Matt Cardona says he would not want to use the Zack Ryder name if he returns to WWE, doesn’t want to be just another member of the roster

By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)

Inside the Ropes interview with guest Matt Cardona
Interview conducted by Kenny McIntosh
Available at ITRwrestling.com

Cardona on why he wouldn’t want to use the Zack Ryder name if he returns to WWE: “I am so grateful for Zack Ryder, it set me up for this whole independent Matt Cardona run, but it is the past. Maybe this isn’t the best analogy but Scott Hall didn’t go back as Razor Ramon. We still knew it was him, but listen, it’s 2024, everyone knows I’m Zack Ryder. But if I were to go back, it has to be Matt Cardona. That’s the value, right? Zack Ryder is a part of that story. You can still make Zack Ryder figures, still make trading cards, put me in the game, get me some royalty cheques as Zack Ryder. But the days of Zack Ryder and the ‘Woo Woo Woo’ are dead.”

Cardona on the WWE regime change, not wanting to return as just another member of the roster: “The new regime has been fantastic. Just look at the shows and those numbers, right? WWE is clicking on all cylinders. I would go back, I don’t care who’s in charge, it doesn’t matter to me as long as I’m on the show (laughs). But I don’t want to go back just to be a guy on the roster—and there’s nothing against people who are just guys on the roster—I already did that. Been there, done that and that’s not what I want to do at this point in my career. I am having the most success I’ve ever had in my career in these past four years.

“Whether you define success by accolades, money, happiness, I don’t care however you define it, this is the most successful time in my career. I don’t want to end my career wrestling in high school gyms or changing in alleys, I want a WrestleMania moment, or I want Madison Square Garden, or AEW All In at Wembley Stadium. Even just walking down that aisle on Collision, I felt like I belonged. Even though I haven’t had a TV match in years, I just went right back into that. You know, pose into the hard cam. It’s just a skill that I never forgot and a skill that I missed.”