Matt Cardona Admits He Was ‘Trying To Get Away’ From WWE Gimmick

AEW

Zack Ryder was one of WWE’s most popular stars back in 2011 and 2012, with the Long Island Iced Z getting himself over on his YouTube show Z True Long Island Story.

Ryder would be slotted in the midcard babyface role for the remainder of his nine years in WWE up until his release back in 2020.

Since leaving WWE, we have seen a more serious side out of the man now known as Matt Cardona, with him shedding everything from his prior WWE persona.

Cardona recently spoke to SportsKeeda, where he revealed that he was trying to get away from that look and gimmick during his days in WWE.

He said:

“The ‘woo, woo, woo,’ the headband, the sunglasses, it’s dead. And I was trying to get away from that while I was Zack Ryder in WWE, but you can’t write the show.

“So if I’m trying to be more serious, but you are booked to be not so serious, it is what it is. That’s why when I was let go, I was like, ‘Oh, my god.’ Not that there were any handcuffs on, but the handcuffs were gone, and I was able to become the new version of me, whatever that was going to be,”

Cardona is currently working for IMPACT Wrestling as well as making several independent dates, including his notable run in GCW last year.

Since his rebranding upon his WWE release, Cardona has said that he would be open to a return to the company, but he believes it would have to be as his current Matt Cardona persona rather than his Zack Ryder persona.

He is married to fellow former WWE star Chelsea Green, who WWE reportedly has interest in bringing back to the company.

quote via SportsKeeda

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• character
• matt cardona
• zack ryder
• wwe

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