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Exclusive: Matt Cardona Ready To Seize On The "Biggest Opportunity" In His Career Against Chris Jericho

Matt Cardona is getting the chance he's been looking for against Chris Jericho at Final Battle.

Steven Muelhausen

Matt Cardona appears on the December 6 edition of AEW Rampage.
Matt Cardona appears on the December 6 edition of AEW Rampage. / All Elite Wrestling - Lee South

When people get fired from what they thought was their "dream job", some get despondent which is the natural reaction because that is where they envisioned the rest of their lives.

When WWE released Matt Cardona in April 2020, he knew in his heart for awhile that he had wanted to get out there. He could only succeed so much in WWE with the Zack Ryder moniker attached to him.

Instantly, Cardona generated buzz after his release. He debuted on the July 29, 2020 episode of AEW Dynamite for a short-term deal and then returned for a one-off against friend and then-TNT champion Adam Copeland this past April 30 on Collision.

Also, in his travels, Cardona has become a staple in TNA and GCW and appears regularly on the independent scene where he is normally the featured attraction. His July 2021 GCW Title death match win over Nick Gage proved to be a giant success as it was the No. 1 trend on Twitter, surpassing the Summer Olympics and a UFC event. He's gone from "The Indy God and Death Match King" to now "The Complete."

All of his travels and historic moments in the last four years and eight months lead Cardona to Friday night when he challenges Chris Jericho for the Ring of Honor World Heavyweight Championship at Final Battle at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City.

"I got a phone call asking if I was available for a couple of AEW and Ring of Honor shows," Cardona told The Takedown last week in a phone interview. "I said, 'I'm always ready'.

"That's the beauty of being not just a free agent, but the agent. I can show up anywhere against anyone at any time. That's what's made these past five years so much fun. I'm still doing all my weekend bookings, but I'm adding Ring of Honor and AEW to the mix. My whole career I've wanted to get to the top to be a world champion. Now, I have that opportunity. The biggest opportunity in my career. Matt Cardona versus Chris Jericho, Hammerstein Ballroom at Ring of Honor Final Battle. I am pumped."

Cardona's had plenty of big moments in his wrestling career that started in 2004 after being trained by former ECW Heavyweight Champion Mikey Whipwreck. During his time in WWE, Cardona won the United States Title in 2011 and then the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 32. Regardless of the titles he's won, the success he's had in and out of the ring with his YouTube channel and The Major Wrestling Figure podcast, this Friday's match with one of the guys he's idolized is the biggest of them all.

"This is arguably the biggest opportunity of my career.," Cardona admits. "These past five years, everybody has seen it, unless you've been living under a rock. I have been working my a— off to reinvent myself to prove that I'm "Alwayz Ready", to prove that I'm the "Indy God", to prove that I'm the "Death Match King", to prove that I am "The Complete."

"Now it's put up or shut up. Here it is the opportunity I've been waiting for. Pay-Per-View in New York City against Chris Jericho. One of the guys who inspired me to get into the business with a world title on the line. This is it. This is the opportunity. It's in my backyard. I'm protecting my turf. Jericho says he's the King of New York. Come on, that's BS. Maybe he was born there. Maybe his dad played for the Rangers. But he is not the King of New York. If anybody's the King of New York, it's me."

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A lot of fans have been writing Jericho off and feel it's time to fade away and ride off into the sunset. But he always seems to reinvent himself and that's no different with "The Learning Tree" and "Nueve" monickers. It doesn't matter what storyline it is, Jericho always seems to get over with the fans.

"I'm not going to sit here and rip apart Chris Jericho," Cardona said. "This guy is an inspiration to me. Him, Edge and Christian, when I was a teenager, when I saw them and said, 'These are the guys. If these guys can make it, then I can make it too'.

"Now all these years later, all three of them are still in the business, still reinventing themselves, still changing the game. These are guys that I look up too. Chris Jericho is somebody that I look up too. So to be wrestling him, that really is going to test my skills.

"I've been talking this game for five years, that I'm "The Complete", that I'm "Alwayz Ready", that I'm this and that I'm that. Well, here we go, one-on-one, face-to-face, me and Chris Jericho. Just being in the room with him like this on Ring of Honor, on Rampage, it felt right standing in the ring, toe-to-toe with somebody like Chris Jericho with a microphone in my hand. It felt so right. I cannot wait to lace up those boots and wrestle him one-on-one at the Hammerstein Ballroom."

Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter stated earlier this week Cardona had been offered an AEW contract. It's unknown to Meltzer if Cardona signed the deal. Cardona had told this writer at the beginning of October that he was shocked in not having a deal wither either AEW or WWE. The 39-year-old didn't state if he had signed a deal with AEW at the time of this interview. He wasn't worried about signing a deal and just focusing on taking everything one step at a time regardless of what happens at Final Battle.

"Listen, I cannot think about the future," Cardona said. "I need to think one show at a time.

"I can't be looking ahead. I need to focus day by day. That with independence, that's what's made me so successful is that I'm treating each opportunity like it's the biggest deal. Because if I don't treat it like it's a big deal, then it's not a big deal. So I go all in on every single thing that I do. I take one match at a time, one day at a time."

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Don't let the sincerity fool you though. Cardona still wants to walk out of his home state with the first major world championship of his 20-year career.

"I'd be lying if I said I don't want to walk out of New York City with the Ring of Honor World Title," Cardona admitted. "Of course, I do. I want to bring it home for Christmas. I want to take pictures of the family with the Ring of Honor World Title. It's not to prove people wrong. I want to prove myself right. I want to prove to all my fans right. Whether they've been following me from The Major Brothers or Z True Island Story, or maybe they started joining the fan club so to speak during this independent run. I want to prove those people right. The doubters, the haters, I don't give a damn about proving them wrong."

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Steven Muelhausen
STEVEN MUELHAUSEN

: Steven Muehlhausen is a veteran combat sports writer for various outlets including Sporting News and Yahoo Sports. He can be reached at stevemuehlhausen@yahoo.com and followed on Twitter @SMuehlhausenJr.

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