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Matt Cardona’s Love of Wrestling Keeps Him Going After 15-Year Run in WWE

The Week in Wrestling: Matt Cardona seizes a new opportunity in AEW, WWE’s baffling “Raw Underground” segment and more.

Justin Barrasso

SI.com’s Week in Wrestling is published every week and provides beneath the surface coverage of the business of pro wrestling.

Matt Cardona: ‘I got in this business to be the champion, and that’s why I’m here in AEW’

Matt Cardona made a surprise debut last week in All Elite Wrestling, coming to the aid of Cody Rhodes following his TNT Championship match against Warhorse. Rhodes was being attacked by members of the Dark Order, and Cardona arrived to provide backup for an old friend in Rhodes.

The story continues this week on Dynamite, as Cardona and Rhodes team up to take on the Dark Order’s Alex Reynolds and John Silver.

AEW is uncharted territory for Cardona, who had worked for WWE since 2005 as Zack Ryder until he was let go in April as part of the company’s pandemic-related layoffs. The 35-year-old grew up on WWE programming, and winning the Intercontinental Championship in a ladder match at WrestleMania 32 was a career-defining moment. But the only certainty in pro wrestling is that there will be change, and change came for Cardona in April. That has led to his current opportunity, a chance to redefine himself in AEW.

“When I was a little kid, I didn’t just dream of being a pro wrestler,” said Cardona. “I got in this business to be the champion, and that’s why I’m here in AEW.”

Cardona’s contract with WWE was set to expire this month, and exploring new options with AEW was already on his mind. New to free agency after a 15-year run in WWE, Cardona confirmed that, for now, his current AEW contract is only for a limited number of dates.

“I haven’t signed a long-term deal, but that is the plan,” said Cardona. “I didn’t just come here to get a new shirt on Shop AEW—and it’s a great shirt, the number one shirt this week—I’m here to be tag champion, TNT Champion, and AEW Champion. And yes, I want that Jazwares action figure. I’m here for the long haul.”

Cardona has also turned himself into an entrepreneur, creating the Major Wrestling Figure Podcast with Brian Myers (formerly Curt Hawkins in WWE), their biggest endeavor together since winning the tag team titles at WrestleMania 35 at MetLife Stadium. Without the restrictions that come along with life as a featured talent in the publicly owned WWE, Cardona now has the chance to showcase his talent however he chooses.

There is also plenty of potential in the AEW ring for Cardona. Matches with Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega, Orange Cassidy, Sammy Guevara, MJF and Hangman Page are all enticing, in addition to the natural feud with Cody Rhodes over the TNT Championship.

“I’ve been talking a big game, now I need to prove it,” said Cardona. “I’ve been working out harder than ever, and I hope people watching feel like they’re on this ride with me.

“I have no problem working hard, and I want to be able to see the results. That’s why AEW is the perfect environment for me to thrive. If you work your ass off, you’ll see the results.”

An integral part of Cardona’s success is his unrelenting passion. Wrestling is a very subjective industry, where bookers decide the winners and losers, and it is very easy for talented wrestlers to become dejected when they are not being used properly–or even used at all. Against the odds, Cardona has held onto that passionate exuberance for wrestling.

“I don’t know why, but I love pro wrestling,” said Cardona. “I just do. And I really believe you can’t love this business just when things are going well. That’s when it’s easy—when you’re the champ, or on TV all the time in this great spot, selling all this merch, of course people are going to love it.

“But you also need to love it when it sucks, when you’ve hit rock bottom sitting at home, or when you’re in catering eating crappy chicken. When you get those moments where you can prove yourself, and you deliver, that makes those moments so much sweeter.”

Cardona’s success in WWE was organic, starkly contrasting an inherently manufactured business model. And he plans to create more enduring moments in AEW through his nonstop work ethic, passion, and love for pro wrestling.

“My legacy in this business is being someone that was told no, then still finding a way,” said Cardona. “I’ve done that in the past, and I intend to do that again.”

Gallows and Anderson out to prove they offer far more than comedy

Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson delivered a fantastic show on Saturday with Talk ‘N Shop A Mania. It was irreverent, light-hearted and silly, capturing some of the beauty of pro wrestling by playfully having some fun at its expense.

Gallows and Anderson know how to embed humor into their work, but that only represents one element of their versatility. The two wrestling veterans each also have the potential to be a company’s top champion, which is an opportunity they will receive in Impact Wrestling.

“You’ll see us both in the world title picture,” said Anderson. “People love seeing us together as The Good Brothers, and that’s not going to change. I thought coming into Impact as a team was the perfect way for us to explode onto Slammiversary. We wanted to make a huge splash together, and that was the right way to do it. Down the line, you’re going to see us in singles matches, too.”

Anderson was always considered a tag team wrestler by the top decision-makers in WWE, or part of the supporting cast in AJ Styles’s ensemble, but he was never viewed as a standalone star. He plans to change that now that he is no longer part of WWE.

“I’ve got a massive, massive chip on my f---ing shoulder, and I have a lot more anger than Doc about the way everything has played out,” said Anderson. “I have a lot to prove.

“A lot of people didn’t have a chance to see what I did in Japan. I had some really big main events in New Japan Pro Wrestling before the invention of New Japan World. I am in my prime right now, and I’m really excited for people to see what the f--- I can do.”

Anderson also went into detail on the decision to sign with Impact instead of AEW.

“We got messages from Matt and Nick Jackson the day we were released, and those are our friends, but [Impact Co-Executive Vice President] Scott D’Amore was ready to talk business the day of the release,” said Anderson. “Impact allowed a lot of freedom in their offers. We want to be able to do movies, podcasts, and Talk ‘N Shop A Mania. Plus, we can go back to New Japan, and Impact will move around dates for us to make that happen. So that freedom, and being able to work for a boss I trust in Scott D’Amore after losing a lot of trust for bosses in WWE, made this the right place for us.”

Gallows is one of the funniest people in wrestling, but that does not take away from his pursuit of excellence in the business. Looking at his career over the past decade, he has continued to elevate his look, work on the microphone and in-ring presence.

“It’s absolutely imperative for me to step out and show a new layer of who I am as a performer and a different side of my personality,” said Gallows. “I know people see a lot of goofing around, and it took me a long time to show my charisma over the 18 years of my career, but we are very serious about what we do in the ring.”

In addition to tag title reigns with the Impact belts, Gallows wants to see Anderson have a run with the world belt.

“Machine Gun will be world champ,” said Gallows. “I can be, too, and now we finally have an outlet where we can show a different side to who we are as professional wrestlers. That’s a big reason why we chose Impact, and you’re going to see it again when we fly back across the ocean and return to New Japan.

“We’re both in our prime, we have never been better, and you’re going to see stuff out of me that you’ve never seen me do before.”

WWE misses the mark with Raw Underground

Raw Underground premiered this past Monday, and it is undoubtedly the oddest project WWE has launched in 2020.

There is a Fight Club vibe to Raw Underground, but unlike that cinematic thriller, which had a layered plot and featured some incredible acting, Raw Underground felt as though it was thrown together. But if this lasts more than a few weeks, which is yet to be determined, then there is plenty of potential to make it work.

The first step is to cut down on the maddening amount of camera cuts, which made it difficult to watch. The second goal should be actually introducing what viewers are watching. Yes, Shane McMahon “introduced” Raw Underground—but did he really? A more effective method could have been McMahon cutting a promo in the main ring explaining Raw Underground, then leading viewers backstage.

And there are still so many unanswered questions. What led to Raw having an underground fighting realm? What is its purpose? A legitimate introduction would go a long way in helping this new endeavor succeed, serving far more of a purpose than having scantily clad women dancing aimlessly in the background.

The (online) week in wrestling

  • No matter what happens with Raw Underground, Matt Hardy is correct: it is going to provide some great content for the cast of Being The Elite. 
  • WWE is also touting a new faction, which made an inauspicious debut on Monday by setting a generator on fire. Whatever happened to wrestlers beating up other wrestlers in the ring? 
  • With Raw ratings continuing to struggle, next week’s show has big matchups in Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens and Bayley-Asuka. But it is going to be difficult to quickly improve the rating, as the loss of a live crowd has severely hurt the WWE’s product. Variety had an in-depth piece looking at the WWE’s recent struggles. There were some highlights to the show this past Monday, with one of the best parts being the promo between Orton and Drew McIntyre. 
  • The XFL is synonymous with Vince McMahon, but that is about to change. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and business partner Dany Garcia have acquired the XFL, adding excitement and mounting speculation to a league that (once again) appeared to be finished.
  • Bringing back memories of The Westminster Dog Show preempting Monday Night Raw on the USA Network, AEW announced that Dynamite will have new air dates when the NBA takes center stage on TNT on three upcoming Wednesday nights. This also means that NXT TakeOver XXX will run directly against Dynamite on Saturday, August 22.
  • On the subject of AEW and NXT, must-see moments from Wednesday night’s shows should include Jon Moxley vs. Darby Allin on Dynamite (a match that the champ should win cleanly!), while tag team wrestling purists should feel right at home watching Imperium-Undisputed Era on NXT.
  • This past Monday marked the first night of the AEW Women’s Tag Team Cup Tournament, and I am hoping the tourney has a breakout performance or two from those involved. 
  • SummerSlam ’92 aired last night on FS1, a show almost washed away by rain but that will be forever remembered as the night Bret Hart launched himself into the world title scene after an incredible match against “The British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith.

Tweet of the Week

Time will tell, but is AEW playing with fire by making parallels to the U.S. presidential election?

Justin Barrasso can be reached at JBarrasso@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinBarrasso.

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Justin Barrasso
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