Matt Cardona still says he wants to finish his career with WWE and compete at WrestleMania under his real name. Cardona has been away from WWE since being fired in April 2020 at the start of the pandemic, but in that time he has had great success in independent stints with TNA, GCW and NWA. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Cardona said he feels closer to the WWE Championship now than he did during his time with WWE. Here are some highlights:
On torn pectoral muscle: “Yeah. I was doing something I’ve done hundreds, maybe thousands of times before – a clothesline over the top rope – and I felt something pop and I said, ‘Oh no.’ I’d never torn a pectoral muscle before, but it felt like I had. I had an MRI after the match and hoped it wasn’t a tear, but unfortunately it was…I had to have surgery right away, and instead of feeling sorry for myself and eating junk food for the first few days (and I did eat a lot of junk food), I went back and did all my summer plans. I was pushing myself too hard. In fact, June has been my busiest since leaving WWE in 2020, so I packed my schedule too much.”
On using his injury to grow as a performer: “I think it was a blessing that I got injured. It allowed me to re-evaluate myself, so when I come back, I can’t do the same things I did before I got injured. I can’t wear a crown and call myself ‘Deathmatch King.’ I can’t wear a brown hat and call myself ‘Indie God.’ You have to constantly evolve. Everybody has to evolve. I think my injury was the nudge I needed to be like, ‘OK, I guess I’m a little too used to being at the top.'”
On a possible return to WWE: “After being released from my four-year contract by WWE in the summer of 2024, I feel I am closer to a WWE World Title than I was during my time with WWE. I am proud to be an ‘Indie God’ and the face of GCW, but at the end of the day, I want to finish my career with WWE. I want to have one more WrestleMania moment and go to Madison Square Garden, but as Matt Cardona. Zack Ryder has passed away. Through the good and the bad times, I was so fortunate to have Zack Ryder because he put me on this path. He prepared me for this.”
