Andrew Ravens
Matt Cardona’s path back to WWE apparently began with a conversation his wife, Chelsea Green, had with WWE President Nick Khan.
Speaking on a new episode of Cody Rhodes“What Do You Wanna Talk About?” podcast, Cardona detailed the chain of events that led to his return to the company this year, tracing it back to a NXT appearance he made in October 2025 as part of the TNA invasion storyline.
“So I’m working for TNA, but not technically under contract. And TNA invaded NXT, and they asked me to join. And I know I’m not under contract, but I’m like, I’m going to sneak in. Sure, I’ll do it,” Cardona said. “I do that, leads to a match. And Chelsea was doing, I guess, media for Rumble in Saudi Arabia. And Nick Khan was there. She said to Nick something like, ‘Did you see my husband wrestle on NXT?’
“Nick said something like, ‘I’ve always wanted to meet your husband, talk to your husband, give him my number.’ She gave me Nick Khan’s number; you know I’m texting immediately,” he added. “And then Nick called me right there, said, ‘What do you want?’ I said, ‘I want to come back.’ And the ball kind of got rolling from there.”
Cardona acknowledged there were some bumps in the process after that initial conversation, but made clear that Khan’s openness to reconnecting was the key factor that made the return possible. He also competed in the Last Time is Now Tournament in 2025 before officially re-signing and joining the SmackDown roster.
The return closes a chapter that began with Cardona’s WWE release in 2020, after which he rebuilt his career extensively on the independent circuit. Now back in the company, Cardona has not lowered his ambitions. He made clear that winning the WWE Championship remains the defining goal of his career.
“I mean, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to be the WWE champ. That’s the title. I think you and I are alike,” he told Rhodes. “We didn’t just want to be wrestlers, we didn’t just want to be WWE Superstars — we wanted to be the WWE Champion. So, why not swing for it? That’s the goal ever since I was a little kid.”
