In a recent interview on the Wrestling Life with Ben Veal podcast, Steph De Lander had high praise for her tag team partner and mentor, Matt Cardona. She called her time working with him a “pivotal and important” period of her career and stated that a talent of his level belongs on the biggest stage.
A “Wealth of Knowledge”
De Lander explained that after she was released from WWE, she felt “very lost” before she began teaming with Cardona. She credited him with completely changing the way she looks at the wrestling business. “The things that I learned from him… it’s changed the way that I’ve looked at wrestling so much,” she said. “Getting to stand there and watch him do business, and hear the way that he handles certain situations, and listen to him plan matches… that is so invaluable.”
She lamented that not enough independent wrestlers take advantage of the opportunity to learn from him. “He is such a wealth of knowledge… if anyone asked him for advice, he would sit down for 30 minutes and give them a full breakdown of what they should be doing.”
“He Should Be on WrestleMania”
De Lander praised Cardona’s incredible commitment to his craft, noting his next-level professionalism, even for one-off appearances. She used a recent example of him agreeing to be a special guest referee for a TNA show on short notice. “He rocks up wearing full special guest referee custom gear,” she said. “Most people will get a ref shirt and maybe cut the sleeves off, but he’s so committed that he paid probably $1,000 to get special ref gear made overnight.”
It is that level of dedication that leads her to believe he shouldn’t still be on the independent scene. “He is such a wealth of knowledge, who shouldn’t still be on the Indies,” she stated firmly. “Like, he should be on WrestleMania, and he will be, at some point.”
Steph De Lander and Matt Cardona continue to be one of the most in-demand acts on the independent circuit. De Lander is also a featured star on TNA programming, where Cardona has recently made several guest appearances.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Wrestling Life with Ben Veal with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
