Matt Cardona Reveals Surprisingly Less Money He Got For His Popular Track

Matt Cardona has become a household name on the independent wrestling scene these days. But during his run in WWE, Cardona, then known as Zack Ryder released the hit single “Hoeski,” complete with a music video in 2013.

The song became an instant hit, garnering thousands of views on YouTube. In a recent interview on In The Weeds with Jeremy Lambert & SP3, Cardona revealed that, unlike many major artists, he crafted the song entirely on his own.

“I wrote that song all by myself. We were on a WWE tour. I wrote it all by myself. I asked Joe Hennig, ‘What do you think of this line?’ and Dolph Ziggler [Nic Nemeth], ‘What do you think of this line?’ At the end of the tour, I performed it a capella for the boys after one of the shows at catering at the hotel. It was a hit, so I recorded it.”

Cardona also recalled working with the legendary Jim Johnston to produce the background music, as his initial version used royalty-free music, and the original track was created on GarageBand in his friend’s basement. While WWE eventually released the track, and it briefly made it into the top 100 on iTunes, the financial return for Cardona was modest as he revealed to only make around $50 from it, but still remained proud of his legendary track.

“Jim Johnston had to remake the background music because I just took some royalty-free song. ‘We can’t put that on iTunes. I have to remake it.’ I said, ‘You don’t understand, Jim. I already recorded the music video. It has to be exact. I can’t re-record the video. I got about $5 from it. Maybe $50. Not a lot. It was in the top 100 on iTunes for a day. I made very little money. Very little. Not a lot. It was in the top 100 on iTunes for a day. I made very little money. Very little. It’s a legendary track. it still holds up and I’m very proud of it. That’s no joke. I’m very proud of Hoeski. I think it still holds up. I think I was ahead of my time in many ways, especially in wrestling.”

Matt Cardona recently underwent shoulder surgery and was seen receiving stem cell injections for the same. While he won’t be able to return to the ring for an extended timeline, it would interesting to see the next chapter of his growing wrestling career upon his return that can once again see him make another popular track.

What are your thoughts on Matt Cardona being paid relatively low for his popular song “Hoeski?” Do you think he deserved more? Sound off in the comments!