Matt Cardona Opens Up About Arrangement With GCW

Since departing from WWE in 2020, the former Zack Ryder has molded himself into "The Indie God" Matt Cardona. This moniker can largely be attributed to Cardona's rise on the independent wrestling scene, particularly in Game Changer Wrestling, where he's boasted one reign as GCW World Champion. During a recent interview with "WrestleZone," Cardona opened up about his run in GCW, revealing that it was initially slated to be short-term. 

"The original agreement is three shows," Cardona said. "One, I lay out Nick Gage. Two, the death match with Nick Gage, and three, I lose the [GCW] title. After that first night, where I laid out Nick Gage, I knew, 'Holy s***, we have something!' And not just me and GCW, but me. This is what I need for my career. Then that death match, I don't think anybody, myself included, expected that match to create the buzz that it did. I don't think anybody thought I was going to be all-in on that match. This wasn't like the No DQ match. This wasn't some street fight; this was a death match. The blood, the glass, the light tubes, the pizza cutter – I don't think I could have gone more all-in. And after that, I knew that I'd be at GCW for as long as this indie run would be ... GCW is my home independent promotion, in my opinion."

Currently, Cardona finds himself unable to wrestle due to a torn pectoral muscle that later required surgery. Despite this, Cardona is keeping himself quite involved in GCW, as he was recently appointed as the promotion's new General Manager while he continues to recover. One of Cardona's first orders of business saw him restart a GCW Championship match between Danhausen and Blake Christian, which had previously ended with the former striking the latter with a Gucci bag.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "WrestleZone" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.