large portion of the fanbase that the company will never see Matt Cardona as world championship material.
It’s not all doom and gloom, however, as there are several signs that an Undisputed WWE Championship reign could be in Cardona’s future…
Completing the Grand Slam
Matt Cardona is currently one championship away from being a Grand Slam winner. Under WWE’s current ruleset, Cardona needs to win either the Undisputed WWE Championship, or the World Heavyweight Title to join this very exclusive group.
While a lot of fans see the former “Zack Ryder” as a “jobber”, Cardona has had his fair share of championship reigns in WWE, perhaps none more significant than his Intercontinental Championship ladder match victory at WrestleMania 32.
While Cardona did lose the gold to The Miz on the following night’s episode of Raw, Cardona will forever be in the history books as a former IC Champion, because WWE wanted to open the 2016 Show of Shows with this feel-good moment.
Ultimately, that right there is the main reason why I believe we will one day see Cardona hold the WWE Championship; feel-good moments make the pro-wrestling world go around.
As also demonstrated with Cardona and Curt Hawkins’ Raw Tag Team Championship win at WrestleMania 35, Matt Cardona is a great underdog who WWE enjoys putting a championship on to create wholesome moments.
Yes, the Undisputed WWE Championship is a bit different from a tag-team title or even the Intercontinental Championship, but the question wasn’t “do you think Matt Cardona will surpass Roman Reigns’ 1316 day Universal Title reign?”
Also, the Undisputed WWE Championship picture is super exciting right now BECAUSE of the frequent title changes. The belt has changed hands five times in 2026 already, anything can happen by this time next year.
When it comes to the question of whether Matt Cardona will ultimately achieve his goal of winning the Undisputed WWE Championship, all I know is that Cardona will alwayz be ready.
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