Matt Cardona Says He Sees Himself In AEW "Long Term", Teases Tag Title Run With Cody

Wrestling Inc's Nick Hausman released his interview with former WWE Superstar Matt Cardona earlier today on The Wrestling Inc. Daily podcast. During his appearance Cardona discussed his friendship with AEW Executive Vice President Cody Rhodes.

"I've been great friends with Cody for a couple years now, so we talk almost every day if not every day," Cardona said. "So definitely, we spoke that day. We spoke before that day. We spoke after that day. We're always talking, always communicating."

Cardona spoke more on his friendship with Rhodes saying that they didn't start out as friends when they first met in WWE. He said that changed when they both realized they were both big fans of theme parks, and one trip to Universal Studios later, they become the best friends they are today.

"At first we weren't friends. It's like any other job. There's people that you're really good friends [and] with some people, you just say hi and bye to, and Cody was one of those guys. We kind of broke into WWE the same time, kind of each other's competition.

"We're the same age, but we were never enemies just never good buds, and it wasn't until we realized we both love theme parks that really got us talking. And then we did a trip together to Universal Studios to see the new Harry Potter stuff that was opening up, and then from there, from that day, instant buds. Theme park stuff all the time and then obviously became closer friends."

Wrestling Inc. exclusively reported that Cardona is not on a long-term deal with AEW, and Cardona spoke on that and his desire to make his relationship with AEW a long-term one.

"It's no surprise I'm good friends with Cody, and it's no surprise that he has a little stroke in the company. So it's kind of like a perfect fit," Cardona admitted. "You see online that I haven't signed a long-term thing, and that's true, but I'm not there to just get a new t-shirt on ShopAEW.com. I want to win championships. I want to be on Dynamite every week. I want to be on the PPVs. So right now, we haven't come to a long-term agreement, but that's certainly my plan to be there long term."

Cardona was asked what is taking negotiations so long if Cardona does want a long-term deal with AEW. He said that there is currently no rush, and he expressed his excitement for the future.

"It's just something that we got on a week-by-week thing for now, and hopefully, soon, we have something more long-term. And that's really it," Cardona revealed. "So right now, I don't think there's a rush. I don't plan on going anywhere right now. I'm living my life, especially now, day-by-day, week-by-week. So we'll see what happens, but I'm super excited for the future. I got two shirts on ShopAEW.com. What is with Cody, which is pretty ridiculous, when they sent me the shirt, I LOL'd. I thought it was a joke, and it was actually on the site. This is great. I need one."

Cardona's in-ring debut with AEW was in a tag match with Rhodes against The Dark Order. At the time of the interview, Cardona was asked if he has his sight's on Rhodes' TNT Title, but Cardona teased a tag team of himself and Rhodes vying for the tag team championships.

"I mean that could happen. He has that open challenge going on, or maybe, we team up," Cardona teased. "We go for those tag team titles. Who knows? I'm only 35 years old. I'm here. I hate when people say, 'the next chapter of my career,' like this is a new book. This is a whole new book, and I'm just super excited to write it."

Rhodes and QT Marshall are currently planning to launch the Nightmare Factory to develop wrestlers. Cardona was asked if he might be joining Rhodes to help train wrestlers, and Cardona admitted that "his head could explode" if he tried to teach people, but he put over his fellow Major Wrestling Figures co-host Brian Myers as someone that is a good trainer.

"That's something like maybe down the line. For instance, Brian Myers has the Create A Pro wrestling school, and he's a very good trainer," Cardona said. "I don't think I could teach someone from scratch. I think I could watch a match and give critiques or give advice. So I think I'd be good at that. I don't think I could teach someone how to lock up and hammerlock and stuff like that.

"There's also like so many flavors of ice cream and so many different ways to do it, hit the ropes and come up with your right foot, your left foot, both feet. I think that my head would explode just trying to teach people, so I'll leave that to Cody and Brian Myers and guys like that."

Matt Cardona can be seen Wednesday night's on TNT as part of AEW Dynamite. You can follow him on Twitter @TheMattCardona. Cardona's full interview aired as part of today's episode of our podcast, The Wrestling Inc. Daily. Subscribe to get the latest episodes as soon as it's released Monday – Friday afternoon by clicking here.