Following Matt Cardona’s surprise reprisal of the Zack Ryder character on SmackDown, John Cena shared his thoughts on the moment. Speaking on WWE Raw Recap, Cena shared his happiness at seeing his former colleague back in a WWE ring.
“I was very, very glad to see Zack Ryder come back,” Cena said. “Matt is a personal friend of mine, I can speak candidly like that, and I’ve seen his mind grow.”
Since his release in 2020, Cardona reinvented himself on the independent circuit, capturing the NWA World’s Heavyweight Championship and titles in GCW and TNA. Cena noted that Cardona has evolved significantly since their earlier days sharing a locker room.
“You wanna talk about always being curious and the quest for growth, the Zack Ryder I knew from a long time ago has accrued so much sports entertainment wisdom,” Cena continued. “It’s amazing when we have interactions, he’ll tell me about his journey and be like ‘this is what you were trying to talk about before and I wasn’t ready to understand it.'”
The 17-time World Champion also gave credit to Cardona’s wife, Chelsea Green, noting that the couple knows how to maximize their minutes on television. “I like rooting for people who are humble enough to admit when they’re wrong, and always want to grow, and are doing things for the greater good of the business,” Cena ended. “Matt is certainly one of those guys, his wife Chelsea is one of those folks, who take an opportunity and get the absolute best out of it. I was really happy to see Zack Ryder back.”
Cardona made his return on the November 14 episode of SmackDown as a mystery opponent for LA Knight in the “Last Time is Now” tournament. This marked his first match under the Zack Ryder banner since 2020, following a prolific run on the independent scene where he collected championships in NWA, GCW, and TNA. He has yet to sign a contract with WWE to perform full-time.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit WWE Raw Recap with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription. You can watch the show on the WWE Network.
