Matt Cardona Discusses Why He Only Ever Wanted to Be a WWE Superstar [Exclusive]

The pro wrestling career of Matt Cardona was ahead of the curve in almost every way.

Before social media and YouTube were common areas to market, Cardona was in the space and cultivating a following as Zack Ryder in WWE. At this point, Cardona has a long tenure in the wrestling business, but time will highlight that undoubtable impact he made on the business.

After a memorable run on the independent circuit as Matt Cardona after being fired from WWE, Cardona returned to WWE this year. Not as Zack Ryder. Not as the old WWE Superstar gimmick he once held, but as himself.

In an exclusive interview with The Takedown on SI ahead of an historic episode of SmackDown from Atlantic City on Friday for the first time in years, Cardona talked about being back inside the company. Cardona admitted to loving the run he had as an independent wrestler, but shockingly stated that he didn't ever want to be a wrestler. Only a WWE Superstar.

"When I got released in 2020, I knew Zack Ryder was dead," Cardona said. "And as grateful as I was for him, he taught me everything. And WWE taught me everything I needed to become a superstar outside of WWE. That's what I did. I reinvented myself, rebranded, and had the most fun and the most success I ever had in my career.

"But the goal was always to be WWE Champion. You can't be WWE Champion unless you're in WWE. As awesome as the independents were, I wanted to wrestle on SmackDown. I wanted to wrestle in Madison Square Garden again, or have a WrestleMania moment ... My dream was never to be a pro wrestler. My dream was to be a WWE Superstar."

SmackDown airs this week from a special venue that means a lot to Matt Cardona

Cardona continued on and said that he was proud of the fact that he signed with WWE when he was 20 and then again when he was 40. It's a true testament to the don't quit attitude that Cardona has and still does adopt on a regular basis.

This week's episode of SmackDown takes place in Atlantic Ciy. It's an area that has a special place in Cardona's heart, because it was the birthplace of his independent superstar character.

"I'm so excited to be coming back to Atlantic City," Cardona said. "It was a very special place in my career on the independents. That's where Matt Cardona was truly born. GCW in Atlantic City."

The Atlantic City venue that Cardona credits as his wrestling birthplace was The Showboat Hotel. Because Cardona is sentimental, he's staying there this week, but wrestling for WWE instead of GCW.

When Zack Ryder was fired from WWE, Matt Cardona took over. The creative reinvention of his entire gimmick and personality as a wrestler changed his career. Cardona said he was thrilled to be brought back to WWE under that new name instead of the old one.

"They wanted Matt Cardona," he said. "I'm proud of that. That they thought the Matt Cardona I built on the independents was more valuable than Zack Ryder. And I'm grateful for Zack Ryder, because without him and my previous time in WWE, there's no Matt Cardona. Everything I learned, and not just putting matches together, but how to do interviews like this, how to market myself, how to sell merchandise, I learned it in WWE."

Matt Cardona says his wife is his favorite wrestler

Chelsea Green is the wife of Matt Cardona and has been on her own pro wrestling journey over the years that has landed her in WWE. Green is a crowd favorite because fans know her journey. According to Cardona, the best thing she does is maximize all the minutes she gets on a regular basis.

"She maximizes her minutes," Cardona said. "Whether she's got a two-minute match on TV or a five-second backstage segment, she does whatever it takes to get noticed. You've got to be your own advocate. You've got to be self-promoting and you've got to get yourself over.

"She's so good at it, and anybody can follow that example. If you're on TV for five seconds, how are you going to make it about you? You want to play along and tell the big story, sure, but if you want to make it to the next level, you've got to be a star. You've got to carry yourself like one."

As of this writing, Cardona is still cursed by Danhausen and said that he hasn't felt normal in days. He said he has been saying "woo," pumping his fist in the air, and has been fighting urges to move back to Long Island.

Aside from the Danhausen curse, how's Cardona doing? Does he miss his creative freedom? Not really and that's because WWE is WWE.

"On the independents, if I wanted to ride to the ring in the Ghostbusters Ecto-1, I just did it," Cardona said. "I don't think I'll be doing that this week. I got SmackDown. It's WWE. You're on USA, you're on Netflix, you're on ESPN, you're all over the world. There's nothing like being a WWE Superstar. I'm grateful to have that opportunity again."

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