Matt Cardona shares his thoughts on Chelsea Green's return to WWE.
Green rose to stardom with TNA/IMPACT Wrestling before she signed with WWE in 2018. She competed on NXT and made a few appearances on the main roster, including the 2020 Women's Royal Rumble. Green was planned for a call-up to Raw, but the move never materialized. She arrived on SmackDown several months later; she debuted on the November 13 episode but broke her wrist in her first match on the blue brand. WWE released her in April 2021, and Green went on to compete for ROH, NWA, and IMPACT, among other promotions. She had a brief run as one-half of the IMPACT Knockouts Tag Team Champions alongside Deonna Purrazzo and left the company in November 2022.
Fightful Select reported that Green signed with WWE, and she finally returned to the company in the 2023 Women's Royal Rumble Match. She was the twentieth entrant, but she only lasted five seconds before she was eliminated. In doing so, she broke the record for the quickest elimination in a Royal Rumble match.
Speaking with MuscleManMalcolm, Cardona, Green's husband, was asked to comment on her return. He initially joked about her record-breaking elimination by noting that he missed it. Cardona then shifted gears and made it clear that he's proud of Green. He stated that he's happy for her, as she barely got a cup of coffee on the main roster before the company released her in 2021.
"She was in the Royal Rumble? I missed it. [laughs] Maybe that’s when I went to go take a piss [laughs]. I’m super proud of Chelsea Green, super happy for her to go back to WWE. She needed to go back. She didn’t even have a cup of coffee there. She had the Keurig pod, and the Keurig didn’t even press brew. She didn’t have a taste. She gets to go now, and she’s a superstar, and now the whole world’s gonna know," Cardona said.
Cardona had a lengthy WWE career as Zack Ryder; during his time with the company, he won the United States Championship, the Intercontinental Championship, and the Tag Team Championship. Since his release in 2020, he has reinvented himself and captured several titles throughout the wrestling world, including the IMPACT Digital Media Championship, the GCW World Championship, and the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship. He will aim to regain the gold in NWA when he faces Tyrus at NWA Nuff Said on February 11.
Cardona previously stated that his goal is to win the WWE Championship. Check out his comments here.
In a tweet, Cardona named Cody Rhodes as the WWE star he wants to face in the near future. More information is available here.
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