Could Matt Cardona’s surprise return as Zach Ryder on this week’s edition of SmackDown be the beginning of a new run for him in WWE? Maybe not.
Ever since he was released from the company in 2020, there has always been speculation about whether Cardona would ever return to the promotion that made him a star. The discourse grew louder as he became independent wrestling’s biggest star over the last few years. Yet a return never came.
He appeared in AEW, in TNA, and has also recently popped up on episodes of NXT. Yet, returning to the WWE main roster as a contracted wrestler never seemed close. That is, until Friday’s edition of SmackDown. Over the last week, fans have wondered who LA Knight’s mystery opponent would be in the “Last Time is Now Tournament.” Well, it was revealed, and to the joy of diehard wrestling fans, it was Matt Cardona.
Matt Cardona is not under contract with WWE… yet
However, instead of being the character he had turned into an independent superstar, Cardona returned to his roots and was Zack Ryder once again on a WWE broadcast. While his fanbase is overjoyed, it doesn’t look like he is actually under contract with the company after Friday night.
“It’s been five years since I put on Zack Ryder boots. Every single morning, the first thing I do, before I even open my damn eyes, is say, ‘How can I get back here? What do I have to do to get back here?’” Cardona/Ryder said in a video posted on WWE’s YouTube.
“I busted my ass for the past five years. Deathmatch King, Indy God, all for this moment. This might be a one-time shot. I might get the call tomorrow,” he added. “It doesn’t matter, because I’m Zack Ryder. I’m always ready, and I guess I can say this — woo, woo, woo. You know it.”
Especially in the era of Paul “Triple H” Levesque running creative, the company has its ears way more open to the outcries from fans. If WWE supporters push hard to see more of Cardona as Ryder, it is a very real possibility that he does land the contract he has sought for five years.
