Former WWE superstar Matt Cardona recently spoke with TSN to hype his in-ring debut on tonight’s AEW Dynamite on TNT. Highlights from the interview can be found below.
Being relieved and excited when WWE cut him back in April:
For about a little over a year, there was this decision that I was questioning with myself – Do I stay? Do I go? I didn’t re-sign my contract. My contract was to be up this August. It was this life-altering, career-altering decision. When that phone call was made, that decision was made for me. It was like this instant sigh of relief. It was meant to be this way. It was meant to happen this way. I was instantly so, so excited. I already had my Pro Wrestling Tees store ready to go. I had my logos ready. I started working on new music right away. I started making moves right away. I got a website made. I love to hustle. I love working hard. So to finally be able to do whatever I wanted, it was just so exciting
On being grateful for his time in WWE:
I’m somebody who’s very grateful for my time there. I got signed to WWE in 2006, so 14 years living my dream. I’m very grateful for that. There were highs, there were lows, but you know what? That’s the past and it was great and I’m grateful for it. But now it’s my time and it’s Matt Cardona’s turn to prove it to the world and to myself and AEW is the perfect place for me to prove all that.
Being nervous when he made his AEW debut:
I’ll be honest, I was super nervous last Wednesday because I am a perfectionist and also a diehard wrestling fan. So for me, I don’t really care about the doubters, but I care about the fans who’ve kept my career alive for so long. I want to make them proud. I want to do them right. So I loved coming out live on Dynamite. The response from the fans afterwards was fantastic and I’m just looking forward to the future and the next couple of weeks on Dynamite.
On the success of his Youtube show:
When I started that YouTube show, I didn’t do it because I wanted to be like this YouTube guy. I started it because I wanted to create buzz and get noticed and that was the tool I just so happened to be using. I wanted to blend my wrestling character with my real persona. I brought in my real friends as characters, my dad as a character, and I think that’s what drew the audience to me, and they wanted to support me and after all these years, they still do. So starting that show was the best thing I ever did.
