Former WWE Talent Matt Cardona Assesses Career Path, Why He's Not Signed Full Time

He's the "King of the Indies," "The Deathmatch King," and "The GCW General Manager" amongst other things, but whatever Matt Cardona calls himself, no wrestling fan can deny that the man formerly known as Zack Ryder has had one of the most impressive post-WWE runs in recent memory. Cut from the company as a part of the COVID-19 pandemic mass releases, Cardona has traveled all over the world, carving out his own path as one of the hottest commodities not signed to a major company.

Cardona was asked why he wasn't signed to a major company, on a recent edition of "Busted Open Radio," to which he responded with a very blunt answer. "Honestly, because I haven't been offered a full-time gig by WWE or AEW," said the former WWE Intercontinental Champion.

He explained that he has primarily focused on working hard and proving himself right. "All I know is when I got released, my goal wasn't, 'What could I do to get back to WWE?' Or, 'What could I do to get AEW to notice me?' It wasn't to prove people wrong, it was to prove myself right and to prove my fans right and working my a** off, and I feel like over these past four years that's exactly what I've done."

The former WWE Superstar admitted he wouldn't want to wrestle in high school gyms for the rest of his career, citing his recent AEW appearance against Adam Copeland as an example of something he just can't get from working the independents. "When I see Chelsea [Green, Cardona's wife] and she's wrestling on 'Raw' or WrestleMania, of course, I'm happy for her, but then also I'm like, 'S**t, I wish I was there too.'"

Please credit "Busted Open Radio" when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.