Matt Cardona Says He Would Have Been On AEW Dark If He Signed With Tony Khan

Matt Cardona, formerly known as Zack Ryder during his time in WWE, never realized his full potential in the company. He was subsequently released back in 2020 and in the three years since then, he truly became a whole different professional wrestler. That said, Cardona believes he would be on AEW Dark if he signed with Tony Khan.

While speaking on The Wrestling Classic podcast, Cardona shared his experience after his release from WWE, where he also talked about how Cody Rhodes reached out to him and provided him with valuable advice on how to handle the situation.

According to Cardona, Rhodes put him in touch with his agent and offered some great tips. However, Cardona realized that in the wrestling business, advice from agents or producers may not always work for everyone, and he wanted to be the one in the trenches, doing the numbers and negotiating for himself.

Cardona also went on to talk about the role that Cody Rhodes played in his career. He stated that Rhodes was the one who got him into AEW, and he was grateful for the opportunity.

While he was initially disheartened when the deal did not work out, he now looks back at it as a “blessing in disguise.” Cardona explained that if he had signed with AEW at the time, he would have been on the “Dark” show, and that was not what he wanted.

“Cody [Rhodes], right away put me in contact with his agent, gave me some great advice. But, like in the wrestling business, if a producer or agent is giving you feedback on a match, sometimes that advice doesn’t work for you. I realized I didn’t need an agent. I wanted to be that guy in the trenches. I wanted to be that guy doing the numbers and negotiating.

Cody [Rhodes] set me up for sure, got me that AEW cup of coffee run. I am grateful for that. Didn’t work out at the time, I’ll admit I was bummed out. I was like, ‘Oh sh** now what.’ Looking back, a blessing in disguise. If I had signed with AEW then, I’d be on f***ing Dark. No offense to those guys, but that’s not what I want. I was already that guy in WWE.”

Matt Cardona recently made it clear that he believes he will eventually return to WWE. While Cardona’s wife Chelsea Green returned to WWE at the Royal Rumble earlier this year, only time will tell when he would make his comeback to the company.

Would you like to see Matt Cardona’s WWE return? Do you think he is better off in AEW? Sound off in the comments!