WWE developed a Matt Cardona that is now thriving on the indies.
Matt Cardona was in WWE for well over a decade. In that time, he grew as a performer and as a man. Now, after being released by WWE on Wednesday, April 15, 2020, he had spent the last year branching out on the independent circuit.
With a reinvention of himself in GCW, Matt Cardona now feels proud to say that the decades he spent in WWE we're all a developmental time frame for him to become the man he is today.
Speaking on the Barstool Rasslin’ podcast, Matt Cardona explained his viewpoint and why he says it's not a shot at WWE to refer to his entire time as "developmental."
WWE was my developmental. I don't mean that as a shot to Web. I've loved my time in WWE. I lived my dream. You know, I made a lot of money there. The Intercontinental, Tag Team Title, US Title. I had WrestleMania moments. It was a dream come true. But it ended. So what am I gonna do about it? Am I gonna cry? Am I gonna fucking bitch on the internet? No, I use the tools that I learned from Vince and the whole company and I'm taking it to the independents. I'm fucking thriving. So in that sense, WWE was my developmental. That's not a shot at the company. It created me, not only the wrestler, but the man I am today. I grew up in WWE. I was signed when I was 20 years old.
"Even in this year, I have grown as a man as a performer. That's why it's been so fun. Because I'm like, you know, I'm a very creative person and it's been so much fun just going out there. I'm a big toy guy, right? I'm wrestling these new toys. I'm getting new toys to play with, except I'm getting to wrestle these new people in front of different audiences. Sometimes they love me, sometimes they hate me. It's just been a blast.
Looking forward to 2022, Cardona says he is already planning a WrestleMania-level entrance for GCW’s event at the Hammerstein Ballroom and he is looking forward to continuing playing with his “new toys.”
"I think we just grow you know to start the year going for the world title Impact Wrestling. Hammerstein Ballroom sold out. Listen, I'm not saying that I'm the reason that GCW sold out the Hammerstein Ballroom but I will say this: there is no fucking way they would have sold it out if I didn't come to GCW. that's all I'm saying. I'm very very excited to be at Hammerstein Ballroom, I know. The roster, the company, the fans — I was there when we filmed the commercial. Even just now I'm talking about it, goosebumps city. The only show I went to at the Hammerstein Ballroom was the first ECW One Night Stand. My trainer Mikey Whpwreck, an ECW original, took me there and I watched it as a fan. To be back there is going to be awesome sold out. I'm already planning a WrestleMania wntrance. I'm very very excited. It's gonna be a hell of a night."
After he and Chelsea Green lost to BUSSY at GCW Blood on the Hills, Cardona joked on Twitter that he was “releasing” the promotion, but he is looking forward to bringing the sports entertainment side of wrestling to the Hammerstein Ballroom in January. Learn more about the sold-out event here.
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