Matt Cardona is convinced that one afternoon in Atlantic City is the reason he has a WWE contract today.
Five years on from his death match with Nick Gage for GCW, Cardona told Chris Van Vliet on Insight that nothing else in his career comes close in terms of consequence.
“That match changed my career, changed my life. If it wasn’t for that match, I truly believe I would not be back in WWE. It changed everything.”
He described the situation he was in when it came together. WWE released him in April 2020, at the start of the pandemic, and by the time independent shows resumed he had a new name and no idea what to do with it.
“When Indies finally opened back up, I’m like, okay, I’m Matt Cardona, but who is Matt Cardona? Just Zack Ryder with a different name. Like that sucks, right? And I knew I needed a change. I just didn’t know what it was.”
The timing of the Gage match did the rest.
“It was a perfect storm. Nick Gage had just, the Dark Side of the Ring had just aired. What a match. Zack Ryder from WWE gets Nick Gage, this death match guy.”
Cardona expected attention. He did not expect the scale of it.
“I knew that match would create buzz. I did not anticipate the amount of buzz it would create. Because at the end of the day, it was an independent wrestling show in Atlantic City, New Jersey. But because of social media and streaming, it trended number one over the Olympics, UFC pay-per-view.”
He said the benefit ran both ways.
“That’s the match I believe put Matt Cardona on the map. I believe I put GCW on the map, but I also believe they put Matt Cardona on the map.”
One match, a whole reputation
What followed was a branding exercise, and Cardona is open about the fact that the reputation outran the reality.
“And then I ran with it. I called myself the death match king. I would wear a crown and a robe and a cape. So much so that to this day, people come up to me, oh, I loved all your death matches. I’ve had one.”
Commentary on his WWE return referred to him reinventing himself through death matches, which he finds funny for the same reason.
“I hate this phrase, but it’s true. Perception is reality.”
He credits the company he had just been let go by for teaching him how to do it.
“This is all things I learned through WWE, whether the time when I was there, or as a fan for the first 18 years of my life. It’s all stuff I learned from WWE.”
Cardona put out a documentary on his YouTube channel marking the five-year anniversary. Asked to name the best night of his career, he could not separate the Gage match from winning the Intercontinental Championship in a ladder match at WrestleMania.
“It depends what day you ask me. It’s either that WrestleMania match or the Nick Gage match. They’re so tied. I really depends which day you ask me.”
