Matt Cardona has revealed how his return to WWE came about.
On the November 14th edition of SmackDown, Matt Cardona returned to WWE for the first time since his release in 2020. The star appeared as part of the ‘Last Time Is Now’ tournament under his previous WWE name of Zack Ryder, taking on LA Knight in a losing effort.
At the time, it was reported that Cardona had signed a merchandise deal with WWE, but wasn’t making a full-time return at that point. That all changed on January 2nd when he made his surprise comeback on the Blue Brand, defeating Kit Wilson and using his own name. After the show, the star confirmed that he was back in the company in an emotional social media post.
When Did Matt Cardona Sign His New Deal With WWE?
Speaking about his return on his Major Wrestling Figure podcast, Matt Cardona said the seeds for his WWE return were planted when he appeared on SmackDown in November.
The two sides reached an agreement the week of Christmas, but he wasn’t sure if he would be using his own name or returning as Zack Ryder until the day of his comeback.
“After SmackDown with LA Knight, that’s kind of when the ball got rolling where there were discussions and ‘we’ll be in touch.’ We were at WrestleCade, I had to do the match, and I left and I took a phone call. That’s when I got the call, ‘Hey, we’re interested, let’s start talking.’ It was stressful in a good way. Finally, signed Christmas week. Am I Zack? Am I Matt? I’m having both sets of gear made and designed. Even that day, going to SmackDown. It was in Buffalo, I flew into Rochester so no one would see me at the airport. I was hidden in a room all day.”
H/T to Fightful for the above transcription.
