Pro-wrestling star Matt Cardona was a recent guest on the Instinct Culture show with host Denise Salcedo to discuss a variety of subjects, including his work with AEW and IMPACT since his WWE release, who he thinks are rising young stars, and what his plans are for the future. Highlights from the interview can be found below.
Calls his experience with AEW and IMPACT great:
“Both AEW and Impact were such a great experience. It was a little nerve-wracking for a couple of reasons. Number one, both places, I was like the new kid in school meeting all these new people. Also, I say always ready, but I had to prove, ‘OK, you say you’re always ready. Well, here you go’ Especially with the Impact thing because I hadn’t wrestled since September, and I got a call on a Friday saying, ‘Hey, do you want to be on the pay-per-view tomorrow?’ I’m like, ‘Well, shit. I better be ready.’ In AEW, at least I knew for a couple of months that was where I was going. So, I was like training for it and preparing myself. This Impact thing, I just had to be ready. Luckily, the always ready thing is legit.”
Praise for MJF and how he still watches everything:
“I’m still a fan of everything. I still watch everything – WWE, AEW, Impact, ROH, New Japan, whatever. I love what MJF is doing. This guy who Brian Myers trained, and in just a couple of years, he’s one of the top guys in the business. He’s super young, and he’s gonna be a huge star. He’s already a huge star. In Impact, I had my eye on Ace Austin before I even got there. This kid has it. Everyone says the it factor, he definitely has it. We had like a five-minute sprint of a match, but I’d love to work him in a nice long competitive, hard-hitting match…..when I’m in the ring with somebody, I can tell, ‘Alright, this guy is good.’ You can just tell whether you have chemistry or not. It takes time for someone to build chemistry with each other. I just felt like we were on the same page, and he’s someone I would definitely like to work again because I think our styles mesh well. He’s a good guy.”
Reveals his goals for the future:
“I think Impact is a great spot for me right now. It’s a great opportunity. People ask, ‘Why are you in Impact?’ For an opportunity. I said it a couple of weeks ago on Impact, which again, they said, ‘Hey, you’re having a backstage interview.’ There are no scripts, there are no bullet points. They just ask me a question and I got to talk, which is kind of cool. It wasn’t like an Austin 3:16, groundbreaking promo or anything, but it was cool to speak my mind and say why I was there and speak from the heart. I’m not in Impact or doing anything in life to prove doubters wrong. I’m just here to prove myself right and prove supporters right. That’s the goal – to make everybody that have believed in me – just make them proud and prove them right. I’m gonna take this opportunity and run with it and see what happens. Would I love to be the Impact World Champion? 100 percent. Would I love to be the face of Impact? 100 percent. We’ll see what happens.”
Full interview can be seen below. (H/T and transcribed by 411 Mania)