Zack Ryder. Matt Cardona. Any of the other ring names he has used. No matter which one you know him by, dude had a certain energy about him. As a fan, I always thought Zack Ryder was going to go far. Now known as Matt Cardona and working the independent scene, fans will see their “Internet Champion” rise. He still has many good years in the ring ahead of him. He is even being immortalized in a video game. Talk about landing on your feet.
Before Z! True Long Island Story things were different
Matt Cardona began his wrestling career in 2004. Mainly working the indie scene’s tag team divisions with Curt Hawkins. This was in the New York Wrestling Connection (NYWC) under the name Brett Matthews. About a year later, Cardona made his debut in WWE against Matt Morgan. Morgan was another athlete completely misused by WWE in my opinion.
Signing a developmental deal with WWE afforded Cardona the opportunity to work at Deep South Wrestling (DSW)
His tenure with WWE was short, though longer than most get, and he held a few championships.
1 time United States Champion
1 time Intercontinental Champion
2 time WWE (Raw) Tag Team Champion – with Hawkins
Matt Cardona takes career into his own hands
What do you do when you are disgruntled with your position in a company? Most people look for work elsewhere and wash their hands of the current job. Matt Cardona took his career in his own hands, a dangerous proposition with WWE.Taking to the Internet and using social media, such as YouTube, Cardona forced WWE’s hand. In 2011 he started Z! True Long Island Story as a vehicle to get his television character across to fans. Something WWE was clearly not doing at the time.
Crowning himself the “Internet Champion”, Cardona would go on to improve his position on television. For about a year.
Since then things have not been great for Ryder, till he was teamed up with Hawkins again. Together they found success as Raw Tag Team Champions, twice, before being let go from the company.
More recently, Cardona and Brian Myers (Curt Hawkins) both entered the world of video games. They are on the launch roster for the upcoming RetroMania Wrestling video game.
Happy birthday Matt Cardona. You got a bright future and fans ready to see you in action again.
Want to buy some cool merch featuring the former Z man? Head over to eBay and grab a deal or two. Who knows, you may get a chance to get a signature in the near future.
This article was originally published on the Gravis Ludus Wrestling website.